Local Election Board Sees Complaint Dismissed

No Aid for Private-School Student with ADHD

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 23, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Roger L. Gregory

Although a student with ADHD qualifies for help under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Baltimore city school system does not have to extend that assistance to the student because he is enrolled in a private school, not a public school; the 4th Circuit affirms judgment for the school system. Because we [...]

Supplemental Fees Reduced for ‘Block Billing’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 11, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A plaintiff who already won over $300,000 in attorney’s fees in her civil rights suit based on her arrest for allegedly helping to conceal a dangerous dog from a deputy sheriff is awarded supplemental fees of $12,628 by the Richmond U.S. District Court. Plaintiff seeks a supplemental award of attorney’s fees of $59,021. Defendant opposes [...]

Arrest Threats Did Not Support Vet’s Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Raymond A. Jackson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A disabled veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder loses his lawsuit against police officers who allegedly threatened to arrest him as he challenged a campground owner’s refusal to allow him to have his Shar Pei dog as a service dog at the campground swimming pool, in violation of the campground rules; plaintiff cannot assert [...]

No Claim from Emergency Custody Order

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge David J. Novak, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A plaintiff who was taken into custody and subjected to a mental health evaluation Emergency Custody Order (ECO) issued by a magistrate on the sworn testimony of plaintiff’s wife, cannot sue defendants, the officers who took him into custody and the professional who conducted the mental health evaluation, for violation of his constitutional rights; the [...]

Summary Judgment Dismissal Counts for ‘Three Strikes’ Rule

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A South Carolina inmate cannot challenge a bar to his frivolous claim under the “three strikes” rule to curb frivolous lawsuits on the ground that the rule does not apply when his previous suits were dismissed on summary judgment; the 4th Circuit denies reconsideration of permission to allow the inmate to proceed in forma pauperis. [...]

Duke Lacrosse Players’ Claims Partially Survive

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz

Duke University lacrosse players who were wrongfully accused of rape of an exotic dancer hired for a team party may not pursue most of their claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort law against defendant police officers and city officials affirmed by the 4th Circuit; the appellate court reverses denial of 1) all [...]

Illegal Alien’s Gun Rights Limited

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

A Mexican citizen can be prosecuted for possession of a weapon while being in the U.S. illegally; the 4th Circuit rejects his claim that his prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) violated his rights under the Second and Fifth Amendments. Appellant filed a motion to dismiss the charge. The district court denied the motion, and [...]

Inmates Have Claim for Faulty Health Care

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiff prisoners at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women have sufficiently alleged defendant correctional officials exhibited deliberate indifference to their serious medical needs, in the care offered by the contract health care provider, and the Charlottesville U.S. District Court denies defendants’ motion to dismiss their suit, including a possible claim for class certification. Plaintiffs have alleged [...]

Defense hopes dashed by dashboard camera

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 31, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Federal Courts, Judge Liam O'Grady

A dashboard recording showing a man with his hands raised near his head during an encounter with police supported the man’s civil suit against the officer who charged the man and dropped him to the ground with an elbow strike to the head. The officer who took the man down was not entitled to qualified [...]