Lawsuits Continue Against Central Virginia Regional Jail

Two federal lawsuits are proceeding against the Central Virginia Regional Jail for civil rights violations of inmates.  One case is brought by the mother of an inmate who died in CVRJ custody allegedly due to lack of medical care.  Thornhill v. Aylor, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-00024, (WD.Va.) The other case is brought by a former inmate who claims she had medication withheld while at jail that resulted in a psychotic break and hospitalization at Western State Hospital in Staunton.  Jenkins v. Aylor, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-00046 (W.D.Va.).  Both cases are pending before Judge Conrad in the Charlottesville Division of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.  The jail, located in the Town of Orange, serves the surrounding counties of Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison and Orange.

In February 2016, Judge Conrad granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motions to dismiss the Thornhill case.  The Court dismissed the class action claim after finding there was insufficient "commonality" among the proposed class members.  The Court dismissed the individual claims against some of the defendants, but allowed others to go forward after finding that there was "sufficient factual allegations to support the claim that there was an official policy of deliberate indifference at CVRJ, specifically based on [the Superintendent's] inactions as its policy maker."  The Court determined that arguments as to sovereign immunity and qualified immunity would be heard at a later stage of the litigation.

Similarly, in the Jenkins case, the plaintiff brought the suit as a class action, but the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the class action claim and portions of other claims.  Those motions were heard by the Court on March 23, 2016.  An interesting issue that was argued at the hearing was whether the Central Virginia Regional Jail Authority is entitled to sovereign immunity.  Defense attorney argued that the five counties that comprise the authority each have sovereign immunity and would retain sovereign immunity if they operated their own separate jails; therefore, there should be immunity for the regional jail authority.  Plaintiff's counsel, however, argued that the authority itself does not meet the all of the standards for sovereign immunity, even thought its constituent members would have immunity.  The Court reserved judgment and will issue rulings on the motions at a later date.

You can read more about the lawsuits here and here.

Approval of Settlement in Housing Authority Class Action

Judge Glen Conrad has preliminarily approved a class action settlement agreement between public housing residents and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.  The lawsuit alleged that residents overpaid tens of thousands of dollars for electrical utilities from June 2007 to May based on an outdated formula used to calculate energy allowances.  The amount of the settlement is  $160,000, but the Daily Progress reports that between this settlement sum and overhauled billing practices and rent credits negotiated as part of the agreement, the lawsuit will result in $500,000 for residents.

Judge Jones Certifies Class Action In Southwest Virginia Natural Gas Case

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, Judge Jones issued a ruling certifying a class action in a series of five lawsuits in the Western District of Virginia (Abington Division).  In so ruling, Judge Jones accepted the report and recommendation of Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent.  I discussed Judge Sargent's report and recommendation, and the political controversy it provoked, in this blog post.

Natural gas wells are concentrated in seven counties in Southwest Virginia

The case involves $30 million in natural gas royalties that are sitting in an escrow account.  Virginia law allows energy companies to siphon gas from coal seams without the owner's permission, and then place royalties in an escrow account until ownership can be determined later.

According to the Roanoke Times:

The dispute revolves around the fact that Virginia legislators never declared whether the natural gas pulled from coal seams — called coalbed methane — belongs to the person holding the deed to the coal or the person holding the deed to the gas estate.

Ownership, and access to the royalties, must be decided either in deed-by-deed court battles, in out-of-court arbitration, or by an agreement to split the money among the gas and the coal owners.

Attorneys for the proposed class of landowners argued that a class action was necessary because the cost of an individual lawsuit by a landowner could be more than what is held in some escrow accounts.  Attorneys for the energy companies disagreed and argued that the ownership of mineral and real property interests for each individual case could not be decided in the aggregate by a class action.  At least one of the defendants indicated the intent to appeal the class certification ruling to the Fourth Circuit.

Rule 23(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides: "A court of appeals may permit an appeal from an order granting or denying class-action certification under this rule if a petition for permission to appeal is filed with the circuit clerk within 14 days after the order is entered. An appeal does not stay proceedings in the district court unless the district judge or the court of appeals so orders."