Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski

Chike Uzuegbunam was a student at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia. While at school, he adopted Christianity, and attempted to proselytize on campus. He was stopped by campus security and told that religious recruitment or proselytizing was limited to certain designated "speech zones" on campus, for use of which he was required to register ahead of time. Uzuegbunam followed the procedure to register a block of time at one of these zones, but due to a student complaint his activities were determined to be violating the policy that disallows speech that "disturbs the peace and/or comfort" of the students or faculty. Uzuegbunam made no further attempts to proselytize, and eventually graduated from the college. While the case was being heard in District Court, its appellate court, the Eleventh Circuit, ruled in ''Flanigan's Enters., Inc. v. City of Sandy Springs'' that "a claim for nominal damages in a constitutional violation case when the conduct is not likely to reoccur is moot". The District Court applied the Eleventh's ''Flanigan's'' ruling to Uzuegbunam's ruling and declared that the request for nominal damages was moot. The appeal of Uzuegbunam's case to the Eleventh Circuit upheld the mootness decision. ==Supreme Court==

The ADF petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear Uzuegbunam's case on the basis that the split created by the Eleventh Circuit still remained unresolved. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in October 2020. The Court issued its ruling on March 8, 2021. In an 8–1 decision, the Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit's ruling and remanded the case for further review. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion joined by all but Chief Justice John Roberts. Thomas wrote that Uzuegbunam had experienced a violation of his rights, even if the situation was now moot, and "Because 'every violation [of a right] imports damage,' nominal damages can redress Uzuegbunam’s injury even if he cannot or chooses not to quantify that harm in economic terms." Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion. In his opinion, Roberts argued that because the case was moot, the courts had no reason to continue to keep the case alive through the awarding of nominal damages, and said that the majority opinion created a "major expansion" of the courts' role. == References ==