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Johnson v. City of Shelby

Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term
13-1318 5th Cir. Not Argued Nov 10, 2014 TBD Per Curiam OT 2014

Holding: The court of appeals erred in entering summary judgment against the petitioners, police officers who filed a lawsuit against the city where they worked, for failure to invoke 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in their complaint. Federal pleading rules do not countenance the dismissal of a complaint for imperfect statement of the legal theory supporting the claim. And in particular, no heightened pleading rule requires plaintiffs seeking damages for violations of constitutional rights to invoke § 1983 expressly in order to state a claim.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

DateProceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Apr 29 2014Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 2, 2014)
May 21 2014Order extending time to file response to petition to and including July 2, 2014.
Jul 2 2014Brief of respondent City of Shelby, Mississippi in opposition filed.
Jul 16 2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 29, 2014.
Jul 16 2014Reply memorandum of petitioners Tracey L. Johnson, and David James, Jr. filed. (Distributed)
Oct 6 2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 10, 2014.
Oct 14 2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 17, 2014.
Oct 27 2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 31, 2014.
Nov 3 2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of November 7, 2014.
Nov 10 2014Petition GRANTED. Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Opinion per curiam. (Detached Opinion)
Dec 12 2014JUDGMENT ISSUED.