Recently in Civil Rights Law Category

Bad news for gay high school kids wanting to sue their coaches; the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that two Texas high school softball coaches had qualified immunity despite allegations that the two “outed” a lesbian player to her mother.

In Wyatt v. Fletcher, the Court ruled that the plaintiff’s Section 1983 claim alleging a 14th Amendment violation of privacy was vague at best and certainly not enough to overcome the public school coaches’ qualified immunity.

Is there a right to keep your sexual orientation private at public school?

Texas youth are going to continue having to wait until they turn 21 to get their concealed gun permits. The Fifth Circuit has rejected a claim that Texas law preventing 18 to 20-year-olds from obtaining a Texas concealed weapons permit violates their Constitutional rights.

Youth can complain to Congress if they would like. Congress’ determination of young people’s inability to handle handguns safely influenced the court’s decision. Like it or not, the court agrees that young people are irresponsible, emotionally immature, thrill-seeking, and prone to causing crimes.

You don’t have to be 21 to get a gun; 18-to-20-year-olds can legally possess and use handguns. Parents or guardians may gift handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds. The under-21 set can even purchase handguns through unlicensed, private sales. Federal law, however, provides that you must be 21 to purchase a gun from a federally-licensed dealer.

In October, a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously upheld the handgun purchase age restriction, noting that Congress “deliberately adopted a calibrated, compromise approach.” Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit voted against reconsidering that decision en banc.

It was a close vote.

It’s official: Barring Supreme Court review, the St. Joseph Abbey monks can sell caskets in Louisiana.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Louisiana morticians had failed to offer a rational basis for a state rule limiting casket sales to licensed funeral directors, The Associated Press reports.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a student with special needs who sued the Waco Independent School District for failing to her prevent sexual abuse at school should get another shot at making her case.

The court’s ruling, however, highlights the importance of a well-pleaded claim. When remanding the matter, the Judge Haynes noted that the pleading was “not a model of detail” and suggested that the student replead.

Tina Milton was a clerical employee with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) from November 1990 until April 19, 2007. She was responsible for looking for coded gang messages in inmate mail. She was terminated, administratively, after failing to provide medical documentation verifying FMLA leave.

Milton sued, arguing that she suffered from a disability: Namely, a sensitivity to scented candles and wall plug-ins.

If you think that wouldn’t create a problem for a TDCJ employee, you would be wrong.

It looks like the casket-making monks will have to win their case against the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors on constitutional grounds.

A tipster alerted us yesterday to an interesting tidbit from the Bayou State's top court: In January, the court declined to address a certified question from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the matter.

If you're new to this monk-casket judicial battle, we'll bring you up to speed on the controversy at hand, and what the certified question denial means.

This really shouldn't have taken this long to decide. Max Moussazadeh is serving a seventy-five year sentence for murder. He is also a practicing Jew and his family kept kosher throughout his life. In 2005, he filed an administrative grievance over the unavailability of kosher foods.

After properly exhausting administrative remedies, he filed suit in October 2005, alleging that the failure to provide kosher meals violated RLUIPA and the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The suit was stayed to facilitate settlement talks, and though his facility at the time began to serve kosher meals, the suit was not settled because the Texas Department of Correctional Justice refused to ensure that they would continue to do so permanently. Nonetheless, the suit was eventually dismissed by the court as moot.

An 18-year-old can appear in Girls Gone Wild, but she can’t purchase a handgun from a federally-licensed firearms dealer. If you have a problem with that, you’ll have to submit an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

Thursday, a Fifth Circuit panel unanimously upheld an age restriction for handgun purchases, finding that the age threshold was “consistent with a longstanding tradition of targeting select groups’ ability to access and to use arms for the sake of public safety,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

In June, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in an appeal regarding whether the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors could stop a group of monks in Covington from making and selling caskets.

Though more than four months have passed since oral arguments, this case won’t be laid to rest quite yet. Tuesday, the appellate court asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to decide if the Board can set the state rules of casket sales.