Doe v. Virginia Dep’t of State Police : A defendant who, in 1993 was convicted of carnal knowledge of a minor without use of force, for a relationship with a student under her supervision, does not have standing to challenge changes to Virginia law after 2008 classifying her as a violent sex offender who may not enter her children’s school without permission from local authorities; the 4th Circuit says she first must seek permission for access from the local state court and school board
Hardwick v. Heyward : The 4th Circuit upholds a decision by South Carolina public school officials to prohibit a student from wearing Confederate flag shirts to school, as defendant school officials complied with U.S. Supreme Court requirements for regulating student speech.
Woollard v. Gallagher : The 4th Circuit reverses a Maryland federal court’s injunction against enforcement of a state statute that conditions the right to carry a handgun in public on having a “good and substantial reason” to do so; because we disagree with the court’s conclusion that the good-and-substantial-reason requirement cannot pass constitutional muster, we reverse the judgment without needlessly demarcating the reach of the Second Amendment.
U.S. v. Black Even assuming the initial encounter between a group of uniformed police officers and a group of five men congregated at a gas station was consensual, the officers’ increasing show of authority, immediate seizure of one man’s gun and frisk of the men in the group and seizure of defendant’s ID, quickly changed the encounter to an investigatory detention, and the 4th Circuit says a gun found on defendant should have been suppressed.
Clatterbuck v. City of Charlottesville A district court erred in dismissing plaintiffs’ First Amendment challenge to a Charlottesville city ordinance that restricts panhandling in certain areas; the 4th Circuit says plaintiffs have nudged their claim across the line from “conceivable” to “plausible.”
Occupy Columbia v. Haley When plaintiffs were arrested, there was no valid regulation that banned their protest on state capitol grounds; therefore, defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity from plaintiffs’ claims for monetary damages.
Meyers v. Baltimore County, Md. A police officer who repeatedly used a Taser on a man after he stopped resisting arrest does not have qualified immunity in this civil rights suit filed by the estate of the man, who died after the incident; the 4th Circuit upholds qualified immunity for two officers who entered the Baltimore County home, but reverses the district court’s decision finding the third officer had qualified immunity.
De’Lonta v. Johnson A Virginia inmate who has the condition of Gender Identity Disorder has stated an Eighth Amendment claim for defendant Department of Corrections’ denial of her request for gender reassignment surgery, and the complaint survives screening under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the 4th Circuit says
Tobey v. Jones A young man who protested TSA screening at Richmond International Airport by stripping down to running shorts to reveal the text of the Fourth Amendment across his bare chest may sue TSA officials for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by calling airport security to arrest him; the 4th Circuit upholds a district court decision finding plaintiff stated a First Amendment claim.
D.L. v. Baltimore City Board of School Comm’rs Although a student with ADHD qualifies for help under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Baltimore city school system does not have to extend that assistance to the student because he is enrolled in a private school, not a public school; the 4th Circuit affirms judgment for the school system.
Next Page »
