The defendant in a criminal case who sought prospective injunctive relief against the county sheriff failed to plead facts showing the sheriff maintained a custom or policy that allowed misconduct by his officers. Background Plaintiff Les Christopher Burns contends in ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

The court denied  a jail’s summary judgment motion on an inmate’s claims that his skin irritation was a serious medical need and the nurses were deliberately indifferent to his condition. Background Toby Joe Barley, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se, ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiffs were convicted of trespass in state court after they refused to leave the school premises. They then filed this complaint. The court held they lacked standing over several claims, should abstain from deciding others, and would decline the state ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiffs, parents of a minor child, sued to recover the fees and costs they incurred in successfully prevailing in a school proceeding involving discipline of their child. An individual who assisted plaintiffs in that proceeding moved to intervene in the ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Mark Davis U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff, a Muslim inmate, alleged prison officials violated his rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by denying him a Muslim meal. Although the court dismissed several claims, it held ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where prison officials had a tip that a prisoner was smuggling contraband into the prison and a visitor’s gestures and mannerisms were nervous, a strip-search of the visitor was reasonable. Background Angela Calloway was strip-searched during the course of visiting ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff can proceed to trial on his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that a sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop without probable cause. The deputy’s explanation that the plaintiff made a concerning gesture was not constitutionally sufficient. Background ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights First Amendment Judge Jackson L. Kiser Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Western District

A former inmate asserting he didn’t receive adequate mental health care during his incarceration was successful in seeking to limit trial testimony from certain Department of Corrections experts. Two current Department employees were qualified to opine on whether the plaintiff’s ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Evidence Judge James P. Jones Prisons & Jails U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff’s hostile-work-environment claim against his employers can proceed to trial. The plaintiff presented evidence of severe and pervasive harassing conduct based on sex, with no response by their supervisor. Despite firing both the harasser and the supervisor, the defendants ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Norman K. Moon Sexual Harrassment U.S. District Court - Western District

In a § 1983 action by a former jail inmate, default judgment was granted against a jail employee who failed to appear despite being properly served. The court found that the employee sexually assaulted and raped the inmate and, after ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Eighth Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District