⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Eighth Circuit hears Carl and Drew Rodgers-Rose's appeal from dismissal of a civil-rights suit over a sheriff's levy at their Missouri home. Carl Rose and John Caudle co-owned two funeral-home businesses before falling out over Rose's use of business funds. A state court awarded Caudle more than $400,000. To collect, former Sheriff Wes Drury and Chief Deputy Ron Meredith arrived with a writ authorizing entry and seizure of Rose's personal property. The Roses allege that officers then let Caudle, his lawyer Phillip Dormeyer, and other civilians enter and remove marital property and items belonging to others despite objections. The property was later auctioned. A federal district judge dismissed the resulting Section 1983 case, finding the officers immune, the seizure reasonable, and the private defendants not acting as government agents. The appeal asks whether officers had to assess what the writ covered, whether private participation made the seizure unreasonable, and whether the court used the right state-action test.

Carl Rose v. Sheriff Wes Drury (No. 26-1286) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, argued September 22, 2026.