192062P.pdf   04/27/2021  Maleeha Ahmad  v.  City of St. Louis, Missouri
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-2062
                          and No:  19-2221
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Loken, Author, with Shepherd and Erickson, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. In an action alleging City police officers 
   violated plaintiffs' rights by interfering with their First, Fourth and 
   Fourteenth Amendment rights during the civil disturbances following the 
   acquittal of St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley, the district court 
   entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting certain police procedures and 
   certified a class consisting of persons who would participate in future 
   demonstrations in the City. The City appeals both the preliminary 
   injunction and the class certification. Held: Given the rigorous burdens 
   of proof plaintiffs face on their Section 1983 claims the evidence at the 
   preliminary injunction hearing relating to the events of September, 2017, 
   while relevant and sufficient to persuade the court to grant a preliminary 
   injunction pendente lite, will not be sufficient to warrant permanent 
   injunctive relief imposing the same levels of indefinite federal court 
   control over the City's law enforcement responsibilities; the court 
   therefore conditions maintenance of the preliminary injunction upon the 
   completion of a trial on the merits of plaintiffs' request for a permanent 
   injunction within six months; the court affirms the denial of the City's 
   motion to dissolve the temporary injunction and remands the matter with 
   directions to vacate and dissolve the injunction no later than October 31, 
   2021, if it has not been replaced with a final order either granting or 
   denying permanent injunctive relief. With respect to the class 
   certifcation, it was granted prematurely. Given the individual inquiries 
   plaintiffs' claims required, the massive class action certified neither 
   promotes the efficiency and economy underlying class actions nor pays 
   sufficient heed to the federalism and separation of powers principles set 
   out in Supreme Court and Eighth Circuit cases. Accordingly, the class 
   certification order is vacated without prejudice to plaintiffs renewing 
   their request after a final order has been entered on their claim for 
   permanent injunctive relief, at which point the district court can better 
   assess whether a Rule 23(b)(2) class is appropriate and necessary to 
   afford proper equitable relief. Judge Erickson, concurring in part and 
   dissenting in part.