Justia Civil Rights Opinion Summaries

The Jackson County Michigan Board of Commissioners begins its monthly meetings with a Christian prayer. Bormuth, a non-Christian resident, attended meetings because he was concerned about environmental issues. During the prayer, Bormuth was the only one in attendance who did not rise and bow his head. Bormuth felt isolated and worried that the Commissioners would hold his action against him. He raised the First Amendment issue during a public comment period. The Commissioners reacted with “disgust.” Bormuth filed suit asserting that this prayer practice violated the Establishment Clause. The Commissioners declined Bormuth’s application to serve on an environmental committee. The district court granted the County summary judgment. The Sixth Circuit initially reversed, but on rehearing, en banc, affirmed. “Since the founding of our Republic, Congress, state legislatures, and many municipal bodies have commenced legislative sessions with a prayer.” Jackson County’s invocation practice is consistent with the Supreme Court’s legislative prayer decisions and does not violate the Establishment Clause. View "Bormuth v. County of Jackson" on Justia Law

Roell suffered from schizoaffective disorder and paranoid delusions. Roell’s symptoms could be controlled by medication but he stopped taking his medication in June 2013 and began exhibiting signs of mental decompensation. On the night of August 12-13, Roell entered a state of excited delirium. His wife was out of town. Roell damaged their condominium, then went to the condominium of his neighbor, Agarwal, and threw a flower pot through her window. Agarwal called 911, stating that her neighbor was “acting crazy.” Agarwal testified that Roell appeared angry, his face red and his eyes bulging, as he muttered unintelligible things, while pacing in front of Agarwal’s broken window, peering into her condominium. Deputies arrived and saw Roell holding a garden hose with a metal nozzle in one hand and a garden basket in the other, wearing a t-shirt, but otherwise naked., Roell was screaming “no” and something about water. While attempting to subdue Roell, the deputies physically struggled with him and unsuccessfully tased him multiple times. Roell stopped breathing during the encounter and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. His death was documented by the coroner as natural, resulting from his excited delirium. The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the deputies on Mrs. Roell’s claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and in favor of Hamilton County on her claims under section 1983 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. View "Roell v. Hamilton County Board of Commissioners" on Justia Law

During the execution of a warrant to arrest Penney while he was selling 200 pounds of marijuana, Penney fired shots, injuring two federal agents. In 2005, Penney was convicted of 15 drug and firearm offenses and an attempt to kill a federal agent. The SIxth Circuit affirmed Penney’s sentence of 895 months’ imprisonment. In 2011, Penney’s counsel filed a 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to vacate his sentence, which was denied as meritless. The court denied Penney’s pro se motion to amend because he was represented by counsel and no order of substitution had been entered. While Penney’s appeal was pending, he moved to amend the judgment, arguing that denial of his motion to amend created a “manifest miscarriage of justice” because “valid claims of actual innocence and unauthorized detention [could] trump time and procedural bars.” The court denied the motion and denied a certificate of appealability. The Supreme Court denied Penney’s certiorari petition. In 2015, Penney’s counsel moved for relief from judgment under FRCP 60(b)(1) and (6), arguing that the court erred when it denied Penney’s motion to amend. The Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of the motion. The miscarriage of justice exception applies to untimely Rule 60(b) motions and motions to amend but Penney failed to make the required showing of actual innocence. View "Penney v. United States" on Justia Law

In 1999, 12-year-old C.M. left home. Her sister and her sister’s boyfriend searched the neighborhood. Returning home, they found C.M. disoriented. C.M. stated that she had been at the neighboring Mills house and Mills had smoked marijuana with her and fondled her. They confronted Mills in front of his sons and contacted the Lewisburg, Tennessee police. Mills was indicted. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) reported that semen was found in C.M.’s underwear. C.M. then stated that Mills had engaged in sexual intercourse with her. A DNA analysis by Jenkins indicated a 0.3% chance that the DNA belonged to a Caucasian other than Mills but contradicted C.M.’s claims about Valium and marijuana. Mills was convicted of rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery, and casual exchange of a controlled substance. In a habeas proceeding, the Federal Public Defender sent the evidence to a private DNA laboratory, SERI, which was unable to retest the same portions of the underwear. Using the “same analysis techniques” on an adjacent section, SERI concluded that it contained semen from two males, neither was Mills. After serving 11 years in prison, Mills was released. The state overturned Mills’s convictions. Mills suit under 42 U.S.C. 1981, 1983, and 1985, against the Assistant District Attorney General, Jenkins, and a police investigator, in their individual and official capacities; the TBI Director in his official capacity; Marshall County; and the city, was dismissed. The Sixth Circuit reversed dismissal of claims against Jenkins for malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence, and a Brady claim. Jenkins may be able to provide evidence that SERI's analytic methods differed, that the evidence available was not exculpatory, or that her actions were negligent at worst. View "Mills v. Barnard" on Justia Law

Organizations that represent migrant farm-workers claimed that the U.S. Border Patrol allows agents at its Sandusky Bay, Ohio station to target persons of Hispanic appearance for questioning. The district court found that the Plaintiffs had not proved their claim. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Border Patrol trains its agents to follow the official policy, to avoid racial profiling and the plaintiffs did not prove the existence of a ratification-based policy of racial targeting at Sandusky Bay. The plaintiffs’ analysis of statistical information to show that agents from Sandusky Bay were targeting persons of Hispanic appearance was unreliable. View "Muniz-Muniz v. United States Border Patrol" on Justia Law

Sylvester was indicted on February 26, 2003. There were multiple superseding indictments. Sylvester went to trial on September 13, 2005 and was convicted of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, diazepam, hydrocodone, and codeine, using interstate travel to acquire and transport five kilograms of cocaine, traveling in interstate commerce to acquire five kilograms of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Sylvester moved to vacate his sentence (28 U.S.C. 2255), arguing that his trial and appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to pursue Speedy Trial Act claims. The district court dismissed, finding that Sylvester failed to show that he was prejudiced. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Because the Speedy Trial Act was violated and those violations would have led to a dismissal of the charges brought under the First and Second Superseding Indictments, Sylvester’s counsel rendered deficient performance, however, there is no evidence of prosecutorial bad faith and Sylvester did not show that the court would have dismissed the charges with prejudice. View "Sylvester v. United States" on Justia Law

Sumpter spent a month in the Wayne County Jail in Detroit and underwent four strip searches that she alleges violated her Fourth Amendment rights. Three searches occurred in the jail’s Registry, where inmates are routinely strip-searched when first arriving or returning to jail. Corporal Graham conducted the three Registry searches; no male deputies were present. Each time, Graham escorted plaintiff into the Registry with as many as five other women. The room’s window was covered, preventing anyone outside the Registry from observing the searches. Inside, Graham instructed the inmates to undress and to shake their hair, open their mouths, lift their breasts, and squat and cough, while Graham visually inspected for hidden contraband. The fourth search occurred in plaintiff’s cellblock. After searching the cells for contraband, an unidentified female guard gathered the inmates in the common area and conducted a group strip search. According to plaintiff, the strip search took place in view of the guards’ central command post inside the cellblock, called the “Bubble.” During this search, plaintiff purportedly saw male guards inside the Bubble. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the summary judgment rejection of Sumpter’s purported class action suit. Periodically conducting group strip searches when the number of inmates waiting to be processed makes individual searches imprudent does not violate clearly established Fourth Amendment law. View "Sumpter v. Wayne County" on Justia Law

In 1998, Tibbetts was convicted of murder, aggravated murder, and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to death. Tibbetts filed his first habeas petition in 2003, challenging “the administration of the death penalty by lethal injection.” A Magistrate determined found the claim meritless. Tibbetts did not object to this ruling, abandoning that claim. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of the petition. Tibbetts filed his second habeas petition in 2014, listing 10 grounds for relief, all relating to execution by lethal injection under Ohio law. The district court determined that this was a second-or-successive petition, over which it lacked jurisdiction, and transferred it to the Sixth Circuit, which dismissed. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act limits the authority of federal courts to grant relief to individuals who previously filed a habeas petition; petitioners challenging state court judgments must seek authorization in a federal appeals court before filing a “second or successive” petition in district court, 28 U.S.C. 2244(b). A second-or-successive petition stating claims that were presented in a prior petition “shall be dismissed.” Tibbetts argued that he could not raise his lethal-injection challenge until the state adopted the revised execution protocol. Tibbetts raised such a general claim in his first petition, none of the newly arising circumstances identified in his second petition are necessary to a general claim that his sentence to death by lethal injection is unconstitutional. View "In re: Tibbetts" on Justia Law

Tanner, convicted of murder in 2000, unsuccessfully sought habeas relief, arguing that the Michigan Supreme Court unreasonably applied Supreme Court precedent when it upheld the denial of funding for a defense serology or DNA expert, and when it held that there was sufficient evidence to convict Tanner. The Sixth Circuit granted relief. Tanner was convicted based on insufficient evidence. The inculpatory evidence establishes, at best, “reasonable speculation” that Tanner was in the crime scene’s parking lot around the time of the murder and that she was last in possession of the murder weapon approximately a month before the murder. The court noted contradictory testimony; the lack of evidence that Tanner entered the building or that the knife was in her possession near the time of the murder. The blood found at the scene matched Tanner’s blood type and PMG subtype. Millions of people share Tanner’s blood type and PGM subtype and there is no way of knowing whether the blood belonged to the perpetrator or to one of the people who gathered after the murder. An unidentified woman’s blood was on the victim’s shirt. The victim was killed during a struggle and the blood did not come from Tanner or from any of her hypothesized accomplices. View "Tanner v. Yukins" on Justia Law

In 1986, Thompson, having served 12 years of a life sentence for an unrelated murder for hire, killed his prison-farm supervisor, stole his possessions, and fled. Thompson was captured and convicted of murder, robbery, and escape. Thompson was granted a retrial on direct appeal, then pleaded guilty to all three counts to avoid jury sentencing. A state court held that Commonwealth was entitled to jury sentencing despite the plea agreement. The jury returned a death-penalty verdict. In state post-conviction proceedings, Thompson succeeded on his claim that the trial court had failed to hold a mandatory competency hearing but was unsuccessful on his other claims for relief. After the trial court held the required competency hearing and found that Thompson had been competent to plead guilty, the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed Thompson’s convictions and sentences. The Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of Thompson’s federal habeas corpus petition raising claims that the jury improperly considered extraneous evidence when it discussed a news account about another violent criminal who had committed a murder after earning parole at age 70; that jury instructions violated the Supreme Court’s 1988 holding, Mills v. Maryland, because they stated that the “verdict” had to be returned unanimously but did not expressly state that unanimity was not required for a juror to find a mitigating factor; and the Kentucky Supreme Court did not adequately conduct a comparative-proportionality review in assessing whether Thompson’s death sentence was excessive or disproportionate. View "Thompson v. Parker" on Justia Law