Watchtower Bible & Tract Soc'y of N.Y., Inc. v. Colombani, No. 12-1370 (1st Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseAt issue in this case was Puerto Rico's controlled access law, which authorized gated communities, called urbanizations, which could control access to public streets within their confines. In 2004, Appellants, religious organizations, brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that the controlled access regime unconstitutionally impeded their ability to proselytize from house to house. The suit was brought against several Commonwealth defendants and thirty-three municipalities and urbanizations. In Watchtower I, the First Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the CAL was constitutional on its face but that some municipalities and urbanizations were applying the law in ways that bore unreasonably on Jehovah's Witnesses' access to public streets. On remand, the district court dismissed the Commonwealth defendants. Appellants appealed the order dismissing the Commonwealth defendants. The First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Appellants' appeal for lack of jurisdiction, as the order was not final and the order did not have the practical effect of refusing injunctive relief and thus was not immediately appealable.
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