LATEST SUMMARIES

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE
• Adkins v. Wolever

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, EVIDENCE, GOVERNMENT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
• Dunlap v. Tennessee Valley Auth.

CIVIL RIGHTS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE
• King v. Ambs

LATEST SUMMARIES

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE
Adkins v. Wolever, No. 07-1421
In plaintiff's suit against a guard at a correctional facility alleging the guard assaulted him in his cell and caused serious injuries, denial of an instruction for an adverse inference based on the alleged spoliation of certain film and photographic evidence of the alleged assault is affirmed where the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to consider a third-party spoliation instruction under the law of Michigan. Read more...

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, EVIDENCE, GOVERNMENT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Dunlap v. Tennessee Valley Auth., No. 07-5381
In a Title VII suit alleging racial discrimination by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a judgment and award in favor of plaintiff finding that TVA's subjective hiring processes permitted racial bias against both plaintiff and other black job applicants is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the proof at trial was insufficient for a finding of disparate impact; but 2) the district court committed no error in finding disparate treatment discrimination. Read more...

CIVIL RIGHTS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE
King v. Ambs, No. 06-2054
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action arising from plaintiff's arrest after he repeatedly told another individual not to talk to defendant-officer, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) because defendant had probable cause to arrest plaintiff for disorderly conduct, he did not violate plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights; 2) summary judgment was proper on a First Amendment claim that plaintiff was arrested for constitutionally protected speech, as his speech was not protected; and 3) even if a constitutional violation had been established, such right would not have been clearly established. Read more...