Bridges v. Department of Maryland State Police

Page 197

441 F.3d 197

Shawn BRIDGES; Levander Jones; Lakeithia Webb; Tashima Nicholson; Calvin Thorpe, Jr.; Latia Thorpe; Cynthia Walker; Evan Thorpe; Calvin Thorpe, Sr.; Samuel Williams; Janice Springs; Terry Postell; Kenneth Moody; Frank Willis; Joseph Kahoe; Nallie Hairston; Kenwin Baylor; Calvin Postell; Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches, on behalf of itself, its members, and the plaintiff class; Gary D. Rodwell, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Johnston E. Williams, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; James E. Alston, Jr., on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Yancey Taylor, on behalf of herself, their son Y.T., Jr., and all other persons similarly situated; Aleshia Taylor, on behalf of herself, her minor son, Y.T., Jr., and all other persons similarly situated; George W. Taylor, Jr., on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated;

Eric Anthony, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Nelson D. Walker, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Ras Ra I, f/k/a Mecca Agundabo, I, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; John S. Means; Kenneth R. Jeffries; Diana Desmoines; William M. Berry; Verna A. Bailey, The above on behalf of herself and all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. DEPARTMENT OF MARYLAND STATE POLICE; David B. Mitchell, individually and in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Maryland State Police; Jesse Graybill, individually and in his official capacity as Commander of the Field Operations Bureau of the Department of Maryland State Police; George H. Hall, individually and in his official capacity as Commander of the Northern Region of the field Operations Bureau of the Department of Maryland State Police; Vernon Betkey, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Police Barrack Commander; Keven L. Gray, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Police Barrack Commander; John E. Appleby, individually; George P. Brantly, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Bernard M. Donovan, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven W. Dulski, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Melvin Fialkewicz, individually; John R. Greene, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven L. Hohner, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Clifford T. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; David B. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Michael T. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven O. Jones, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; James E. Nolan, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Paul J. Quill, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Christopher Tideberg, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Ernest S. Tullis, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Michael D. Wann, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Billy White, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; John L. Wilhelm, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Eric Harbold, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Mark A. Rhinehart, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper, Defendants-Appellees Shawn Bridges; Levander Jones; Lakeithia Webb; Tashima Nicholson; Calvin Thorpe, Jr.; Latia Thorpe; Cynthia Walker; Evan Thorpe; Calvin Thorpe, Sr.; Samuel Williams; Janice Springs; Terry Postell; Kenneth Moody; Frank Willis; Joseph Kahoe; Nallie Hairston; Kenwin Baylor; Calvin Postell; Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches, on behalf of itself, its members, and the plaintiff class; Gary D. Rodwell, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Johnston E. Williams, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated;

James E. Alston, Jr., on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Yancey Taylor, on behalf of herself, their son Y.T., Jr., and all other persons similarly situated; Aleshia Taylor, on behalf of herself, her minor son, Y.T., Jr., and all other persons similarly situated; George W. Taylor, Jr., on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Nelson D. Walker, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; Mecca Agundabo, I, on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated; John S. Means; Kenneth R. Jeffries; Diana Desmoines; William M. Berry; Verna A. Bailey, The above on behalf of herself and all other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Department of Maryland State Police; David B. Mitchell, individually and in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Maryland State Police; Jesse Graybill, individually and in his official capacity as Commander of the Field Operations Bureau of the Department of Maryland State Police; George H. Hall, individually and in his official capacity as Commander of the Northern Region of the field Operations Bureau of the Department of Maryland State Police; Vernon Betkey, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Police Barrack Commander; Keven L. Gray, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Police Barrack Commander; John E. Appleby, individually; George P. Brantly, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Bernard M. Donovan, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven W. Dulski, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Melvin Fialkewicz, individually; John R. Greene, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven L. Hohner, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Clifford T. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; David B. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Michael T. Hughes, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Steven O. Jones, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; James E. Nolan, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Paul J. Quill, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Christopher Tideberg, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Ernest S. Tullis, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Michael D. Wann, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Billy White, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; John L. Wilhelm, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Eric Harbold, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper; Mark A. Rhinehart, individually and in his official capacity as a Maryland State Trooper, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 05-1078.

No. 05-1691.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: February 2, 2006.

Decided: March 20, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

ARGUED:

Corey Lynn Stoughton, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, New York, for Appellants. Maureen Mullen Dove, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF:

Reginald Shuford, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, New York; Deborah A. Jeon, ACLU Foundation of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland; Charles Christopher Brown, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, L.L.P., Baltimore, Maryland; William J. Mertens, Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellants. J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General of Maryland, Elizabeth Marzo Borinsky, Assistant Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland; for Appellees.

Before WILKINS, Chief Judge, and NIEMEYER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part; dismissed in part by published opinion. Judge NIEMEYER wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge WILKINS and Judge WILLIAMS joined.

OPINION

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge.

The Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches ("NAACP") and 18 individuals commenced this class action on April 10, 1998, against the Maryland State Police and 24 of its officers for racially profiling minority motorists on Interstate 95 in Maryland. The plaintiffs requested declaratory and injunctive relief, damages, and attorneys fees.

After the district court entered an administrative order denying the plaintiffs' motion for class certification without prejudice to its later renewal, the representative parties abandoned their efforts to represent a class. Instead, they filed a motion to amend their complaint to add 18 individuals as new plaintiffs. By order dated July 26, 2004, the district court denied their motion to amend, concluding that the new parties could not be added to the case because their claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The 18 would-be plaintiffs then filed a motion on their own behalf, through counsel, for reconsideration, and by an order dated December 9, 2004, the district court also denied that motion. The plaintiffs and would-be plaintiffs appealed from the district court's orders denying the plaintiffs' motion to amend and denying the would-be plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration, challenging the district court's application of the statute of limitations.

Five months after the district court denied the motion for reconsideration and after the plaintiffs and would-be plaintiffs filed appeals, the plaintiffs and would-be plaintiffs filed...