Monroe v. City of Charlottesville, No. 08-1334

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action claiming that defendant-city's police performed racially discriminatory searches, district court's denial of class certification is affirmed where plaintiff had little interest in or knowledge and understanding of the case, and appeared to be merely lending his name to the suit. Dismissal of plaintiff's Fourth Amendment and equal protection claims is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's subjective beliefs were irrelevant in assessing whether a reasonable person would have felt free to terminate his encounter with the police; and 2) the city did not classify plaintiff on the basis of his race.

Read Monroe v. City of Charlottesville, No. 08-1334

Appellate Information

Argued: May 12, 2009

Decided: August 31, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Beam

Counsel

For Appellant:

Neal Lawrence Walters, Scott Kroner, PLC,  Charlottesville, VA

For Appellees:

Alvaro A. Inigo, Zunka, Milnor, Carter & Ingo, Ltd., Charlottesville, VA