In plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a county Treasurer and staff, following the acquittal of her criminal prosecution for allegedly making threats against a public official, judgment of the district court in rejecting the federal-law theories and resolving the state-law theories in favor of the defendants is vacated and remanded with instructions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction as, prior decision inescapably render plaintiff’s federal theories frivolous and a veneer of constitutional phraseology on top of a state tort claim cannot justify its adjudication in federal court.   

Read Avila v. Pappas, No. 09-1865

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division

Decided January 4, 2010

Judges

Before: Easterbrook, Chief Judge, and Wood and Tinder, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Chief Judge, Easterbrook

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