LEGAL NEWS

Case Summaries

Civil Rights

[03/12] Morton v. Hall
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that prison officials' deliberate indifference contributed to a violent assault on plaintiff by inmates, dismissal of the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies is affirmed where the grievance filed by plaintiff was insufficient to put prison officials on notice of plaintiff's complaint that prison-staff conduct contributed to his assault.

[03/12] Holschen v. Int'l. Union of Painters
In an action by a former union painter against the union alleging several violations of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), as well as a state law claim for intentional interference with a valid business expectancy, judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) this was not a situation where the circumstances themselves presented a significant danger of bias such that plaintiff was excused from presenting at least some evidence of actual bias involving one or more trial board members in order to survive summary judgment; 2) evidence of ad hoc retaliation by an individual union member did not state a cause of action for a free speech violation under the LMRDA; and 3) there was no evidence the union itself formally disciplined plaintiff in retaliation for his exercise of free speech rights.

[03/12] Stockwell v. City of Harvey
In white firefighters' suit against a city claiming that it failed to promote them within its fire department because of their race, summary judgment in favor of the city is affirmed where: 1) the city, through its fire chief, has set forth legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for declining to promote the plaintiffs to deputy and/or assistant chief; and 2) plaintiffs failed to produce sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of fact regarding whether the reasons were pretextual.

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Constitutional Law

[03/12] Stockwell v. City of Harvey
In white firefighters' suit against a city claiming that it failed to promote them within its fire department because of their race, summary judgment in favor of the city is affirmed where: 1) the city, through its fire chief, has set forth legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for declining to promote the plaintiffs to deputy and/or assistant chief; and 2) plaintiffs failed to produce sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of fact regarding whether the reasons were pretextual.

[03/12] News & Observer Publ'g. Co. v. Raleigh-Durham Airport Auth.
In newspaper publishers' First Amendment challenge to a public airport's total ban on newspaper racks inside its terminals, grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs is affirmed as the government interests asserted to justify the total ban do not counterbalance its significant restriction on protected expression.

[03/12] Alexander v. Cahill
In a First Amendment challenge to attorney advertising rules issued by the New York Appellate Division barring, inter alia, testimonials from clients relating to pending matters, portrayals of judges or fictitious law firms, attention-getting techniques unrelated to attorney competence, and trade names or nicknames that imply an ability to get results, and establishing a thirty-day moratorium for targeted solicitation following a specific incident, including targeted ads on television or in other media, summary judgment order invalidating most of the content-based restrictions and upholding the thirty-day moratorium is affirmed in part where the content-based restrictions in the disputed provisions regulated commercial speech protected by the First Amendment. However, the order is reversed in part where: 1) the prohibition on advertising mentioning fictitious firms was valid because it targeted potentially misleading advertising; and 2) as to the moratorium, there was a substantial state interest in protecting the privacy and tranquility of personal injury victims and their loved ones against intrusive, unsolicited contact by lawyers.

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Criminal Law & Procedure

[03/12] US v. McMillan
Defendant's wire and mail fraud convictions and sentences are affirmed where: 1) the superseding indictment did not broaden the charges against the defendants; 2) Cleveland's requirement that the object of the fraud be actual money or property in the hands of the victim was satisfied; 3) the district court gave an immediate curative instruction, in response to objections during the prosecutor's closing remarks, that the government bore the burden of proof and the defendants need not testify or prove anything; and 4) the district court did not clearly err by finding that defendants' business would have suffered catastrophic losses had it been closed rather then permitted to continue in operation and that the amount of loss attributable solely to the defendants could not be reasonably calculated.

[03/12] US v. Jackson
Conviction of defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence to 120 months' imprisonment are affirmed where: 1) the officer had a reasonable basis for believing that defendant's mother had the authority to consent to the search of his computer and the computer case; 2) district court properly concluded that the officer did not exceed the scope of the mother's consent; 3) the district court did not err in denying defendant's request to raise an "innocent possession" defense; and 4) district court appropriately rejected defendant's section 5K2.11 argument and imposed a sentence that was reasonable.

[03/12] US v. Sykes
Conviction of defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm and an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminla Act (ACCA) are affirmed as fleeing from police in a vehicle in violation of Ind. Code section 35-44-3-3(b)(1)(A) is sufficiently similar to ACCA's enumerated crimes in kind, as well as the degree of risk posed, and counts as a violent felony under the ACCA.

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