Another Strike Against § 230 of the Communications Decency Act: Courts Allowing § 230 to Trump Federal and State Public Accommodations Protections

SAMUEL ESTREICHER, SAMANTHA ZIPPER

NYU law professor Samuel Estreicher and 2L Samantha Zipper describe how several courts have invoked Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a basis for limiting rights against discrimination in public accommodations. Estreicher and Zipper argue that as American society moves increasingly online, § 230 must be read more narrowly, with goals of safeguarding individual civil rights in an already prolific internet sector.

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Daves v. Dallas County

Docket: 18-11368

Opinion Date: December 28, 2020

Judge: Leslie H. Southwick

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

Plaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging that state judges in Dallas, Texas are unconstitutionally denying release to indigent arrestees who cannot pay the prescribed cash bail. The district court certified the suit as a class action and allowed three different categories of judges to be defendants; determined that the Sheriff was not a proper defendant for Section 1983 purposes but did not yet dismiss her from the case; and held that there was a likelihood of success by plaintiffs on their equal-protection and procedural-due-process claims and granted injunctive relief against the judges and the County. With one exception, the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that plaintiffs have standing. The court concluded that the suit was properly allowed to proceed against most of the judges and the County. However, in regard to the Criminal District Court Judges, the court held that they are not proper defendants because plaintiffs lack standing as to them and cannot overcome sovereign immunity. The court also held that the Sheriff can be enjoined to prevent that official's enforcement of measures violative of federal law. Finally, the court held that the district court correctly concluded that plaintiffs need not first pursue habeas corpus relief. Accordingly, the court affirmed the injunction, with one revision, and remanded for further proceedings.

United States v. Galicia

Docket: 20-40200

Opinion Date: December 28, 2020

Judge: Catharina Haynes

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. The court affirmed the district court's application of a sentencing enhancement under USSG 2D1.1(b)(12) for maintaining a premises to distribute drugs because one of the primary uses for defendant's premises was the distribution of drugs. Therefore, the court rejected defendant's contention that he stored drugs in his garage on an infrequent basis and only for brief periods of time. In this case, defendant admitted to storing drugs in his garage on at least three occasions. Furthermore, the discovery of two scales in his storage sheds, along with the positive detection of narcotics by an odor-sniffing canine, indicates that defendant may not have strictly limited his drug storage activities to the garage, leaving open the possibility that his residence was used to store drugs on other occasions.