Tag Archives: Court: 4th Circuit

Politico: Liberty University’s challenge to the health reform law will go back before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Thursday, with the school focused on getting Obamacare back before the Supreme Court. Liberty’s lawsuit is the most wide ranging of the outstanding legal challenges to the health law, hitting everything from contraceptive coverage to the employer mandate.

Religion Clause Blog: In Doe v. Virginia Department of State Police, (4th Cir., April 12, 2013), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed . . .  One of plaintiff’s claims was that her free exercise rights were violated because all the churches of her faith in the area have Sunday Schools.

WECT.com: “No university should refuse promotion to an accomplished professor simply because it disagrees with his religious and political views,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Vice President Jordan Lorence. The group is representing Adams in his lawsuit.

GoUpstate.com (AP): A federal appellate court on Monday upheld a South Carolina school district’s decision to bar a student from wearing shirts with the Confederate battle flag on campus, ruling that school officials need to keep order and promote education. | Hardwick v. Heyward

Travis C. Barham at Speak Up Movement: After over six years of litigation, Mike Adams has won the right to present his retaliation case to a jury of his peers. Back in 2006, he was denied promotion to full professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Kevin C. Walsh at WalshLaw: The panel opinion is right that “the Commonwealth cannot simply wave a magic wand and decree by fiat conduct as criminal . . .” But the Commonwealth did no such thing. It declared conduct criminal through ordinary legislation, and the Fourth Circuit has now erroneously set aside a conviction for violation of that ordinary state legislation through an extraordinary exercise of the federal judicial power.

We herein use the term “anti-sodomy provision” to refer to the foregoing portion of section 18.2-361(A).2 As explained below, we are constrained to vacate the district court’s judgment and remand for an award of habeas corpus relief on the ground that the anti-sodomy provision facially violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Religion Clause Blog: In Moore-King v. County of Chesterfield, Virginia, (4th Cir., Feb. 26, 2013), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld against various constitutional challenges a Virginia county’s regulation of fortune tellers. The regulations require fortune tellers to obtain a license and business permit, and to obtain a conditional use permit in order to locate their business in specifically zoned areas.

Business Journal: A Silver Spring megachurch that claims Montgomery County violated federal law by blocking its plan to relocate to a 119-acre plot in Germantown should get a chance to prove its case, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, the Maryland Daily Record reported. | Bethel World Outreach v. Montgomery County Council, No. 11-2176 | Religion Clause post

Virginia inmate Ophelia Azriel De’lonta (born Michael A. Stokes) filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that prison officials denied her adequate medical treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. Because we conclude that De’lonta’s complaint states a claim for relief that is plausible on its face, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

he Fourth Circuit Court found that the town government did not violate the First Amendment by fining the late David Bowden for the message he had painted on his house in 2009. Three judges unanimously overturned a lower-court decision in the Bowden estate’s favor. “We acknowledge that the Town’s Sign Ordinance, and in particular its application to Bowden, has aggravated some Cary residents who believe it excessively restrictive,” wrote Judge Albert Diaz. “But their recourse here lies with the ballot, not the Constitution.”

Religion Clause Blog: In D.L. v. Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, (4th Cir., Jan. 16, 2013), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794) does not require the Baltimore city school board to provide educational services to students enrolled in private religious schools.

WalshLaw: This morning’s lively en banc proceedings at the Fourth Circuit in abortion-counseling-related First Amendment challenges did not produce clear signs of a winner, but raised questions (at least in my mind) about what legal issues the court took the cases en banc to address. There was virtually no discussion of commercial speech doctrine, and no judge or set of judges developed a line of questioning that would seemingly lay the foundation to displace strict scrutiny as the appropriate standard of review. That said, oral argument reveals only so much. | Related ADF Media Information Page and Press Releases

LifeNews: “Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of abortion sellers,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman, co-counsel for the Centro Tepeyac Women’s Center. Bowman added: “Pro-life centers provide women with the emotional support and practical resources they need, giving them more choices. They should be free to share that message instead of being compelled to provide the government’s preferred message, which sends women elsewhere. The 4th Circuit panel was right to rule against Montgomery County’s law, and we trust the full court will agree.”

An Alliance Defending Freedom attorney will be available for media interviews following oral arguments by co-counsel Thursday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in a lawsuit involving a Montgomery County, Md. law that forces pro-life pregnancy counselors to advise women against using their services.

Richmond Times Dispatch: In his first term, President Barack Obama has had an unprecedented impact on what was long considered the most conservative federal appeals court in the country. Except for the handful of cases that make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for the states of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and North and South Carolina.

Blog of the Legal Times: In a dispute over religious practices, a federal appeals court in Richmond today upheld a ruling that has prevented a state prisoner from creating an “outdoor worship circle” featuring one thousand pounds of small stones. | Krieger v. Brown

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Matt Bowman regarding Thursday’s decision by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to review a three-judge panel’s decision in Centro Tepeyac v. Montgomery County and Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Bloomberg: The full U.S. Appeals Court in Richmond, Virginia, agreed to rehear a case involving a law that requires anti-abortion pregnancy centers to post an advisory encouraging their clients to consult with medical professionals. The court set Dec. 6 for oral arguments in the rehearing, accepting a request by Montgomery County, Maryland, to review a split decision by a three-judge panel.

The Center for Reproductive Rights and the City of Baltimore filed a petition for a new hearing today before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in their case defending a truth-in-advertising ordinance requiring crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to post modest signs in their waiting rooms indicating that they do not provide or make referrals for abortion or comprehensive birth control services.

FFRF: The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a petition with the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking its review of a decision by a three-judge panel approving academic credit for released time instruction . . . The petition seeks review on key issues in the case, including whether granting grading power to a bible school entangles church and state and whether the district’s assistance and support to the bible school class unconstitutionally advances religion.

Religion Clause Blog: In Moss v. Spartanburg County School District Seven, (4th Cir., June 28, 2012), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Spartanburg’s released time program that permits high school students to receive two academic credits for off-campus religious instruction offered by a private Bible school.

The court held that the disclaimer required by Ordinance 09-252 is “a form of compelled speech” that “alters the course of a [pregnancy] center’s communication with a client or prospective client about abortion and birth-control” and “is based, at least in part, on disagreement with the viewpoint of the speaker.” The court entered a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the ordinance. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog: 4th Circuit Upholds FEC’s “Major Purpose” Test for Political Committees, Subjecting Groups Like Crossroads GPS to Potential Liability for Not Registering as Super PACs
Among other things, the Court upheld the FEC’s case-by-case approach to determine which political groups need to register as political action committees (and as a consequence must reveal all of their donors). The FEC uses a fact-intensive multi-part inquiry to determine whether a particular group has as its “major purpose” the nomination or election of federal candidates for office.

Charleston Gazette: Stephanie Dawn Thacker donned her vestment Tuesday afternoon as the first West Virginian woman to sit as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

West Virginia Record: West Virginia attorney Stephanie Thacker has been confirmed to a federal appeals court. The U.S. Senate voted 91-3 in favor of Thacker to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Monday evening.

WalshsLaw: A Fourth Circuit panel consisting of Judge Niemeyer, Judge King, and Judge Agee heard oral arguments yesterday in two First Amendment challenges brought by pregnancy resource centers in Maryland. I attended both arguments. From the content and tenor of the proceedings, it seems very likely that the court will affirm the two district courts whose rulings were at issue, both of which held that ordinances compelling speech by pregnancy resource centers violate the First Amendment.

Salisbury News: For years meetings of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners have opened with prayer, and more often than not, that prayer was offered “in the name of Jesus,” but citing complaints over a number of years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked commissioners to stop using prayer to open meetings.

Altavista Journal: A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction barring the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors from opening meetings with Christian prayers pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

WPCVA.com: An opinion by Virginia’s attorney general on prayer at public meetings warns governmental bodies and officers to “take heed” of recent cases decided by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. | VA AG Op. #11-105 (Dec. 9, 2011)

One News Now: David French, senior counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, says the Fourth Circuit’s overturning of that ruling is good for the educational community. “We’re extremely pleased by this decision,” says the attorney. “It vindicates academic freedom not only for Dr. Adams, but for all professors; and it reestablishes the principle that the university is a marketplace of ideas. [Alert editor: Note to the reader - David French is now legal counsel with the ACLJ]

ABA Journal: A federal appeals court once known for its conservative opinions has undergone a marked change since five of President Obama’s judicial nominees won confirmation.

he federal appellate court that covers Maryland has for years been considered one of the more right-leaning in the nation, finding that women can be banned from a military institute, that the FDA can’t regulate tobacco and that confessions count even when suspects haven’t been read their rights, among other conservative opinions.

Reuters: The Senate on Monday approved six nominees to fill judicial vacancies, addressing a backlog of 27 judicial nominees that were pending before the chamber.

Religion Clause: In a little-noticed portion of his 73-page dissent, Judge Wynn rejected free exercise, RFRA and Establishment Clause challenges to the statute, saying . . .

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) does not have a legal right to sue over the law’s requirement that most people buy insurance. The court vacated a lower court’s ruling in the case and instructed the lower court to dismiss the suit.

The Moral Liberal: In a decision setting back student free speech rights, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in the case of Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools earlier this week.

West Virginia Record: harleston attorney Stephanie Thacker is President Obama’s pick to fill an opening on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Washington Post: A federal appeals court has backed a West Virginia school’s decision to suspend a high school senior grader for creating a web page ridiculing another student. | Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools

SCOTUSblog: The Obama Administration urges the Fourth Circuit Court to go ahead and decide the constitutionality of a key section of the new health reform law, rather than dismiss it under a federal tax law.

SCOTUS Blog: In two identical orders (here and here), the three-judge panel indicated it wanted to explore further how to treat the financial penalty that individuals would have to pay to the federal government if they did not obtain health coverage by 2014.

Religion Clause Blog: The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals now has posted online a recording of the oral arguments in Joyner v. Forsyth County, North Carolina . . . Don Byrd also has transcribed excerpts from the arguments. (ADF allied attorney Mike Johnson argued for Forsyth County)

Christian Post: . . . However, Johnson contended that the clergy’s prayers, shared during time allotted for a private forum, constitute private speech. The Constitution’s establishment clause does not apply to private speech, he said. “It becomes an issue of free speech and free exercise for those who come to speak as volunteers,” he informed The Christian Post . . . Johnson, a former senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, is now the founding dean of the Pressler School of Law at Louisiana College. The private Baptist college will launch the new law school late this summer. According to Johnson, it is the first Christian law school of its kind in the South . . .

Share

wxii12.com: Representing Forsyth County, Alliance Defense Fund attorney Mike Johnson said each attorney’s argument was slated to be heard for 20 minutes, but each attorney answered questions and presented arguments for an hour and a half. “A lot people are watching for the outcome of this, and we hope it comes out well,” Johnson said.

MyFox8.com: “We are in it for the long haul,” said Mike Johnson, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “We believe it is a tradition that is important to defend.”
. . . “It’s part of the fabric of our society. As the Supreme Court said, it is part of who we are as Americans and there’s no reason to change these centuries-old traditions because someone claims to be offended by them,” Johnson said.

SCOTUS Blog: The 14-month-old federal health care law’s most important provision appears to be on its way to surviving its first constitutional test in a federal appeals court. The key problem for the challengers: their activity-inactivity distinction did not seem to work.

A majority of Americans may strongly oppose the Obamacare law that allows abortion funding and presents rationing concerns, but the computers at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit apparently love the law.

Two lower-court judges in Virginia last year ruled in opposite ways:

AP: Two appointees of President Barack Obama have been selected for the three-judge federal appeals court panel reviewing his health care overhaul in Virginia.

How Appealing links to the audio in the two pending cases.

USA Today: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will consider two cases testing the sweeping law that requires people to buy health insurance by 2014 or face a tax penalty. In one of those two cases, a trial judge declared that mandate, the linchpin provision of the 2010 health-care law, unconstitutional. In the other case, a judge upheld it.

Schafer v. Astrue, No. 10-1500 (4th Cir. April 12, 2011) Don and Janice Schafer married in 1992. Don died the next year. With the help of in vitro fertilization, however, Janice gave birth to W.M.S., Don Schafer’s biological child, a …

Mike Adams at Townhall: Some told us we should just give up. Others told us we should simply accept the federal judge’s decision and resign ourselves to the fact that the First Amendment is now dead on our college campuses. But the Alliance Defense Fund took my case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in January. And, last week, they issued a landmark defense of First Amendment rights for faculty at public colleges and universities. For the first time in years, I’m getting love mail from liberals.

Christian Post: The ruling is a huge win for Adams and French. “The 4th Circuit’s decision is a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors,” French stated. “Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion.”

Inside Higher Ed: David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, issued a statement calling Wednesday’s decision “a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors. Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion. Opinion columns are among the purest examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment.”

One News Now: ADF senior counsel David French argued before the court on Adams’ behalf. “Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs,” French states, “and this decision thoroughly upholds that principle.” French calls the circuit court’s decision “a ringing vindication” of the academic freedom of public university professors.

Warrne Moore at the American Culture: “In an interesting side note, Adams was represented by David French, of the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization dealing in religious liberty issues. French is also a pundit, and he happens to live in a portion of my ancestral domain.”

Decision against UNC-Wilmington sets significant precedent protecting professors who express their views on religious, political topics

Travis Barham at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: A University of North Carolina–Wilmington professor’s speeches and columns are fully protected by the First Amendment, according to a published decision handed down Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys contended that criminology professor Mike Adams was denied a promotion unconstitutionally because university officials were hostile to the religious and political views he espoused in his columns and speeches . . .

Religion Clause Blog: In Workman v. Mingo County Board of Education, (4th Cir., March 22, 2011), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld West Virginia’s statute requiring vaccination for various diseases as a condition of attending school.

SCOTS Blog reports: “The Fourth Circuit Court on Thursday scheduled oral argument for Tuesday, May 10, for cases testing the constitutionality of the new federal health care law — focusing especially on the law’s requirement that virtually all Americans must obtain health insurance by 2014.  In an order issued in one of the cases, Liberty University v., Geithner (Circuit docket 10-2347), the Court noted that its hearings normally allow 20 minutes per side.”

Blog of the Legal Times: In Legend Night Club v. Miller, [No. 09-1540] the panel majority affirmed a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law that was imposed in 2009 by a federal district court . . . The law limits the range of permissible conduct, attire and entertainment at establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages . . . Writing for the panel majority, Judge James Wynn said, “The statute imposes restrictions that extend well beyond strip clubs and other establishments primarily offering adult entertainment.”

White House: “Today, President Obama nominated Judge Henry F. Floyd for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit . . . Judge Henry F. Floyd is a distinguished jurist without over 18 years of judicial experience. For the past seven years, he has served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina.” | Judgepedia.

ABA Journal: Bush-Appointed Judge Who Ruled for Padilla Is Nominated for 4th Circuit

The New American: “Defend Life filed suit against Harford County, the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, the state troopers, Bel Air police officers, and the town of Bel Air. The plaintiffs are being represented by the Thomas More Society, a pro-life public-interest law firm based in Chicago, which is working with other lawyers in the case, including the Alliance Defense Fund, Chris Ferrara of the American Catholic Lawyers Association, and Matt Paavola, former president of Maryland’s Christian Legal Society.”

LifeSiteNews: “Maryland police and state troopers have lost their appeal to get immunity from a lawsuit filed against them by pro-life protesters they arrested and strip-searched in Bel Air, Maryland, according to a federal appeals court . . . Other attorneys involved with the case include the Alliance Defense Fund, Chris Ferrara of American Catholic Lawyers Association, and Matt Paavola, of Baltimore, former president of Maryland’s Christian Legal Society.”

ChristianNewsWire: “This week, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals roundly rejected an appeal taken by defendant police officers in a suit brought by Defend Life, a Maryland pro-life activist group, its leader, Jack Ames, and many participants in a “truth tour” sponsored by the group in August, 2009, granting a motion to dismiss the appeal filed by Thomas More Society’s special counsel, Patrick Gillen, who is also an Assistant Professor of Law at Ave Maria Law School in Naples, Florida . . . Thomas More Society is working with other lawyers in the case, including the Alliance Defense Fund, Chris Ferrara of American Catholic Lawyers Association, and Matt Paavola, of Baltimore, former president of Maryland’s Christian Legal Society.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: Just before Christmas, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim that Arlington County Virginia violated the Establishment Clause when it worked with a church to develop a building that contained both a church and affordable housing. A link to the court’s opinion in Glassman v. Arlington County can be found here.

Orin Kerr writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “Nineteen judicial nominees have been confirmed in the last week. By my count, those nineteen confirmations include five circuit court confirmations: 1) Mary Murguia for the Ninth Circuit; 2) Scott Matheson Jr. for the Tenth Circuit; 3) Kathleen O’Malley for the Federal Circuit; 4) Raymond Lohier Jr. for the Second Circuit; and 5) Albert Diaz for the Fourth Circuit.”

Religion Clause: “In Glassman v. Arlington County, Virginia, (4th Cir., Dec. 23, 2010), the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to Arlington County, Virginia’s participation in the financing and construction of a ten story building that houses a church on the first two floors and apartments on the upper 8 floors.”

LifeNews: “Harford County officials have settled a case involving a federal lawsuit attorneys filed on behalf of pro-life women who were shackled and strip searched after peacefully protesting abortion in Maryland . . . ‘Pro-life advocates shouldn’t be handcuffed and arrested for expressing their beliefs,’ said ADF Litigation Counsel [Daniel Blomberg]. ‘The 4th Circuit’s decision is a positive development for our clients, who deserve justice after what they endured.’”

The Hill: “The Department of Justice announced Tuesday afternoon it will appeal a district court ruling that a key part of the new healthcare reform law is unconstitutional . . . The administration will appeal the district court ruling to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

The Aegis: “Harford County government’s lawyers have been authorized to try to settle federal lawsuits in which anti-abortion protesters claim their civil rights were violated by the county, the Town of Bel Air and local police agencies during a 2008 protest.”

Ventura County Star [AP]: “A West Virginia woman urged a federal appeals court Thursday to reinstate her lawsuit claiming that Mingo County school officials violated her religious rights by insisting that her daughter receive state-mandated immunizations. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case and is expected to rule in a few weeks.”

Courthouse News Service: “A law allowing the indefinite detention of offenders deemed ‘sexually dangerous’ does not violate their due process rights, the 4th Circuit ruled on remand from the Supreme Court.”

Liberty Counsel: “Liberty University’s challenge to the healthcare law will now be heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals following today’s ruling by District Court Judge Norman Moon.”