A district court properly dismissed constitutional challenges to Virginia’s civil interdiction process, which can lead to criminal penalties for possession, consumption, or purchase of alcoholic beverages by individuals subject to a civil interdiction order. Background Virginia regulates the consumption, purchase, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Due Process Eighth Amendment Equal Protection Fourteenth Amendment Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Animal rights groups sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact to support their standing to challenge a recent North Carolina statute allowing employers to hold their employees civilly liable for damage caused by unauthorized access to nonpublic areas. Background The North Carolina Property ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Per Curiam Opinion Standing

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Due Process First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Tort

A Charlottesville counter-protester who claimed law enforcement stood by and watched white nationalist protesters assault him and others had no constitutional right to have officers intervene in the third-party misconduct. Background In response to Charlottesville’s renaming of Lee Park, Jason ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Equal Protection Fourteenth Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A law student who was denied testing accommodations by the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners should have sought state-court review. In addition, the Board was immune from the disability claims, and the student failed to state a Fourteenth Amendment claim. ...

Tagged with: Administrative Attorneys Civil Rights Disability Equal Protection Fourteenth Amendment Judge Henry E. Hudson U.S. District Court - Eastern District