1st Amendment Violation.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Nicole Bogart, et al. v. Vermilion County, Illinois, et al.

Case No.: 18-1719

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and SYKES and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 1st Amendment Violation

Nicole Bogart, a Democrat, worked as the Financial Resources Director of Vermilion County, Illinois, but her tenure ended when Michael Marron, a Republican, assumed control of the County Board and fired her. She responded by bringing claims under the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause, alleging that Vermilion County and Marron violated her right of political affiliation and engaged in political retaliation. The district court dismissed the equal protection claim as duplicative of the First Amendment claim, and, after finding that the substantial fiscal and budgetary responsibilities of Bogart's position fit within the Elrod-Branti exception to political patronage dismissals, granted...