Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (June 2020)

This post summaries published criminal and related decisions decided by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in June, 2020. (1) Plaintiff stated claim for a free speech violation where Sheriff allegedly interfered with legal mail; defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity; (2) Qualified immunity applied to alleged Fourth Amendment violation; other claims were waived Haze v. Harrison, 961 F.3d 654 (June 8, 2020) In this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit from the Eastern District of North Carolina, the plaintiff was a pretrial detainee in custody of the Wake County Sheriff. He claimed that detention officers repeatedly interfered with his rights by refusing to send or deliver his legal mail, by opening his legal mail outside of his presence, and by copying and forwarding his legal mail to the Wake County District Attorney’s Office. The plaintiff filed complaints within the jail and protested to staff. According to the plaintiff, one officer replied, “Sue me.” Slip op. at 3. The plaintiff obliged and sued pro se, alleging First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment violations. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants on all counts. The Fourth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. (1) The plaintiff argued that his rights to free speech under the First Amendment were violated by the Sheriff’s acts. The court acknowledged that interfering with legal mail in the manner alleged “could chill protected speech” and thus violate the First Amendment. Id. at 5. To determine whether a detainee’s constitutional rights have been violated by a [...]