County Board’s Sectarian Prayers Enjoined

No Fair Housing Claim from HOA’ ATV Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

A homeowners association for Lee’s Crossing subdivision wins a housing discrimination suit under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 filed by a family who was denied the right for their disabled adult son to use an all-terrain vehicle on the subdivision’s unpaved roads; the 4th Circuit affirms summary judgment for the HOA and on [...]

Claim Mooted for Prison Visitation Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Restoration of a prison inmate’s visiting privileges has mooted his appeal of suspension of those privileges for a two-year period as a penalty for the inmate’s suspected receipt of contraband; the 4th Circuit further concludes that the prison warden who imposed the suspicion is shielded by qualified immunity because the inmate did not have a [...]

Prisoner Protests Forcible Removal to Cell

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiff inmate at U.S. Penitentiary Lee has not stated claims for excessive force and deliberate indifference to his serious needs, based on allegations that defendant correctional officers picked him up to take him to a new cell during cell rotation, after plaintiff slumped on the floor and refused to move, and the Roanoke U.S. District [...]

Female Staff at Male Strip Search States Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Jackson L. Kiser, U.S. District Court - Western District

In a male inmate’s suit alleging violation of his civil rights, the Roanoke U.S. District Court denies defendant correctional officials’ motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claims against four correctional officers for strip searches with female staff present, and grants the motion as to all other claims and defendants. Plaintiff is housed [...]

Reclassified Sex Offender Can’t Sue Over School Access

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Allyson K. Duncan

A defendant who, in 1993 was convicted of carnal knowledge of a minor without use of force, for a relationship with a student under her supervision, does not have standing to challenge changes to Virginia law after 2008 classifying her as a violent sex offender who may not enter her children’s school without permission from [...]

Jail Video Shows No Excessive Force

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A videotape of defendant correctional officers’ efforts to subdue a pretrial detainee suspected of hiding drugs in his buttocks, who had removed and attempted to swallow the item, supports the officers’ claims that they did not violate any duty owed to the detainee, or have any intent to harm him, and the Richmond U.S. District [...]

Felon Voting Rights Claim Advances

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff, a former city council member and convicted felon who is eligible for restoration of his voting rights, has pleaded an equal protection claim by alleging Article II, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution, which disqualifies felons from voting, discriminates against black citizens while favoring those who commit crimes but avoid prosecution as felons. Plaintiff’s [...]

No Claim Against City for Fatal Shooting

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A plaintiff suing for the fatal shooting of his son who allegedly was unarmed when a police SWAT team entered a house in which decedent had barricaded himself alone in a bathroom has stated a claim against the two defendant officers but not against the city, and the Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses the § [...]

No Race Discrimination in Loan Extension Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this race discrimination case against a commercial lender, plaintiff entrepreneur and his companies have failed to raise any genuine issues of material fact about defendant bank’s denial of loan extensions, and the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to the bank. Plaintiffs are Best Medical International Inc., Gunston Hall Realty Inc., Huestis Machine [...]