The plaintiffs’ delay in mounting a challenge to the absentee ballot process in Virginia because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in injunctive relief being denied because of laches. Background On March 12, 2020, Gov. Ralph S. Northam declared a state ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although news organizations sought access to entire execution proceedings, the First Amendment does not support their argument that they must be allowed to witness the steps that precede an actual execution. Background The plaintiffs are news organizations that investigate and ...

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

The Greater Richmond Transit Company engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by rejecting an animal welfare watchdog’s advertisement on political grounds, while accepting other political advertisements. Background This First Amendment action arises out of the refusal of Greater Richmond Transit Company, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In litigation over adequate medical care to inmates at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, the claimed fees were significantly reduced because of vague billing entries, duplicative efforts, overstaffing and excessive hours. Background This action is an Eighth Amendment class ...

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

There was no jurisdiction over an individual’s challenge to his inclusion on the No Fly List because judicial review of such orders is vested in the Court of Appeals. Claims brought by the plaintiff’s wife and daughter were dismissed because ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Liam O'Grady U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A nonprofit that works with servicemembers who are LGBTQ+ and/or HIV positive had direct standing to challenge the military’s accession and retention policies that forced the  organization to divert resources from other programs and impaired its ability to carry out ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Leonie Brinkema U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where gun rights advocates challenged the governor’s closure order issued in response to COVID-19 solely under the Virginia constitution, the defendant’s removal to federal court fails because the suit did not arise under federal law, even if the right to ...

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

Where the governor’s executive order, issued under Code § 44-146.17 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ordered the closure of indoor gun ranges, the power to do so is limited by § 44-146.15(3), which provides that the governor’s emergency powers ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge F. Patrick Yeatts Lynchburg Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

North Carolina legislators who sued for alleged unconstitutional redistricting plans could not remove the suit to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1443. That provision applies only to executive officials charged with enforcing state laws who are sued for wrongful ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Roger L. Gregory

The Henrico County Fire Department officials are not entitled to qualified immunity for allegedly terminating a firefighter for attending an anti-Trump rally on her personal time. Her complaint plausibly alleged a violation of her First Amendment and due process rights, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District