Latest 3 Cases: Warren Technology, Inc. v. UL LLC (Business Law), Gardner v. Mutz (Civil Rights), Grochowski v. Clayton County, Georgia (Civil Rights)

William Barr Has Made the Federal Death Penalty a Weapon in Trump’s Campaign Arsenal

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on Attorney General William Barr’s recent order to resume federal executions and the political implications of that order. Sarat briefly describes the history of the federal death penalty in the United States and explains that, regardless of what state we live in, when the federal government puts someone to death, it does so in all of our names.

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Warren Technology, Inc. v. UL LLC

Docket: 18-14976

Opinion Date: June 22, 2020

Judge: Ginsburg

Areas of Law: Business Law, Labor & Employment Law

Warren, a manufacturer of unitary electric (UE) heaters for HVAC systems, filed suit against its competitor, Tutco and against a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL), UL. Warren's claims are based on its allegations that, UL certified Tutco's UE heaters as compliant, even though the heaters are not actually compliant. Warren sought damages and injunctive relief under the Lanham Act for false advertising and contributory false advertising, damages under the common law of unfair competition, and declaratory and injunctive relief under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of Tutco's and UL's joint motion to dismiss. In this case, Warren calls UL's authorization to Tutco to use UL's mark, and Tutco's advertisements to that effect, "misrepresentations," but it really means nothing more than (by its lights) a "misinterpretation" of UL 1995. However, it does not follow, that even a misinterpretation of UL 1995 is a falsity -- or a "deceptive act" within the meaning of the Lanham Act -- rather than a matter of opinion, provided it was made in good faith and in accordance with OSHA's criteria for independence, procedural regularity, etc. The court held that, because all of Warren's claims against UL and Tutco are based upon the same allegation of falsity, they fail for want of a misrepresentation or a deceptive act.

Gardner v. Mutz

Docket: 19-10461

Opinion Date: June 22, 2020

Judge: Newsom

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

This appeal arose from an action brought by plaintiffs who object to the City of Lakeland's decision to relocate a Confederate monument from one city park to another, contending that the relocation violates their rights under the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The Eleventh Circuit held that plaintiffs lack standing to pursue either their First Amendment claim or their due process claim. Plaintiffs have not shown that they have suffered a particularized Article III injury of the sort that distinguishes them from other interested observers and thus qualifies them, specifically, to invoke federal-court jurisdiction. Rather, plaintiffs' allegations implicate only the generalized desires to promote Southern history and to honor Confederate soldiers. Therefore, the court vacated and remanded the with-prejudice dismissal of plaintiffs' First Amendment claim, with instructions that the district court should dismiss without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction. The court affirmed the district court's without-prejudice dismissal of the due process claim.

Grochowski v. Clayton County, Georgia

Docket: 18-14567

Opinion Date: June 22, 2020

Judge: Ebel

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

After a pretrial detainee, Kenneth Grochowski, was killed by his cellmate, William Alexander Brooks, while both men were detained at the Clayton County Jail, Grochowski's surviving adult children filed a civil rights action against the County and four supervisors at the jail. Plaintiffs alleged that the conditions at the jail violated Grochowski's due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and that those conditions caused his death. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of the jail supervisors' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court held that plaintiffs have failed to show that the jail supervisors violated a constitutionally protected right because they failed to show that the Constitution requires in-person security screenings or consideration of violent misdemeanors and that the Constitution requires jail officials to conduct rounds more frequently than once per hour. The court also affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the County, holding that plaintiffs failed to show that either the jail design or its funding and staffing levels violated Grochowski's Fourteenth Amendment rights. Finally, the court granted the district court's order granting the County's motion for a protective order regarding the decision-making process with respect to the design and funding of the jail.