Reported Cases

Greer v. Dowling, 947 F.3d 1297 (10th Cir. 2020) (Mr. Greer filed suit alleging he was wrongfully suspended from his religious kosher diet.  The district court entered final judgment in favor of the defendants, and Mr. Greer appealed.  On appeal, Mr. Greer challenged the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants on some causes of action based on the failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and Mr. Greer challenged the district court’s dismissal of other causes of action for failure to state a claim.  The Tenth Circuit determined the district court correctly held Mr. Greer had exhausted his administrative remedies through a grievance addressing the suspension of his kosher religious diet as violating his constitutional rights.  The Tenth Circuit found that this grievance encompassed Mr. Greer’s causes of action based on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment.  The Tenth Circuit concluded that because Mr. Greer was unrepresented, his grievance must be liberally construed, and thus the district court should not have granted summary judgment for a failure to exhaust the two causes of action under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court was reversed in part and affirmed in part.)

Red Flower, Inc. v. McKown, 411 P.3d 1094 (Colo. App. 2016) (Affirming summary judgment because the treasurer’s publication notice was deficient and therefore the tax deed was void.  Under C.R.S. § 39-11-128, if  the owner or occupant is on the property, the statute presumes no real burden on the treasurer to locate the person to provide notice. If the person is off the property, the statute requires the treasurer to make a “diligent inquiry” to find the person to provide notice. Additionally, in this case the real property deed could not be issued until the treasurer published notice of its impending issuance. Because the publication notice was deficient, the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of McKown on the real property deed was affirmed.).

Benefield v. Colorado Republican Party, 329 P.3d 262 (Colo. 2014). (This case is a Colorado Open Records Act application regarding the disclosure of public records and the standard for awarding attorney fees if a public record is improperly withheld. The Colorado Supreme Court held that C.R.S. section 24-72-204(5) mandates an award of costs and reasonable attorney fees in favor of any person who applies for and receives an order from the district court requiring a custodian to permit inspection of a public record).

Slater Numismatics, LLC v. Driving Force, LLC, 310 P.3d 185 (Colo. App. 2012), cert. denied, Colorado Supreme Court Case No. 2012SC573 (Sept. 9, 2013). (This case is a suit for intentional interference with a referral fee contract. The Court of Appeals addressed and clarified the requirements for proof of the tort of intentional interference with contractual relations).

Link to Jury Verdict Reporter of Colorado, November 10, 2014, reporting Jury Verdict for Plaintiff Slater Numismatics LLC in the amount of $2,041,673.65.

Weise v. Casper, 593 F.3d 1163, 1168 (10th Cir. 2010), cert. denied Weise v. Casper, 131 S. Ct. 7 (2010) (Plaintiffs alleged they were improperly removed from the President's speech on Social Security at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of qualified immunity, holding that “Plaintiffs simply have not identified any First Amendment doctrine that prohibits the government from excluding them from an official speech on private property on the basis of their viewpoint.”). En banc review was denied on a 5-5 vote. See Weise, No. 09-1085 (10th Cir. Apr. 20, 2010). Certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court over the dissent of two justices. Weise v. Casper, 131 S. Ct. 7 (2010); see also Weise v. Casper, 507 F.3d 1260 (10th Cir. 2007) (dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction).

Lance v. Coffman, 127 S. Ct. 1194 (2007) (per curiam) (Claim by voter plaintiffs that judicial redistricting plan violated the right of all citizens in the district to have the district drawn by the state legislature as prescribed by the Elections Clause of Art. I, 4 of the United States Constitution is a generalized grievance that must be dismissed for lack of standing).

Lance v. Dennis, 546 U.S. 459 (2006) (per curiam) (Rooker - Feldman doctrine does not bar actions by non-parties to the earlier state-court judgment simply because, for purposes of preclusion law, they could be considered in privity with a party to the judgment).

Anderson v. The University of Colorado, Twentieth Judicial District, Boulder Colorado, Case No. 03CV631 (2003), see Howard Pankratz, “CU apologizes for peepholes: 9 women settle with construction firms; university revises policy,” Denver Post, December 23, 2003; Page B-01.

Lilly v. Salida, 192 F. Supp.2d 1191 (D. Colo. 2002) (Matsch, J.) (City Amplified Sound Ordinance held unconstitutional prior restraint and overbroad in violation of First Amendment).

In Re Reapportionment of the Colorado General Assembly, 45 P.3d 1237 (Colo. 2002) (Represented successful Adams County Objector Beth Gallegos).

Gordon v. Boyles, 9 P.3d 1106 (Colo. 2000) (Adopting requirement that probable falsity of defamatory statements be established in order to rebut newsperson's qualified privilege of non-disclosure of news information) (Drafted brief for Attorney General as law clerk for Honorable Herbert L. Stern).

 

 

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