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1st Amendment Violation

By: Derek Hawkins//December 26, 2018//

1st Amendment Violation

By: Derek Hawkins//December 26, 2018//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Nicole Bogart, et al. v. Vermilion County, Illinois, et al.

Case No.: 18-1719

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and SYKES and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 1st Amendment Violation

Nicole Bogart, a Democrat, worked as the Financial Resources Director of Vermilion County, Illinois, but her tenure ended when Michael Marron, a Republican, assumed control of the County Board and fired her. She responded by bringing claims under the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause, alleging that Vermilion County and Marron violated her right of political affiliation and engaged in political retaliation. The district court dismissed the equal protection claim as duplicative of the First Amendment claim, and, after finding that the substantial fiscal and budgetary responsibilities of Bogart’s position fit within the Elrod-Branti exception to political patronage dismissals, granted summary judgment for the defendants on her First Amendment claim. We affirm.

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.

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