Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Cases

• OCR Complaint (PDF)
  Complaint filed on behalf of limited-English proficient ("LEP") students enrolled in the Hartford Public School District ("the District") in Hartford, CT and their parents. The LEP students and their parents that this complaint refers to are Somali-Bantu, Liberian, and Spanish-speaking.

• CC v. Granby Bd. Of Educ. (September 30, 2006)
  U.S. District Court
  Civil Rights, Education: In an interesting federal special education decision, the United States District Court, District of Connecticut, awarded plaintiff over $93,000 in attorney's fees for a successful administrative hearing decision garnered through a Due Process procedure.

• Manifold v. Ragaglia, et al (December 28, 2004)
  Connecticut Supreme Court
  Abuse and Neglect, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: The Connecticut Supreme Court weighed in on the important issue of a physician's immunity from liability when determining whether reasonable cause exists to suspect child abuse under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-101e. After enduring what can only be described

• Lovan C. v. Dept. of Children and Families (December 7, 2004)
  Connecticut Appellate Court
  Abuse and Neglect, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: When does corporal punishment constitute child abuse for purposes of placement on the child abuse and neglect registry? That is the tricky question that the appellate court tackled in its controversial decision in Lovan C. The court, on its own volitio

• N.G. ex rel. S.G. v. Connecticut (September 7, 2004)
  Second Circuit Court of Appeals
  Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Juvenile Justice: The second circuit court of appeals recently held that the Connecticut Judicial Branch's repetitive strip search policy at the state's juvenile detention centers ("JDC") violates the fourth amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches. In N.G. ex

• Comm. on Human Rights and Opportunities v. Bd. of Educ. of the Town of Cheshire (August 31, 2004)
  Connecticut Supreme Court
  Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Education: The Connecticut Supreme Court tackled the issue of whether pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 48a-58(a), the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities ("CHRO") has the jurisdictional authority to address a student's claim of racial discrimination aga

• Roberson v. Giuliani (September 30, 2003)
  2nd Circut U.S. Court of Appeals
  Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Legal Representation: Attorney's Fees Case involves important analysis of "prevailing party" under attorneys' fees recovery statutes.

• Prigge v. Ragaglia, et al. (August 12, 2003)
  Connecticut Supreme Court
  Abuse and Neglect, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: In this relatively straight-forward case, the Supreme Court limited a claimants attempt to recover damages from state employees on the basis of the long-recognized doctrine of sovereign immunity...

• W.R. et al. v. Conn. Dept. Of Children and Families (March 24, 2003)
  Federal District Court, District of Connecticut
  Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Mental Health: In this important civil and disability rights class action filed on behalf of children in state care and custody, a federal district judge denied the bulk of the state’s motion to dismiss, primarily because the record did not support any significant findi

• Gonzaga University v. Doe (Jun 20, 2002)
  US Supreme Court
  Civil Rights, Civil Liberties: Civil Rights In an extremely important late term decision, the US Supreme Court recently held that one provision of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) does not create a right enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983...

• Westside Mothers v. Haveman (May 16, 2002)
  Civil Liberties, Medicaid: In Westside Mothers v. Haveman, a far reaching Medicaid and federal/civil rights law decision issued on May 16, 2002, the sixth circuit federal court of appeals reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment on all substantive law issues and part

• In re Steven M. (Feb 26, 2002)
  CT Appellate Division
  Juvenile Justice, Mental Health, Civil Liberties: In an important decision limiting the Department of Children and Families’ inherent power to unilaterally transfer a mentally disabled juvenile delinquent from a Department facility to a correctional institution...