Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`No. 23-50224
`In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
`_____________
`
`Leila Green Little; Jeanne Puryear; Kathy Kennedy; Rebecca
`Jones; Richard Day; Cynthia Waring; Diane Moster,
`Plaintiffs-Appellees,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`v.
`Llano County; Ron Cunningham, in his official capacity as
`Llano County Judge; Jerry Don Moss, in his official capacity as
`Llano County Commissioner; Peter Jones, in his official
`capacity as Llano County Commissioner; Mike Sandoval, in his
`official capacity as Llano County Commissioner; Linda
`Raschke, in her official capacity as Llano County
`Commissioner; Amber Milum, in her official capacity as Llano
`County Library System Director; Bonnie Wallace, in her
`official capacity as Llano County Library Board Member;
`Rochelle Wells, in her official capacity as Llano County
`Library Board Member; Rhoda Schneider, in her official
`capacty as Llano County Library Board Member; Gay Baskin, in
`her official capacity as Llano County Library Board Member,
`Defendants-Appellants.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`_____________
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`On Appeal from the United States District Court
`for the Western District of Texas
`Case No. 1:22-cv-424-RP
`_____________
`
`Motion To Dismiss Claims Against Llano County
`Library Advisory Board Members As Moot
`_____________
`
`
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Mitchell Law PLLC
`111 Congress Avenue, Suite 400
`Austin, Texas 78701
`(512) 686-3940 (phone)
`(512) 686-3941 (fax)
`jonathan@mitchell.law
`
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`Certificate of Interested Persons
`Counsel of record certifies that the following persons and entities as described
`in the fourth sentence of Fifth Circuit Rule 28.2.1 have an interest in the outcome
`of this case. These representations are made in order that the judges of this Court
`may evaluate possible disqualification or recusal.
`
`Plaintiffs’ Counsel
`Ellen V. Leonida
`Matthew Borden
`J. Noah Hagey
`Max Bernstein
`Ellis E. Herington
`Marissa Benavides
`BraunHagey & Borden LLP
`
`Ryan A. Botkin
`Katherine P. Chiarello
`María Amelia Calaf
`Kayna Stavast Levy
`Wittliff | Cutter PLLC
`
`Defendants’ Counsel
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Mitchell Law PLLC
`
`Dwain K. Rogers
`Matthew L. Rienstra
`Llano County Attorney’s Office
`
`
`
`Plaintiffs
`• Leila Green Little
`• Jeanne Puryear
`• Kathy Kennedy
`• Rebecca Jones
`• Richard Day
`• Cynthia Waring
`• Diane Moster
`
`
`
`Defendants
`• Llano County
`• Ron Cunningham
`• Jerry Don Moss
`• Peter Jones
`• Mike Sandoval
`• Linda Raschke
`• Amber Milum
`• Bonnie Wallace
`• Rochelle Wells
`• Rhonda Schneider
`• Gay Baskin
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`i
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`Four of the named defendants in this lawsuit were sued in their official capaci-
`
`ties as members of the Llano County Library Advisory Board: Bonnie Wallace, Ro-
`
`chelle Wells, Rhonda Schneider,1 and Gay Baskin. These defendants no longer
`
`serve on the Llano County Library Advisory Board because each of their terms has
`
`expired. See Cunningham Decl. ¶¶ 4–6 & Ex. A. The terms to which Ms. Wells,
`
`Ms. Schneider, and Ms. Baskin were appointed expired on December 31, 2024, and
`
`the term to which Ms. Wallace was appointed expired on December 31, 2023. See
`
`Cunningham Decl. ¶¶ 5–6 & Ex. A. Ms. Wells also resigned her position on the
`
`Llano County Library Advisory Board before the expiration of her term and moved
`
`to Italy. See Wells Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A; Cunningham Decl. ¶ 8.
`
`There are no longer any individuals serving on the Llano County Library Advi-
`
`sory Board because every appointee’s term has expired, and Llano County will not
`
`be appointing anyone to the Llano County Library Advisory Board while this litiga-
`
`tion remains pending. See Cunningham Decl. ¶¶ 9–10. The plaintiffs’ claims
`
`against Ms. Wallace, Ms. Wells, Ms. Schneider, and Ms. Baskin are therefore moot,
`
`as the plaintiffs are seeking only prospective relief and sued these defendants in
`
`their official capacity. ROA.39; ROA.44–45 (¶ 24); ROA.68; see also Church of Sci-
`
`entology v. United States, 506 U.S. 9, 12 (1992) (a claim becomes moot when “an
`
`event occurs while a case is pending on appeal that makes it impossible for the court
`
`to grant any effectual relief whatever to a prevailing party . . .”); Arizonans for Offi-
`
`
`1. Rhonda Schneider’s first name is misspelled in the caption as “Rhoda.” We
`have used the court-assigned caption in spite of this error. We will file a separate
`motion to amend the caption to correct the spelling of Ms. Schneider’s name.
`
`1
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 4 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`cial English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 68 n.23 (1997) (“It is the duty of counsel to
`
`bring to the federal tribunal’s attention, ‘without delay,’ facts that may raise a ques-
`
`tion of mootness.” (quoting Board of License Commissioners of Tiverton v. Pastore,
`
`469 U.S. 238, 240 (1985) (per curiam))). The Court should dismiss as moot all
`
`claims against Bonnie Wallace, Rochelle Wells, Rhonda Schneider, and Gay Baskin
`
`and remove their names from the caption.
`
`The plaintiffs-appellees oppose this motion and will file a written response.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Dated: January 7, 2025
`
`
`Respectfully submitted.
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Mitchell Law PLLC
`111 Congress Avenue, Suite 400
`Austin, Texas 78701
`(512) 686-3940 (phone)
`(512) 686-3941 (fax)
`jonathan@mitchell.law
`
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`2
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 5 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`Certificate of Conference
`I certify that I have conferred with Katherine Chiarello, counsel for the plain-
`tiffs-appellees, and they oppose this motion. They also intend to file a written re-
`sponse.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`3
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 6 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`Ryan A. Botkin
`Katherine P. Chiarello
`María Amelia Calaf
`Botkin Chiarello Calaf
`1209 Nueces Street
`Austin, Texas 78701
`(512) 960-4730 (phone)
`(512) 960-4869 (fax)
`katherine@bccaustin.com
`ryan@bccaustin.com
`mac@bccaustin.com
`
`
`Certificate Of Service
`I certify that on January 7, 2025, this document was electronically filed with the
`clerk of the court for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and served
`through CM/ECF upon:
`
`Matthew Borden
`J. Noah Hagey
`Marissa Benavides
`Kory James DeClark
`BraunHagey & Borden LLP
`351 California Street, 10th Floor
`San Francisco, CA 94104
`(415) 599-0210
`borden@braunhagey.com
`hagey@braunhagey.com
`benavides@braunhagey.com
`declark@braunhagey.com
`
`Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appellees
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`
` Jonathan F. Mitchell
` Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`
`
`
`
`
`4
`
`

`

`
`
`1.
`
`
`2.
`
`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 7 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`Certificate of Compliance
`with type-volume limitation, typeface requirements,
`and type-style requirements
`
`This brief complies with the type-volume limitation of Fed. R. App. P.
`27(d)(2) because it contains 396 words, excluding the parts of the brief ex-
`empted by Fed. R. App. P. 32(f ).
`
`This brief complies with the typeface and type-style requirements of Fed. R.
`App. P. 27(d)(1)(E), 32(a)(5), and Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(6) because it uses
`Equity Text B 14-point type face throughout, and Equity Text B is a propor-
`tionally spaced typeface that includes serifs.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Dated: January 7, 2025
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`
`
`5
`
`

`

`Case: 23-50224 Document: 320-1 Page: 8 Date Filed: 01/07/2025
`
`
`
`Certificate of Electronic Compliance
`Counsel also certifies that on January 7, 2025, this document was transmitted
`to Mr. Lyle W. Cayce, Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth
`Circuit, through http://www.pacer.gov.
`Counsel further certifies that: (1) required privacy redactions have been made,
`5th Cir. R. 25.2.13; (2) the electronic submission is an exact copy of the paper doc-
`ument, 5th Cir. R. 25.2.1; and (3) the document has been scanned with the most re-
`cent version of VirusTotal and is free of viruses.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` /s/ Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Jonathan F. Mitchell
`Counsel for Defendants-Appellants
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`6
`
`

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.

We are unable to display this document.

HTTP Error 400: Found

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket