In Griggs v. Chickasaw County, Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals again issued an opinion on the subject of government retaliation for the exercise of free speech. We previously wrote on these topics here and here. Today, we look at a situation in which a local government fired an employee because he intended [..]
We previously wrote here about Section 1983 and the ratification theory of liability. On June 21, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued it opinion in Young v. Humphreys County and affirmed the lower court’s judgment based on that theory. The facts in Young On September 2, 2015, Plaintiff Carl Young bought three empty [..]
In Buehler v. City of Austin, Texas, 824 F.3d 548 (5th Cir. 2016), the Fifth Circuit again applied its independent intermediary rule to a false arrest claim. The facts in Buehler are fairly simple. Officers of the Austin Police Department arrested Buehler on three occasions for interfering with police duties while he filmed APD interactions with [..]
On May 21, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Valderas v. City of Lubbock. The issue in that case was whether Valderas could maintain a Section 1983 claim for the use of excessive force by the police. Facts of the case. Lubbock police went to a [..]
We recently wrote about a Section 1983 claim when a person was arrested based upon a false affidavit signed by a law enforcement officer. Today, we discuss another situation in which a faulty affidavit can give rise to a constitutional rights violation. On September 18, 2018, United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued an [..]
Here, we discuss a Section 1983 claim for malicious criminal prosecution. Recently, the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Winfrey v. Rogers, 901 F.3d 483 (5th Cir. 2018). In that case, Richard Winfrey (“Junior”) was arrested and charged with murder after a botched investigation and various alleged violations of Junior’s Fourth Amendment rights. The State [..]
Last year, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach. In its opinion, the Court addressed the interplay between lawful arrests and the use of government power to suppress free speech. As the Court said, “an arrest deprives a person of essential liberties, but if there is probable [..]
Today we discuss the defense of absolute immunity to a Section 1983 lawsuit alleging a violation of constitutional rights. We previously wrote here about the defense of qualified immunity. To recap, most government employees are immune from such a lawsuit unless the plaintiff proves that: The government employee violated a constitutional right of the plaintiff; [..]
We previously wrote here about Title VII, a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Today, we discuss the related concept of an employer’s retaliation against an employee who exercises her rights under Title VII. Under federal law, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against [..]
When an inmate is at risk of committing suicide, prison officials are obligated to take certain actions. Recently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a Section 1983 constitutional claim arising from a prison suicide. In Arenas v. Calhoun (decided April 26, 2019), the facts were as follows: While patrolling a unit of a state [..]
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