CA11: You can’t sue over a public official trying to copy a document you claim gives you authority to enter the building

Plaintiff came into a Florida Town Hall with a videographer in tow with a purported “court order” from Atlantic City NJ allegedly authorizing copying of records. When an official tried to copy the order, plaintiff grabbed it from the copier, and a minor altercation occurred resulting in his getting kicked out of the copier room and ordered from the building. He was not seized, and the paper was not seized, or if it was, it was de minimus. “Moreover, in balancing the alleged seizure against the Town’s undisputed interest in conducting searches of individuals entering public buildings, see City of Indianapolis, 531 U.S. at 47-48 — especially here, where O’Boyle claimed he had obtained permission from a New Jersey court to videotape inside a Florida Town Hall — we conclude that Chief Ward did not violate O’Boyle’s Fourth Amendment right when he briefly retained the court order that O’Boyle intended Chief Ward to read and rely upon in his official capacity.” 12(b)(6) motion was granted and affirmed. O’Boyle v. Thrasher, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 577 (11th Cir. Jan. 14, 2016).* (A more vexing question is why a lawyer took this case to federal court in the first place.)