“Since the college permanently revised the policies petitioners challenged, nominal damages would give them no more than the satisfaction of having a federal court say they are right,” the college officials said in one of their Supreme Court briefs.Ī U.S. Georgia Gwinnett officials argue that such a request is not significant enough to sustain his case, which was joined by another student in 2017. That does impact how they’ll behave in the future,” she said.Īlthough Uzuegbunam initially sought a few different types of relief, the only claim that remains in his lawsuit - in the aftermath of his graduation and Georgia Gwinnett’s voluntary policy change - is for nominal damages. “Even though (nominal damages) amount to just a dollar, they force government officials to do something to recognize that they violated somebody’s rights. It’s a simple but meaningful way to acknowledge that something bad really did take place, Anderson said. If a judge awards someone nominal damages, then the guilty party has to pay them $1. Faith groups receiving federal grants will gain new protections before Trump leaves office. ![]() Congress could soon get serious about balancing religious freedom and LGBTQ rights.that don’t really have their own independent, monetary value,” she said, citing the pain someone experiences when they can’t share their faith as an example. “Nominal damages are a mechanism that the Supreme Court put in place to compensate personal harms. They can also ask for a more symbolic kind of relief called nominal damages, which are used in cases where it’s hard to quantify the harm someone faced, Anderson said. They can fight for a policy change or to be paid back for related financial damage. Legal relief can come in a variety of forms, so it’s up to the people who bring a lawsuit to outline what they’re seeking. If petitioners want their case to continue, they have to show that they’re still in need of some kind of relief that only a court ruling can provide, said Kate Anderson, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the law firm representing Uzuegbunam. In general, lawsuits like Uzuegbunam’s begin with an alleged constitutional rights violation and end when there’s nothing left for judges to decide. The justices’ answer could significantly affect the circumstances under which people facing civil rights violations can seek legal relief and how long any related government or institutional policy changes will last, legal experts said. On Tuesday, Uzuegbunam will ask the Supreme Court to allow his case to continue. However, a wide range of civil rights advocacy groups and religious organizations support his quest to keep fighting and say the future of First Amendment litigation is at stake. School officials paint Uzuegbunam as a sore winner, arguing that his case is now moot. He’s already succeeded in forcing a change to campus policy, but not in getting a judge to say Georgia Gwinnett violated his rights. Supreme Court, although probably not for the reason you think. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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