Monday Morning Review: Local Governments in the Federal Appellate Courts

Here are last week’s published decisions involving local governments:court collumn

Third Circuit

  • Thorpe v. Borough ofJim Thorpe, No. 13-2446 (Oct. 23, 2014): The court reversed district court’s conclusion that Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires the Borough to disinter Jim Thorpe. In the court’s view, “Congress could not have intended th[is] kind of patently absurd result.”

Fourth Circuit

  • Davis v. City of Greensboro, No. 13-1820 (Oct. 22, 2014): In suit brought by police officers and firefighters claiming that the City failed to pay certain wages and benefits, the court affirmed district court’s denial of the City’s motion to dismiss because governmental immunity does not protect the City from breach of contract and estoppel claims.

Sixth Circuit

Eighth Circuit

Tenth Circuit

  • Citizen Center v. Gessler, No. 12-1414 (Oct. 21, 2014): In suit claiming that use of traceable ballots violates federal constitutional rights, the court affirmed dismissal of all claims except federal claims against the Secretary of State for denial of equal protection and procedural due process.

Image courtesy of Flickr from Ken Lund (creative-commons license, no changes made).

(10/20/2014-10/24/2014)