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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)
04/29/2014Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 2, 2014)
05/21/2014Order extending time to file response to petition to and including July 2, 2014.
07/02/2014Brief of respondent City of Shelby, Mississippi in opposition filed.
07/16/2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 29, 2014.
07/16/2014Reply memorandum of petitioners Tracey L. Johnson, and David James, Jr. filed. (Distributed)
10/06/2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 10, 2014.
10/14/2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 17, 2014.
10/27/2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 31, 2014.
11/03/2014DISTRIBUTED for Conference of November 7, 2014.
11/10/2014Petition GRANTED. Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Opinion per curiam. (Detached Opinion)
12/12/2014JUDGMENT ISSUED.