United States Fourth Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action claiming that defendant-officer wrongfully seized plaintiff's wolf, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where the fact that a wolf may be lawfully possessed does not mean that the lawfulness of its possession must be verified as a prerequisite to its seizure when that seizure is necessary to protect the public safety or otherwise.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/14/2009
• Decided 07/30/2009
• Published 07/30/2009

Judges

• Before Sandra Day O'CONNOR, Associate Justice (Retired), Supreme Court of the United States, sitting by designation, WILKINSON, Circuit Judge, and JOSEPH F. ANDERSON, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Jason Christopher Crump, Smith Graham & Crump, LLC, Largo, Maryland, for Appellants.  Stephen Thibodeau, Prince George's County Office of Law, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, for Appellees.