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Appellate Advocacy Keyed to Meador, 2nd Ed.
Swint v. Chambers County Commission
Citation:
514 U.S. 35 (1995)Facts
In December 1990 and March 1991, law enforcement officers from Chambers County and the city of Wadley, Alabama conducted warrantless raids on the Capri Club in Chambers County as part of a narcotics operation. The club’s owners, along with an employee and a patron, filed a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Chambers County Commission, the city of Wadley, and three individual police officers. All defendants moved for summary judgment. The individual defendants claimed qualified immunity, while the Chambers County Commission argued it was not liable because Sheriff James C. Morgan, who authorized the raids, was not a policymaker for the county but rather a state official. The District Court denied all summary judgment motions, indicating it would revisit the county policymaker question before jury deliberations. The individual defendants immediately appealed the denial of qualified immunity, and the Chambers County Commission also appealed. The Eleventh Circuit exercised “pendent appellate jurisdiction” over the commission’s appeal, reasoning that judicial economy warranted simultaneous review.
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