Where a South Carolina county warned residents before it sprayed for mosquitoes in an effort to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, including issuing a press release to many media outlets and providing the experienced pilot with the locations ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

In a case of first impression, the court held a local government’s policy of enforcing state law renders it susceptible to Monell liability if the municipal policymaker made a meaningful and conscious choice that caused a constitutional injury. Because the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where a coalition of Black, Latino and Asian American plaintiffs established that  the minority community has less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and elect their preferred candidates under Virginia Beach’s at large ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although a photographer argued he had standing to challenge the Virginia Values Act because he cannot publish his beliefs about same-sex unions on his website or in his editorial policy without risking a civil fine, this argument was rejected because ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Claude M. Hilton U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a wedding venue was unlikely to succeed on its claim that the governor’s COVID-19 order preventing wedding venues from nonreligious ceremonies with more than 25 attendees violated its First Amendment and equal protection rights, its motion for a preliminary ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where other remedies are available to an inmate claiming prison officials violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for filing grievances, allowing a Bivens remedy could lead to an intolerable level of judicial intrusion into an issue best ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Where an elementary school principal omitted a fourth grader’s essay on LGBTQ equality from a student booklet because the material was not age-appropriate, she did not violate the First Amendment as her decision was reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

Although the plaintiffs obtained a preliminary injunction enjoining a Virginia statute that automatically suspended drivers’ licenses when persons failed to pay their court debt, and the statute was subsequently repealed by the General Assembly, their request as prevailing parties for ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a former employee of the Virginia Department of Corrections, or DOC, alleged the DOC’s random drug testing policy violated the Fourth Amendment, and DOC officials argued their actions were protected by qualified immunity, additional briefing was ordered on the ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the Frederick County School Board, or FCSB, and its head of communications failed to dismiss claims alleging they deleted critical comments from a student’s mother about the district’s reopening plans and mask mandates, and then told the mother she ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District