LATEST SUMMARIES
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, INJURY
AND TORT LAW
Lombardi
v. Whitman, No. 06-1077
In case involving plaintiffs
who performed search, rescue, and clean-up work at the World Trade
Center site after 9/11, with allegations that federal officials'
knowingly false statements about the air quality safety violated
plaintiffs' right to substantive due process, dismissal of complaint
is affirmed as the allegations do not shock the conscience even if
the defendants acted with deliberate indifference. When agency
officials decide how to reconcile competing governmental obligations
in the face of disaster, only an intent to cause harm arbitrarily
can shock the conscience in a way that justifies constitutional
liability. Read
more...
HABEAS CORPUS, IMMIGRATION LAW
Wang
v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., No. 06-3298
Habeas
petition under 28 U.S.C. section 2241 challenging final order of
removal, and filed more than a year after section 106 of the REAL ID
Act of 2005 foreclosed the use of habeas corpus to review removal
orders, is dismissed as: 1) transfer to the court of appeals was not
available under the REAL ID Act because the petition was not pending
when the Act became effective; 2) transfer was impermissible since
the petition was untimely; 3) petitioner has alleged no facts that
would make dismissal constitutionally suspect; and 4) since district
courts may no longer review removal orders via habeas corpus, the
case cannot be transferred back to the district court. Read
more...
