No. 21-29

Blake Leitch, et al. v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, AFL-CIO

Lower Court: Seventh Circuit
Docketed: 2021-07-09
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Experienced Counsel
Tags: 42-usc-1983 agency-fees civil-rights constitutional-rights first-amendment good-faith-defense janus-v-afscme section-1983 state-law wyatt-v-cole
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity FirstAmendment DueProcess CriminalProcedure
Latest Conference: 2021-09-27
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether there is a 'good faith defense' to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that shields a defendant from damages liability for depriving citizens of their constitutional rights if the defendant acted under color of a law before it was held unconstitutional?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED Section 1983 provides that “every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State” deprives a citizen of a constitutional right “shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.” 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Petitioners are current and former employees of the State of Illinois who were compelled to pay agency fees to AFSCME Council 31, under color of Illinois state law, in violation of their First Amendment rights under Janus v. AFSCME, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018). The question presented is whether there is a “good faith defense” to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that shields a defendant from damages liability for depriving citizens of their constitutional rights if the defendant acted under color of a law before it was held unconstitutional?

Docket Entries

2021-10-04
Petition DENIED.
2021-08-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
2021-08-17
Reply of petitioners Blake Leitch, et al. filed. (Distributed)
2021-08-03
Brief of respondent American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, AFL-CIO in opposition filed.
2021-07-06
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 9, 2021)

Attorneys

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, AFL-CIO
Jacob Raffel KarabellBredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., Respondent
Jacob Raffel KarabellBredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., Respondent
Blake Leitch, et al.
Jeffrey Michael SchwabLiberty Justice Center, Petitioner
Jeffrey Michael SchwabLiberty Justice Center, Petitioner