Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

11th Amendment – Failure to state a claim

By: Derek Hawkins//December 13, 2016//

11th Amendment – Failure to state a claim

By: Derek Hawkins//December 13, 2016//

Listen to this article

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Sherry Katz-Crank v. Kimberly Haskett

Case No.: 15-1809

Officials: POSNER, RIPPLE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 11th Amendment – Failure to state a claim

Sherry Katz‐Crank is a Michigan lawyer with a practice in cemetery management. An un‐ scrupulous client used her services in the course of defrauding cemetery trust funds of $22 million. When Katz‐Crank discovered the fraud, she promptly contacted state regulatory authorities. The client was indicted on embezzlement charges. Katz‐Crank was charged as an aider and abettor, though a jury would ultimately acquit her. Her reputation disgraced and her law practice in shambles, Katz‐Crank sued the state and county officials who were in any way involved in the prosecution. She alleged that they conspired to violate her federal constitutional rights; she raised several state‐law claims as well. The district judge entered judgment on the pleadings in the defendants’ favor on some claims and dismissed others for failure to state a claim. We affirm. Most of Katz‐Crank’s claims are barred by the Eleventh Amendment or prosecutorial immunity. The balance of the complaint was properly dismissed for failure to state a plausible claim for relief.

Affirmed

Full Text


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.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests