In 3Pak LLC v. City of Seattle, published May 5, 2026, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Washington State law. During the 2020 protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, protestors occupied a…
In Estate v. Soakai v. Abdelaziz, published May 16, 2025, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed denial of the police officer defendants' motion to dismiss the action at the pleading stage based on qualified immunity. According to the complaint's allegations, the defendant officers spotted a person they believed had participated in…
In Regino v. Staley, published April 4, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit at the pleading stage. A school district had a policy that prohibited conduct such as refusing to address a student by a name and pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity and…
In Jensen v. Brown, published March 10, 2025, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit without leave to amend. The plaintiff is a mathematics professor at a state community college. The board of regents for the state college system adopted a policy that lowered the academic level…
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 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 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…
In Bedard v. City of Los Angeles, published October 31, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 3 affirmed a trial court decision denying in part and granting in part a petition for administrative mandate. In 2021, the defendant city passed an ordinance that required that all city employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or request…
In Health Freedom defense Fund, Inc. v. Carvalho, published June 7, 2024, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court order granting judgment on the pleadings. The plaintiffs challenged the defendant California school district's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. The district reversed course on the policy multiple times. The district court…