ANTHONY NOVAK v. CITY OF PARMA, OHIO; KEVIN RILEY and THOMAS CONNOR, individually and in their official capacities as employees of the City of Parma, Ohio - Articles

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ANTHONY NOVAK v. CITY OF PARMA, OHIO; KEVIN RILEY and THOMAS CONNOR, individually and in their official capacities as employees of the City of Parma, Ohio

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Apr 29, 2022

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Donald Screen, THE CHANDRA LAW FIRM LLC, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: D. John Travis, GALLAGHER SHARP, LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Donald Screen, Subodh Chandra, THE CHANDRA LAW FIRM LLC, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: D. John Travis, Richard C.O. Rezie, Zoran Balac, GALLAGHER SHARP, LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellees.

Attorneys 5: ON BRIEF: David J. Carey, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF OHIO FOUNDATION, Columbus, Ohio, Freda J. Levenson, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF OHIO FOUNDATION, Cleveland, Ohio, Ronald London, FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION, Washington, D.C., Larry H. James, CRABBE, BROWN & JAMES, LLP, Columbus, Ohio, Alejandro V. Cortes, R. Todd Hunt, WALTER | HAVERFIELD LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, Philip K. Hartmann, FROST BROWN TODD LLC, Columbus, Ohio for Amici Curiae.

Judge(s): SUTTON, Chief Judge; THAPAR and READLER, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Anthony Novak thought it would be funny to create a Facebook page that looked like the Parma Police Department’s. The Department was not amused. In fact, officers arrested Novak and prosecutors charged him with a state crime. Novak was acquitted at trial, and he now argues his constitutional rights were violated in the ordeal. But because the officers reasonably believed they were acting within the law, Novak can’t recover.

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