John Craver and Dmitry Vilner recently won a motion to dismiss in federal court for their client, a homeless shelter. The plaintiff, a prisoner who was on parole, alleged that his parole officers and the shelter agreed to force him to participate in Christian educational programming. Even assuming the plaintiff’s allegations were true (they were not), John and Dmitry persuaded the court that the shelter was not a “state actor,” as that term is defined under federal law. Therefore, the plaintiff could not sue the shelter for alleged violations of his constitutional rights.
