Opinion ID: 2817779
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: official capacity claim against

Text: BRNOVICH The district court granted summary judgment to Horne (who was then Arizona’s Attorney General) on the basis that plaintiffs hadn’t “alleged or argued how the Attorney General’s office violated their constitutional rights.” The district court addressed the claim on the merits even though “[d]efendants considered this claim abandoned and did not respond” in their filings on summary judgment. Although plaintiffs list the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Attorney General among the issues presented on appeal, their brief does not argue the point or cite any authorities in support of their official capacity claims against the Attorney General. Because plaintiffs didn’t “specifically and distinctly argue” in their opening brief that the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Attorney General was incorrect, this issue is waived. See Wagner v. Cnty. of Maricopa, 747 F.3d 1048, 1059 (9th Cir. 2013).