No. 23-409

Henri N. Beaulieu, Jr. v. Samuel Powell, Individually and in His Official Capacity as a State Trooper for the State of Alabama, et al.

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2023-10-18
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: civil-procedure due-process federal-rules-of-civil-procedure fourteenth-amendment pleading-requirements pleading-standards section-1983 shotgun-pleading twombly-iqbal
Key Terms:
SocialSecurity DueProcess FourthAmendment
Latest Conference: 2024-01-05
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Eleventh Circuit's application of the 'shotgun pleading' standard conflicts with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Supreme Court precedent

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether the Eleventh Circuit’s application of the “shotgun pleading” standard to affirm the dismissal of the Petitioner’s complaint for violations of Fourteenth Amendment due process rights asserted under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, conflicts with the plain language and pleading requirements of Rules 8 and 10 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the heightened pleading requirements affirmed in the Supreme Court’s precedent in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), and the remains of Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), as well as with decisions in its own circuit, when the complaint provided notice of the claims to the defendants, and when the defendants were clearly able to discern the claims against them and even asserted affirmative defenses to those claims. 2. Whether, in affirming the dismissal of the Petitioner’s subsequently amended complaints, filed without leave but following a Rule 12(b) motion to dismiss, the Eleventh Circuit’s decision contravenes the provisions of Rule 15(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which permits a party to amend “once as a matter of course” within twenty-one (21) days after service of such a motion, as well as deviating from the Supreme Court’s interpretive guidance in Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178 (1962), which generally leans in favor of permitting amendments “when justice so requires.”

Docket Entries

2024-01-08
Petition DENIED.
2023-12-06
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2024.
2023-11-15
Waiver of right of respondent Samuel Powell to respond filed.
2023-10-16
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 17, 2023)

Attorneys

Henri N. Beaulieu Jr.
Donna Janice BeaulieuAttorney at Law, Petitioner
Donna Janice BeaulieuAttorney at Law, Petitioner
Samuel Powell
Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr.Office of the Attorney General, Respondent
Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr.Office of the Attorney General, Respondent