Latest 4 Cases: Team Contractors, LLC v. Waypoint NOLA, LLC (Civil Procedure), The Lamar Company, LLC v. Mississippi Transportation Commission ...

Incorrigibility of the Juvenile Offender

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor Sherry F. Colb comments on a case the U.S. Supreme Court will consider this term that presents the question whether the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits sentencing a juvenile offender to life without the possibility of parole. Colb considers the wisdom and constitutionality of imposing such a sentence on a person who was under 18 at the time of his crime.

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Team Contractors, LLC v. Waypoint NOLA, LLC

Docket: 19-30704

Opinion Date: September 22, 2020

Judge: Leslie H. Southwick

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Construction Law

Waypoint, the project owner, entered into a construction contract with Team Contractors, the general contractor, and entered into an architectural contract with HCA. HCA then retained KLG as the project's engineer. Team filed suit and subsequently prevailed against the engineers and architects for negligence, but not against the owner for breach of contract. After a finding that the initial verdict had an irreconcilable conflict, a second trial was held just on the breach of contract claim. The jury then reached a verdict for the general contractor, and the owner appealed. The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's judgment and remanded for the district court to reinstate the original verdict. The court held that if the answers to written questions require jurors to apply the instructed law to their fact-findings, thereby fully explaining who prevails on all claims against a single defendant, and if relevant, the amount of any monetary award, that is sufficient for a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 49(b) verdict. Though in this case the jurors were not given, as Rule 49(b) states, "forms for a general verdict" and also for answers to written questions, jurors applied their instructions on the law to their fact finding and found there had been no breach of contract. The court held that the result fully resolved the claim against Waypoint. The court stated that the general verdict is incomplete in Rule 49(b) terms, but it is sufficient. The court also held that Team waived any argument to have the verdict set aside. Finally, the court remanded for the district court to consider attorneys' fees.

The Lamar Company, LLC v. Mississippi Transportation Commission

Docket: 20-60072

Opinion Date: September 22, 2020

Judge: Leslie H. Southwick

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure

Lamar filed suit in state court against MTC, challenging a Mississippi statute governing the height of roadside billboards. After MTC removed to federal court, the district court dismissed the suit because of Lamar's failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Fifth Circuit reversed and, on remand, the district court granted partial summary judgment, holding that the statute was unambiguous in its restriction of all billboards to forty feet. After the district court entered final judgment, MTC moved to remand to state court. The Fifth Circuit held that there was no federal-question jurisdiction arising from Lamar's complaint at the time of removal. The court also held that MTC is not a citizen of Mississippi for diversity-jurisdiction purposes. In this case, MTC correctly identifies that subject matter jurisdiction is not present because it is the alter ego of the state and, under established doctrine, cannot be a citizen for diversity purposes. The court rejected Lamar's requests for costs, expenses, and fees -- based on MTC's late acknowledgment of error -- under 28 U.S.C. 1447(c); Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c); and the Mississippi Litigation Accountability Act.

Mayfield v. Currie

Docket: 19-60331

Opinion Date: September 22, 2020

Judge: James Earl Graves, Jr.

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of Officer Currie's motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity. Plaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988, alleging constitutional violations after Mark Mayfield committed suicide. The Madison Police Department had arrested Mark and two conspirators, and the basis for the arrest warrant was the affidavit of Currie, who stated that Mark had communicated with conspirators and assisted them in their effort to photograph the wife of United States Senator Thad Cochran in an assisted living facility. Currie claims that there was no constitutional violation because the issuance of the arrest warrant broke the causal chain, immunizing her from liability. The court held that there are two ways to overcome the independent-intermediary doctrine: first, in Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 344–45 (1986), the Supreme Court held that an officer can be held liable for a search authorized by a warrant when the affidavit presented to the magistrate was so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render official belief in its existence unreasonable; and second, under Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978), and its progeny, officers who deliberately or recklessly provide false, material information for use in an affidavit or who make knowing and intentional omissions that result in a warrant being issued without probable cause may still be held liable. The court held that, under Malley, the information Currie and other investigators provided to the magistrate throughout the course of their investigation clearly was sufficient to establish probable cause to issue a warrant for Mark's arrest. Therefore, the district court erred in concluding that plaintiffs adequately alleged wrongdoing under Malley. The court remanded to the district court for further consideration of Franks.

Batiste v. Lewis

Dockets: 19-30400, 19-30889

Opinion Date: September 22, 2020

Judge: Edith Brown Clement

Areas of Law: Copyright, Entertainment & Sports Law, Intellectual Property

Paul Batiste, a local jazz musician, brought a copyright infringement action against the world-famous hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. After the district court found no evidence of copyrighting, it granted summary judgment for defendants and then ordered both Batiste and his attorney to pay defendants' attorneys' fees. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court acted well within its discretion in denying Batiste's motion for leave to supplement his summary-judgment opposition. The court also held that the district court correctly granted summary judgment for defendants on the copyright infringement claims where Batiste failed to produce evidence for a reasonable jury to infer that defendants had access to his music or to find striking similarities between his songs and those of defendants. Therefore, he cannot prove factual copying and his copyright claims fail. The court further held that, given the objective unreasonableness of Batiste's claims, his history of litigation misconduct, and his pattern of filing overaggressive copyright actions, the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding fees to defendants under the Copyright Act. Finally, the court lacked jurisdiction to review Batiste's challenge to the district court's decision to hold his attorney jointly and severally liable for the fee award as a sanction.