LAWSON v. UNION COUNTY CLERK OF COURT

No. 14-2360.

828 F.3d 239 (2016)

Melanie LAWSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNION COUNTY CLERK OF COURT, William F. "Freddie" Gault; William F. Gault, a/k/a Freddie Gault, Individually, Defendants-Appellees. Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment; Common Cause, Amici Supporting Appellant.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: July 7, 2016.

Amended: July 8, 2016.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Samantha Clark Booth , Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Appellant. Vance J. Bettis , Gignilliat, Savitz & Bettis, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellees. Eugene Volokh , UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California, for Amici Curiae. ON BRIEF: Mark Epstein , Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, California; John G. Reckenbeil , Law Office of John G. Reckenbeil, LLC, Spartanburg, South Carolina, for Appellant. Sina Safvati , Anjelica Sarmiento , Sabine Tsuruda , UCLA School of Law Students, Scott & Cyan Banister First Amendment Clinic, Los Angeles, California, for Amici Curiae.

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Duncan wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge Diaz joined. Senior Judge Davis wrote a dissenting opinion.


Appellee William Gault ("Gault") terminated Appellant Melanie Lawson ("Lawson") from her position as a deputy clerk in the Clerk of Court's Office of Union County, South Carolina. Lawson filed suit, challenging her termination on First Amendment grounds. Gault moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted the...

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