In Johnson v. Myers, published March 3, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court decision denying the defendant officers summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Several police officers responded to a call from decedent's girlfriend stating decedent was being abusive. One of the defendant officers spoke with the decedent, built a…
In Williams v. Reed, published February 21, 2025, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state supreme court decision affirming dismissal of a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. A group of unemployed workers alleged that the state unlawfully delayed processing their state unemployment benefit claims. State law provided that state courts could not entertain appeals…
In Sheyn v. Ventura County Public Works Agency et al., published February 20, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 6 reversed a dismissal of an inverse condemnation lawsuit on demurrer. The plaintiff grew avocados. The defendant district is a publicly-owned utility that provides water to the plaintiff and other property owners. The plaintiff's property is…
In K.J. v. Jackson, published February 11, 2025, the 9th Circuit reversed summary judgment for the individual defendants in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 case. The students involved in a lunchtime fight on a high school campus were suspended for fighting on campus. The plaintiff was included. Before he and the other students were suspended, they…
In Thai v. County of Los Angeles, published February 12, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the defendant investigators from the county district attorney's office. The investigators were assigned to the Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit, a joint federal-state task force assigned to investigate allegations of fraud in Social Security disability benefit…
In I.C. v. Compton Unified School Dist., ordered published February 6, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed a judgment entered after jury trial. The 16-year-old plaintiff and his friend started a fist fight during an art class. Their teacher intervened. The teacher weighed 375 pounds, and had recently been using a…
In Olson v. County of Grant, published February 10, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants. The plaintiff, who runs a marijuana dispensary in Oregon (where possession of marijuana is not illegal), was arrested in Idaho for marijuana possession. During the traffic stop leading to her…
In D.G. v. Orange County Social Services Agency, ordered published January 31, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3 reversed the summary judgment granted to the defendant county. The plaintiff and his siblings were first placed in a foster home in 1972, when the plaintiff was three. The foster parents were licensed, had no…
In Bakos v. Roach, published January 29, 2025, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed in part and affirmed in part the trial court's grant of summary judgment. Acting on a tip, level 2 humane officers of the Humane Society obtained a search warrant under Penal Code section 597.1, searched the plaintiff's pheasant hunting club, and…
In Grimm v. City of Portland, published January 3, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the city in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 case. The plaintiff parked a car on the side of a downtown street. He paid through an app for an hour and 19…