Different constitutional provisions have their own state of mind requirements. Even the same constitutional provision can have variable state of mind requirements depending on context. For example, in some situations the state of mind requirement for a due process violation
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The Homeless, The Eighth Amendment & Judicial Limits: A Divided Ninth Circuit
It is typically prisoners who bring §1983 Eighth Amendment claims for damages and prospective relief against prison officers and officials. But what of §1983 Eighth Amendment actions brought by non-prisoners such as the homeless who allege that they are punished…
Chalking, Parking Tickets and the Fourth Amendment: The Ninth Circuit Disagrees
In Verdun v. City of San Diego, 51 F.4th 1033, 1035 (9th Cir. 2022), the Ninth Circuit stated: “We are asked to decide whether the longstanding practice of chalking tires for parking enforcement purposes violates the Fourth Amendment. It does…
Certiorari Granted in First Amendment Retaliatory Arrest Case: Gonzalez v. Trevino, No. 22-1079
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Gonzalez v. Trevino, 42 F.4th 487 (5th Cir. 2022), cert granted, 143 S. Ct. — (2023), where the plaintiff, a former city council member, alleged that the individual defendants arrested her for illegally…
State Action, Social Media & §1983: Certiorari Granted
Important state action issues involving social media are arising with increasing frequency in the circuits. These issues typically occur in the First Amendment setting where state and local government officials block citizens from their social media. The threshold question is…
Preserving Qualified Immunity On Appeal: Dupree v. Younger Glosses Ortiz v. Jordan
Ortiz v. Jordan and Sufficiency Challenges It is important to distinguish interlocutory appeals of denials of qualified immunity summary judgment motions from situations of the sort that arose in Ortiz v. Jordan, 562 U.S. 180, 131 S. Ct. 884, 178…
Health & Hospital Corp. v. Talevski: An Important Section 1983 “Laws” Decision on the Spending Power with 10th Amendment Overtones
Consider Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, 143 S. Ct. — (2023), aff’g, 6 F.4th 713 (7th Cir. 2021), an important case involving Congress’s spending power and the relationship between § 1983 and alleged violations of the…
Section 1983, Proximate Cause And The Ninth Circuit’s “Integral Participant” Doctrine
In Peck v. Montoya, 51 F.4th 877 (9th Cir. 2022), the five officer defendants responded to a 911 call that decedent was acting erratically and threatening another person with a firearm. Two of those officers in this § 1983 Fourth…
Reed v. Goertz: A New Supreme Court §1983 Accrual Decision
In a much-read post on statutes of limitation and §1983, I discuss the important principle that §1983 accrual rules are matters of federal law. (See https://nahmodlaw.com/2011/10/27/a-section-1983-primer-5-statutes-of-limitations/). In related subsequent posts and in my Treatise, I address the special accrual rule…
The Intriguing Intersection of DeShaney and Monell Liability: The Seventh Circuit’s LaPorta Decision
In First Midwest Bank Guardian of Estate of LaPorta v. City of Chicago, 988 F.3d 978, 990–91 (7th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 389, 211 L. Ed. 2d 207 (2021), the Seventh Circuit put DeShaney v. County of…