Recently in Civil Rights Law Category

When the district court issued a sweeping injunction that promptly stopped an order to require 85,000 people to report to suspicionless drug testing, it was too broad, the Eleventh Circuit said last month.

In 2011, the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, issued an executive order (EO) that required nearly 85,000 state employees submit to suspicionless drug testing. In turn, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 79 ("Union") sued Rick Scott in his official capacity in court to invalidate this EO -- both facially, and as an as-applied challenge (contending that it was unconstitutional). The district court then granted summary judgment in favor of the Union.

Best Buy's practice of scanning the magnetic card strip of the drivers' licenses of customers who made returns was not a violation of any privacy law, the Eleventh Circuit ruled last month. The court agreed with and affirmed the district court's ruling that plaintiff Steven Siegler did not have any valid claim for relief under the Drivers' Protection Privacy Act ("DPPA").

Siegler, who was hoping to launch a class action suit against Best Buy, was a customer who was attempting to return a computer mouse that he had purchased the day before. Per the store's policy for returns, the cashier requested Siegler's drivers' license, which was voluntarily handed over and swiped by the cashier. Siegler then demanded that the information derived from that scan be deleted, but the store said they were unable to do so.

Florida has dabbled in kosher cuisine. From 2004 to 2007, seven prisons administered kosher meals to inmates under the Jewish Dietary Accommodation Program (JDAP). For unknown reasons (likely budgetary), the program was discontinued. In 2010, they tried a pilot program, though it only existed at one prison in South Florida.

Bruce Rich is an Orthodox Jew serving time at the Union Correctional Institution in Florida. He filed a claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), arguing that his right to practice his religion was violated because he was denied a strictly kosher diet, and seeking both injunctive relief and monetary damages. Somehow, his case was tossed via summary judgment.

Seven experts. Seven opinions that all agree: Warren Lee Hill, Jr. is mentally retarded. Judge Barkett's passionate dissent starts at a point the majority barely reached when they used procedural hurdles to deny Hill's habeas petition -- the fundamental proposition that Hill, per the Constitution, is exempt from execution.

The crux of her argument is this: no statute, even one as strict as the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), should trump the Constitution. Three classes of individuals are exempt from execution, per the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments: the insane, the mentally retarded, and juvenile offenders.

"There would be no wedding bells, no wedding cake, and no tuxedo and white dress for Dustin Myers and Kelley Bowman. The couple was engaged to be married, but before the time came to say 'I Do,' Kelley found herself a new Romeo."

Adding financial injury to insult, Kelley followed up the above described jilting by selling many of Dustin's belongings. She then claimed to have lost her engagement ring. Her mother, perhaps feeling sorry for the young man, warned Dustin of her infidelity and told him to come obtain the remainder of his items before her daughter had another yard sale.

Lakeland, Florida used to have this ... thing. Before every city council meeting, they'd have a Christian chaplain lead a prayer. Obviously, this leaves out a lot of people. Tradition is one thing, but you've got to balance that with the feelings, rights, and religions of others, right?

So they changed it up. Each year, a staff member is supposed to mail out invitations to every recognized religious organization. The first to respond are invited to lead the invocation at one of the meetings. It's diverse, it's inclusive, it's all warm feelings and happiness.

The Indigo Room is a bar. Bars serve alcohol. This bar also serves as a meeting place for the "Occupy Fort Myers" movement. Obviously, political activists come in all, shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and ages, but not all ages are allowed inside of bars.

Dylan Jones is 19 year old supporter of the Occupy movement. He went into the Indigo Room to attend a petition drive (and sign a petition) requesting an ethics investigation of the Fort Myers mayor. On his way out, he was handed a ticket by the local police for violating Fort Myers, Fla., Code § 6-83, which prohibits underage individuals from entering alcoholic beverage establishments while alcohol is being served. The only exceptions are:

Some people believe that public assistance applicants should be required to submit to suspicionless drug testing in order to receive welfare benefits. Others question the assumption that poor people use drugs at a higher rate than rich people, and denounce suspicionless testing as unconstitutional, scientifically unsound, fiscally irresponsible.

It turns out that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals falls in the second camp.

Amber Maughon allegedly got into a physical altercation with her ex-husband’s new girlfriend at her son’s baseball game. The girlfriend reported the incident to Officer Kevin Fuller of the Covington Police Department in Newton County. The victim’s statements corroborated by the scratches observed on her person as well as two witnesses’ accounts.

Fuller intended to obtain a warrant and arrest Maughon the following day. However, Georgia State Trooper Cal Burton (a friend of the victim), who was stationed in neighboring Walton County, contacted Maughon later that evening to relay that he had information on the case. After consulting with dispatchers and authorities in both counties, and discussing the matter with his supervisor, Maughon met an officer from Walton County at Maughon’s house to proceed with the arrest.

Unless you are from the ATL, you probably haven't heard of the Battle of Atlanta. Two parties, armed with pro bono lawyers from BigLaw firms, have battled for decades over the homeless. Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit may have ended the federal dispute by affirming summary judgment.

Before we get to the case, you need to know about the history of homelessness in Atlanta. According to the ABA Journal, the city of Atlanta has torn down nearly 4,700 public housing units, engaged in sweeps to arrest the homeless for trespassing, and now has set their sights on the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, a facility that houses between 500 and 700 men each night.