The D.C. Circuit releases opinions on Tuesdays and Fridays. We read them all so you don’t have to. On Tuesday (June 26), the court issued two opinions:
Jonathan Hedgpeth v. Ammar Rahim. In an opinion by Judge Srinivasan, the court held that two D.C. police officers are shielded from a civil suit brought by Hedgpeth, who accused them of arresting him without probable cause and using a “takedown maneuver” that forced his head into a bar window and gave him a concussion. Srinivasan said there were enough facts for the cops to have probable cause to arrest Hedgpeth for public intoxication, and he said the doctrine of qualified immunity protects them from Hedgpeth’s excessive force claim, because it was not “obvious” that “any competent officer would have known” that using a takedown maneuver in the circumstances would run afoul of the Fourth Amendment. Circuit Breaker has a full analysis of the opinion here.
Ryan Shapiro v. Department of Justice. Shapiro submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for FBI records related to the famed internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide after being charged with federal computer fraud for systematically downloading academic articles at MIT. The FBI produced some responsive documents, including some with redactions, and withheld others. Shapiro sued under FOIA, taking issue with the FBI’s process of searching for and producing documents. After four FBI declarations about its productions and three district court opinions, Shapiro was still not satisfied and appealed to the D.C. Circuit. In an opinion by Judge Sentelle, the court upheld the FBI’s use of FOIA exemptions and its ultimate production to Shapiro.
