South Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights were not violated when a transit authority revoked their access to certain restricted property even though the revocation was made in retaliation to activities protected under the First Amendment. Background Plaintiff David McClure is the ...
Read More »Constitutional – First Amendment rights not violated by revocation of privileges
Constitutional – Ban of constituent from Facebook page violated First Amendment 
Although neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any Circuit has addressed whether a governmental social media page constitutes a public forum, the court found aspects of the Loudon County Board Chair’s Facebook page bear the hallmarks of a public forum. ...
Read More »Constitutional – “Incumbent Protection Act” is unconstitutional
In rejecting the commonwealth’s challenge to a decision that a state law, which allows incumbent members of the General Assembly to dictate the method their party shall use in selecting the nominee for the office that incumbent holds, violates the ...
Read More »Constitutional -Challenges to county inaction fail
The district court correctly granted the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Montgomery County, Maryland, and the planning commission because the commercial developer had no constitutional property interest to develop its land. Background Pulte is a residential real ...
Read More »Constitutional – First Amendment – Church/Homeless Shelter – Municipal – Unsafe Building
Plaintiff complains of acts by the City of Darlington’s fire marshal, police chief and individuals at the Office of Building Permits, but they didn’t sue any of these individuals; instead, they sued the mayor, the city manager, and members of ...
Tagged with: unsafe building
Read More »Constitutional – First Amendment – Labor & Employment – Social Media Policy – Black History Month Post – Schools & School Boards
The defendant-school board forecasted evidence that it fired plaintiff because, after being counseled not to do so, plaintiff continued to post material on social media that defendant found inappropriate. However, plaintiff forecasted evidence (he was terminated soon after his Black ...
Read More »Constitutional – Expression not chilled by school’s initial inquiry
A university did not restrict or chill students’ speech by seeking their response to complaints that they had harassed others. The students, who’d sought and obtained university approval for a campus “Free Speech Event,” met with an official to discuss ...
Tagged with: Free Speech
Read More »Constitutional – Shooting suicidal man was excessive force
An officer violated the Fourth Amendment in shooting a suicidal man who had a knife but was threatening only himself. The officer was entitled to qualified immunity, but the unconstitutionality of his actions is clearly established as of the date ...
Tagged with: Suicide
Read More »Constitutional – Data breach victims have standing for contract claims
After credit cards were fraudulently opened in their names, a class of optometrists alleged an injury in fact traceable to their professional organization. Background In July 2016, optometrists across the nation noticed that Chase Amazon Visa credit card accounts had ...
Tagged with: data
Read More »Constitutional – Due Process – Civil Practice – Preliminary Injunction – Administrative – Municipal Permit
The plaintiff-towing company’s permit to operate in the defendant-city was suspended for improper temporary staging in lots where owners could not retrieve their vehicles, refusing “drop payments” from owners as their vehicles were being towed, and violation of the two-mile ...
Tagged with: Civil Practice
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