Smith v. Allen
Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.
Status
104 later cases cite Smith v. Allen; 104 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.
Relying on Smith v. Allen?
This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.
Treatments
Overruled in part
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The en banc Eleventh Circuit overruled Smith to the extent it held that the PLRA precludes punitive damages absent physical injury.
Conraad L. Hoever v. R. Marks · Eleventh Circuit · filed
A subsequent panel then relied on Napier for the proposition that compensatory and punitive damages “are precluded under the PLRA” absent physical injury. Smith v. Allen, 502 F.3d 1255, 1271 (11th Cir. 2007), abrogated on other grounds by Sossamon v. Texas, 563 U.S. 277, 131 S. Ct. 1651 (2011). ... Because this Court’s precedents did not grapple meaningfully with the text of § 1997e(e), we now overrule those precedents in this regard.
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Abrogated
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The Supreme Court abrogated Smith's holding that a state accepting federal funds waives sovereign immunity from private suits for money damages under RLUIPA.
Sossamon v. Texas · Supreme Court of the United States · filed
We conclude that States, in accepting federal funding, do not consent to waive their sovereign immunity to private suits for money damages under RLUIPA because no statute expressly and unequivocally includes such a waiver. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is affirmed.
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Declined to follow
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The District of Connecticut declined to follow Smith's conclusion that RLUIPA's authorization of “appropriate relief” clearly permits money damages against a state.
El Badrawi v. Department of Homeland Security · D. Conn. · filed
In concluding that the phrase “appropriate relief’ encompassed an award of money damages, the Eleventh Circuit reasoned that, “where Congress ha[s] not given any guidance or clear indication of its purpose with respect to remedies, federal courts should presume the availability of all appropriate remedies.” Smith, 502 F.3d at 1270 (citing Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Sch., 503 U.S. 60, 68-69, 112 S.Ct. 1028, 117 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992)). This reasoning is unpersuasive because the court failed to account for the special, clear statement rules that apply when the federal government seeks to abrogate state sovereign immunity.
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Does this case still carry your argument?
Describe your facts. Ezel reads Smith v. Allen and the cases that treated it, then tells you whether it still holds for your situation, with citations.
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