Class Certification – Improper Policy

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7^th Circuit court of Appeals

Case Name: Joan E. Mulvania, et al v. Sheriff of Rock Island County, et al

Case No.: 16-1711

Officials: BAUER, FLAUM, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Class Certification – Improper Policy

This appeal presents two distinct claims. The first arises from plaintiff Joan Mulvania’s arrest and detention at the Rock Island County Jail in November 2010. Mulvania claims the jail has a widespread practice of conducting strip searches with excessive force and without accommodating people who are experiencing mental distress. The second claim arises from ten other plaintiffs who joined the suit to challenge the Rock Island Sheriff’s policy that re‐ quires female detainees to wear either white underwear or no underwear at all. They argue the policy is not rationally related to a legitimate governmental objective and that it impairs their dignity without sufficient justification. They also seek certification to pursue that claim as a class. We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment against Mulvania on both of her claims. We reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment against the other plain‐ tiffs on the underwear policy, but we affirm denial of class certification on that claim. We recount the facts as told in the parties’undisputed statement of facts. Where a dispute exists, we note the dispute and resolve it in favor of plaintiffs for purposes of summary judgment, giving them the benefit of reasonable inferences. E.g., Zerante v. DeLuca, 555 F.3d 582, 584 (7th Cir. 2009).

Affirmed in part

Reversed and remanded in part

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.