North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Henry v. Purnell A deputy who mistook his pistol for a Taser can be sued for shooting an unarmed, fleeing suspect; on rehearing, the en banc 4th Circuit says a jury could find that the deputy’s mistake was “objectively unreasonable” because he should have realized he had grabbed a .40 caliber Glock handgun and there was no threat from the man he was chasing for failure to pay child support.

Tagged with: Civil Rights Police Officer Qualified Immunity

Sumter County School Dist. 17 v. Heffernan A school district failed to provide an autistic student with a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, because it did not comply with his Individual Education Plan's direction that he receive at least 15 hours per week of applied behavioral analysis therapy; the 4th Circuit upholds the decision in favor of the student's parents, who withdrew him from public school in order to educate him at home.

Tagged with: Schools & School Boards

American Civil Liberties Union v. Holder. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0353, 32 pp.) (Dever, J.) No. 09-2086, March 28, 2011; USDC at Alexandria, Va. (O’Grady, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: The 4th Circuit ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights false claims act

Kendall v. Balcerzak. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0351, 27 pp.) (Duffy) No. 09-2304, March 28, 2011; USDC at Baltimore (Motz, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: The 4th Circuit upholds dismissal of a § ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights

Crosby v. City of Gastonia. (Lawyers Weekly No.  11-01-0326, 20 pp.) (King, J.) No. 10-1153, March 10, 2011; USDC at Charlotte (Conrad, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: Former city police officers do ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Contract Public Employees

Brockington v. Boykins (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0306, 8 pp.) (Gregory, J.) No. 09-2308, March 22, 2011; USDC at Baltimore (Blake, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A reasonable police officer would have recognized that deadly force was no longer needed after plaintiff ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights

Equity In Athletics Inc. v. Dep’t of Education. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0285, 32 pp.) (Davis, J.) No. 10-1259, March 8, 2011; USDC at Harrisonburg, Va. (Conrad, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: The ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights

  Legend Night Club v. Miller. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0198, 30 pp.) (Wynn, J.) No. 09-1540, Feb. 17, 2011; USDC at Baltimore (Garbis, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: In this appeal of ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional First Amendment

Witt v. West Virginia State Police Troop 2. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0143, 9 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 10-1008, Feb. 4, 2011; USDC at Martinsburg, W.Va. (Bailey, J.) 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: Although ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights search & seizure

Lewis v. Jordon. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-03-1011, 12 pp.) (Wallace W. Dixon, USMJ) M.D.N.C. Holding: Even though plaintiff alleged that defendants arrested plaintiff for larceny of a dog without probable cause, defendants submitted affidavits to support their allegations that plaintiff’s ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Conspiracy malicious prosecution probable cause Sect. 1983