Kaplan v. Khan
May 17, 2011OUTCOME: We won.
Summary judgment granted to pastor dismissing defamation claim; court relied upon constitutional principles guarding against entanglement of church and state.
Jonathan Robert Nelson's Legal Cases (4)
New York, NY
Litigation Lawyer at New York, NY
Practice Areas: Litigation, Corporate & Incorporation ... +2 more
Medforms, Inc. v. Healthcare Management Solutions Inc.
May 07, 2002OUTCOME: Judgment for defendant, upheld by US Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit
software copyright case in federal court, Southern District of New York. Plaintiff alleged infringement by company that bought software rights from developer.
Bianculli v. Bianculli
Sep 29, 1997OUTCOME: Appellate decision reversing summary judgment and remanding case.
Mother sued son to halt eviction from home she had conveyed to him.
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church v. City of New York
N/AOUTCOME: Injunction issued against City of New York
It was December, 2001. On nights when the temperature was above freezing, the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church allowed homeless men and women to sleep on the steps of the church. The church's program ... of befriending and hospitality had been designed - after consultation with city officials - to help the church's homeless neighbors to get off the streets back into housing, good physical and mental health, and meaningful relationships. The church felt called to minister in this way to the physical and spiritual needs of neighbors who had been coming to the steps for rest even without the church's invitation. In a change of policy, the New York City police conducted raids to sweep the church's steps clear of homeless sleepers. The police pounded on the sleepers' boxes with night sticks, threatened the sleepers with arrest if they did not move away from the church, and claimed that the sleepers were engaged in "disorderly conduct." They came with patrol wagons and handcuffs, prepared to drag off anyone who tried to resist. The church's ministry to its homeless neighbors was disrupted, and the progress that its steps sleepers had seemed to be making was threatened. When negotiation failed, the city called upon the Law Offices of Jonathan Robert Nelson to take the city to court. At issue was whether the church's ministry to the homeless people sleeping on its steps qualified as the expression of a religious belief that was protected by the United States Constitution (the court found that it did qualify), and whether the city's power to regulate traffic on its sidewalks extended to the church's steps (the court found that it did not extend to the steps). Ultimately the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed Judge McKenna's ruling that the church was entitled to an injunction against the city. Attorney's fees were awarded to the plaintiff by stipulation of the parties.
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