Lu v. City of Boston

Plaintiff filed a complaint in federal court against the Trustees of the Boston Public Library and a library employee alleging that he was denied entrance to the Boston Public Library in violation of his civil rights. The district court denied Plaintiff’s motion seeking disqualification of the Boston Law Department as counsel for Defendants, concluding that the Trustees constitute a municipal entity that oversees the Library as a department of the City of Boston. Plaintiff subsequently filed this action in the county court seeking a judgment declaring that the Trustees and the City “are two separate, independent legal entities,” and that the Law Department may not provide legal representation to the Trustees or Library employees. A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the complaint and denied postjudgment relief. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that because the complaint in this case dealt with the same controversy that existed between the parties in the federal litigation, it did not present a proper occasion for declaratory relief. View "Lu v. City of Boston" on Justia Law