No. 20-198

Tamatrice Williams v. City of Sherwood, Arkansas

Lower Court: Eighth Circuit
Docketed: 2020-08-20
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived Experienced Counsel
Tags: arkansas-supreme-court civil-rights court-reorganization legal-jurisdiction municipal-courts municipal-liability rehearing section-1983 state-actor state-court state-law
Key Terms:
JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2020-09-29
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Should the opinion below be vacated, and this case remanded, for reconsideration in light of City of Little Rock v. Nelson?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED State law determines whether an entity is a state or a local entity for purposes of Section 1983 liability. McMillian v. Monroe County., 520 U.S. 781, 785-86 (1997). On January 23, 2020, the Arkansas Supreme Court held as a matter of first impression that local courts not yet reorganized into Arkansas state courts—like the Sherwood court at issue in this case—were municipal courts under the control of the municipality. City of Little Rock v. Nelson, 592 S.W.3d 633, 641 (Ark. 2020). Five days later, an Eighth Circuit panel, without citing City of Little Rock, held that Sherwood’s district court was an Arkansas state court over which Sherwood had no control. The question presented is: Should the opinion below be vacated, and this case remanded, for reconsideration in light of City of Little Rock v. Nelson?

Docket Entries

2020-10-05
Petition DENIED.
2020-09-02
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
2020-08-27
Waiver of right of respondent Sherwood, AR to respond filed.
2020-08-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 21, 2020)

Attorneys

Sherwood, AR
John Lennon WilkersonArkansas Municipal League, Respondent
Tamatrice Williams
Joshua Aaron HouseInstitute for Justice, Petitioner