Case Summaries

Civil Rights

[09/05] Wong v. Bush
In a case alleging First Amendment and National Environmental Protection Act violations by the U.S. Coast Guard in establishing safety zones insulating a private super-ferry from blockade by local protesters, denial of declaratory judgment is affirmed despite plaintiff's standing to sue where: 1) the safety zones established by the Coast Guard did not violate the First Amendment; and 2) the Coast Guard need not consider the secondary environmental effects of the super-ferry itself in the decision to establish safety zones.

[09/05] US v. Ault
In a case challenging enhanced sentencing based on misdemeanors in which defendant was unrepresented, the sentence imposed is affirmed as not violating the Sixth Amendment right to counsel where: 1) two of the four misdemeanors considered did not include incarceration; and 2) plaintiff waived counsel in the remaining two misdemeanor matters.

[09/05] Carvajal v. Dominguez
In a suit alleging constitutional violations by a DEA officer in connection with the criminal prosecution of plaintiff for money laundering, denial of summary judgment for defendant on one of four claims is reversed where: 1) the denial of defendant's claim of qualified immunity was an appealable collateral order; and 2) defendant committed no Brady violation and was therefore entitled to qualified immunity.

[09/05] Woodruff v. Mason
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit alleging that state social-services employees had retaliated against plaintiff-healthcare provider by instigating the launch of a predatory enforcement campaign aimed at driving plaintiff out of business, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff did not produce sufficient evidence to demonstrate a causal link between its protected First Amendment activity and the alleged retaliation by defendants; and 2) plaintiff did not produce sufficient evidence to substantiate any of its three equal-protection claims.

[09/04] Paulino v. Harrison
In a habeas corpus case, grant of a habeas petition due to unconstitutionally constituted jury is affirmed where the petitioner made a strong prima facie showing of discriminatory intent in the pattern of the prosecutor's striking of potential jurors and the state offered no non-speculative evidence of non-discriminatory intent in jury selection.

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