Latest 2 Cases: Liberian Community Ass'n v. Lamont (Civil Rights), Whitaker v. Department of Commerce (Government & Administrative Law)

#MeToo and What Men and Women Are Willing to Say and Do

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell Law professor Sherry F. Colb explores why people have such strong feelings about the #MeToo movement (whether they are advocates or opponents) and suggests that both sides rest their positions on contested empirical assumptions about the behavior of men and women. Colb argues that what we believe to be true of men and women generally contributes to our conclusions about the #MeToo movement and our perceptions about how best to handle the accusations of those who come forward.

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Liberian Community Ass'n v. Lamont

Docket: 17-1558

Opinion Date: August 14, 2020

Judge: Debra Ann Livingston

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Class Action, Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Health Law

Plaintiffs filed suit challenging the quarantine decisions of certain Connecticut state officials in response to an Ebola epidemic in West Africa. On appeal, plaintiffs challenged the district court's denial of their motion for class certification and dismissing their suit for lack of standing and based on qualified immunity. Plaintiffs primarily argue that they suffered actual or imminent injuries that create standing to seek prospective relief to avert allegedly unconstitutional future quarantines; clearly established law required that any quarantine imposed be medically necessary and comport with certain procedural safeguards; and their class is sufficiently numerous to merit certification. The Second Circuit affirmed and held that the district court properly deemed plaintiffs' injuries too speculative to support standing. In this case, plaintiffs failed to plead a sufficient likelihood that, under the revised policy, any of them faces a substantial risk of suffering a future injury. The court also held that the law surrounding quarantines was not clearly established such that a state official may be held liable for the actions taken here. The court did not reach the class certification issue because it is mooted by the court's conclusion as to standing. Accordingly, the court remanded with instructions to amend the judgment to clarify that the state law claims were dismissed without prejudice.

Whitaker v. Department of Commerce

Docket: 18-2819

Opinion Date: August 14, 2020

Judge: John M. Walker

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law

Plaintiffs filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seeking records from the Department of Commerce (DOC); the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency within the DOC; and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), an independent entity within the NTIA. The FOIA requests concerned the operations of FirstNet, which was created by Congress in 2012 at the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission to oversee the development of a National Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) for first responders. The district court dismissed plaintiffs' claims in part and granted summary judgment for defendants in part. The Second Circuit held that the district court did not err in concluding that FirstNet is not subject to FOIA and that an agency need not search for records if it has reasonably determined that a search would be futile. The court also held that plaintiffs' challenge to the district court's determination, that the agency declarations establish beyond genuine dispute that the NTIA and the DOC did not have a practice or policy of referring FOIA requests to FirstNet, are meritless. Finally, plaintiffs waived their claim that defendants violated section 208 of the E-Government Act of 2002.