Fourth Amendment Violations

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Civil

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: FLAUM, MANION, and SYKES, Circuit Judges

No. 15-1055

Renee Gustafson v. William Adkins

Appellant not entitled to qualified immunity for violations of 4th amendment stemming from placing surveillance equipment in female changing area.

“We find that the relevant case law does not support Adkins’s contention. “[T]o determine if a right was clearly established at the time of the violation, we look first to control‐ ling precedent on the issue from the Supreme Court and to precedent from this Circuit.” Estate of Escobedo v. Bender, 600 F.3d 770, 781 (7th Cir. 2010). Both the Supreme Court and this Court have long held that a controlling holding may be gleaned from a plurality opinion. Ben’s Bar, Inc. v. Vill. of Somerset, 316 F.3d 702, 719 (7th Cir. 2003) (“Because the plurality’s decision offers the narrowest ground for the Supreme Court’s holding … we find the reasoning of that opinion to be controlling” (citing Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 193 (1977))). The O’Connor plurality test is narrower than Justice Scalia’s test and is, therefore, the Court’s “least‐ common‐denominator holding.” Shields, 874 F.2d at 1204.”

Affirmed

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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.[/box]