July 09th, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
City of Hearne v. Johnson

Docket: 17-50970
Opinion Date: July 8, 2019
Judge: Leslie H. Southwick
Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

Defendant-cross claimant alleged that the city attorney violated his First Amendment right to petition for redress of grievances as well as his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. The Fifth Circuit declined to reach the merits of the city attorney's qualified immunity defense to these arguments because defendant-cross claimant lacked standing to assert either. In this case, defendant-cross claimant's procedural injury did not impact any concrete interest and thus he lacked standing to claim that the city attorney violated his First Amendment right to petition. Furthermore, defendant-claimant did not encounter any barrier erected by the city attorney in the processing of the petition, and thus did not have standing to bring his equal protection claim.

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