Black v. City of Atlanta

35 F.3d 516 (1994)

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Black v. City of Atlanta

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
35 F.3d 516 (1994)

  • Written by Jody Stuart, JD

Facts

Karen Black and others (collectively, the demonstrators) (plaintiffs), pro-life advocates, were arrested during a demonstration and filed a lawsuit in district court against the City of Atlanta and several city police officers (collectively, the city) (defendants). Prior to trial, the parties entered into a settlement agreement. A consent order for the settlement was signed by counsel for both parties and entered by the district court. Subsequently, the city filed a motion to set aside the consent order, arguing that the city attorneys did not have authority to bind the city to the settlement agreement. In particular, the settlement agreement had not been authorized by the city council, as required by a city ordinance. Under this city ordinance, the city council was required to approve the settlement agreement before the city attorneys settled the lawsuit. The city acknowledged that the restriction on the city attorneys’ authority was not communicated to the demonstrators during the settlement negotiations. The city asserted that defense counsel assumed the demonstrators were aware of the restriction on authority in the city ordinance, and the demonstrators asserted they did not know about the restriction contained in the ordinance. The district court denied the motion to set aside the consent order, and the city appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)

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