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Search : Elections

Number of summaries found: 532
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Court: U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Attorney's Fees, Civil Rights, Elections, Government Law
Title: Diffenderfer v. Gomez-Colon
Date: 11/19/09
Case Number: 08-2139
Summary: In plaintiffs' civil rights case against the members of the State Electoral Commission of Puerto Rico challenging the Commission's decision to print ballots in the November 2008 elections solely in Spanish, district court's judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and a permanent injunction compelling the Commission to print bilingual ballots is vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court's judgment should be vacated because it was rendered moot by an independent, intervening act of legislation mandating the Commission to use bilingual ballots under Puerto Rican law; 2) plaintiffs were prevailing parties entitled to attorney's fees for the costs of the district court litigation notwithstanding the subsequent mootness; 3) district court did not abuse its discretion in reducing plaintiffs' award of attorney's fees; and 4) motion for substitution of parties by the defendant, former President of the Commission, is granted.

Court: U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law
Title: Max v. Republican Comm. of Lancaster County
Date: 11/13/09
Case Number: 08-4158
Summary: In plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action against defendants claiming violation of her First Amendment rights of free speech and expression during a primary election campaign for judgeship on the County Court of Common Pleas, grant of defendant's motion to dismiss is affirmed as defendants are not state actors and their actions toward plaintiff were not state actions that would subject defendants to section 1983 claims.

Court: U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law
Title: Berg v. Obama
Date: 11/12/09
Case Number: 08-4340
Summary: In one of the so-called "birther" suits challenging Barack Obama's eligibility to run for and serve as President of the United States based on claims that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore was not a natural born citizen of the United States, dismissal of the action is affirmed where plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit because he suffered no injury particularized to him.

Court: U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Administrative Law, Civil Rights, Elections, Government Law, Transportation
Title: Lake v. Neal
Date: 11/06/09
Case Number: 08-3765
Summary: In plaintiff's class action lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (Board) alleging violation of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), dismissal of the complaint is affirmed as, since a voter registration form filled out at the DMV is not a motor vehicle record under the DPPA, the Board could not have violated the DPPA by disclosing plaintiff's personal information to the extent that it did.

Court: California Appellate Districts
Topic: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Elections, Government Law
Title: Gardner v. Schwarzenegger
Date: 11/06/09
Case Number: A122920
Summary: Trial court's judgment enjoining Governor Schwarzenegger and other defendants from enforcing Senate Bill No. 1137 sections 1-12 that sought to amend the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (hereafter Proposition 36) is affirmed where: 1) certain challenged sections of the Senate Bill 1137 allowing incarceration for drug-related probation violations, when that sanction would be prohibited by Proposition 36, cannot be deemed to be consistent with the purposes of the Proposition; and 2) Senate Bill 1137's provision for a popular vote, if any part of Senate Bill 1137 is invalidated, is itself invalid.

Court: California Appellate Districts
Topic: Administrative Law, Elections, Government Law
Title: Steadman v. Osborne
Date: 10/27/09
Case Number: E046603
Summary: In plaintiff's case against defendant claiming political abuse and misuse of campaign funds in connection with a measure, trial court's denial of defendant's motion to strike the ninth cause of action in plaintiff's complaint is reversed as plaintiff does not have the right to prosecute her ninth cause of action as a private attorney general under sections 89512.5, 89513, and 89514 of the Political Reform Act.

Court: U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Elections, Media Law
Title: Hall v. Witteman
Date: 10/19/09
Case Number: 08-3251
Summary: In an action alleging that defendants unlawfully conspired to remove plaintiff's political ad from a newspaper, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where the complaint failed to describe any misuse of governmental power.

Court: California Appellate Districts
Topic: Elections, Government Law
Title: Carson Citizens for Reform v. Kawagoe
Date: 10/13/09
Case Number: B209424
Summary: In plaintiffs' efforts to recall the city mayor, trial court's judgment and order awarding attorney fees against the county register and the city clerk is reversed where: 1) although defendant-city clerk's appeal from the judgment and order awarding attorney's fees is moot as to the portion of the judgment issuing the writ of mandate because the recall election has been held, the appeal is not moot as to the declaratory relief provided because the recall proponents' status as the successful parties for purposes of an award of attorney fees depends on the propriety of the trial court's ruling on the merits; 2) under the plain language of Elections Code sections 103 and 11303, a request to withdraw a signature from a recall petition is effective, without regard to whether the voter signs the petition before or after signing the request, as long as the request is filed with the appropriate election official prior to the filing of the petition; and 3) the withdrawal requests were valid and the city clerk's initial certification of the recall petition as insufficient was incorrect, as a voter's request to withdraw his or her signature from a recall petition is not a petition or paper that requires the signature of a circulator under section 104.

Court: U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Topic: Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law
Title: Fairley v. Hattiesburg
Date: 09/30/09
Case Number: 08-60942
Summary: In an action under the Voting Rights Act concerning the drawing of districts for municipal elections, judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs failed to present evidence constituting a redistricting plan that would have shown either the factual or legal possibility of creating a majority-minority district by dividing college dormitory students among the city's wards; and 2) the district court did not clearly err in its use of total voting age population in making its computations.

Court: New York Court of Appeals
Topic: Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law
Title: Skelos v. Paterson
Date: 09/23/09
Case Number: 183
Summary: In an action seeking a declaration that the governor of New York lacked the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor, grant of a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff is reversed where the New York Constitution did not require that a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant-Governor be preserved until the next quadrennial election.

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