Melanie Lawson v. Union County Clerk of Court

With respect, I believe that my friends in the majority misapply and effectively rewrite a portion of First Amendment jurisprudence in their analysis of this case. First, the majority opinion declines to render partial summary judgment for Plaintiff-Appellant Melanie Lawson, despite determining that Defendanh-Appellee William Gault’s affirmative defenses under the Elrod-Branti exception,1 qualified immunity, and Eleventh Amendment immunity fail as a matter of law, and without identifying any genuine issues of material fact that would preclude the entry of judg*257ment on liability. Second, the…