Since 2011. An occasional commonplacing of the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Neither an authoritative statement of the law nor legal advice. Quick work.
Ninth Circuit: USA V. LAVELLE PHILLIPS
Sentencing, Guns
No procedural error in sentencing--sufficiently explained.
Active concealment required for misprision suffices to make constitutional a bar on possession of firearms after conviction for Misprision of Felony.
USA V. LAVELLE PHILLIPS
Ninth Circuit: JENNY FLORES V. LORETTA LYNCH
Immigration
Consent decree applies to both accompanied and unaccompanied minors, since the potential policy issues do not preclude reading the contract in its plain terms.
Decree does not create a duty to release parents, though.
JENNY FLORES V. LORETTA LYNCH
Eigth Circuit: United States v. Charles Ewert
Sentencing
Sentencing guidelines not unconstitutional.
State misdemeanor with penalty of more than a year in prison was properly considered a felony in sentencing.
Not substantively unreasonable.
United States v. Charles Ewert
Eighth Circuit: United States v. Santos Chavarria-Ortiz
Sentencing
Lack of contemporaneous objection to explanation of sentence at trial is forfeiture of claim, not waiver.
Within-guidelines sentence sufficiently explained, as the court characterized the sentence as reasonable and evinced some knowledge of the deft's circumstances.
Within-guidelines sentence not substantively unreasonable.
United States v. Santos Chavarria-Ortiz
Eighth Circuit: Katie Moore v. Kansas City Public Schools
Federal Jurisdiction, IDEA, FRCP
As school-based tort claim did not explicitly invoke IDEA, removal and dismissal for lack of exhaustion was improper.
The claim's reference to similar terms did, however make the claim colorable, so fees are denied.
Katie Moore v. Kansas City Public Schools
Eighth Circuit: Jerome Emmanuel Davis v. Warden Kent Grandlienard
Habeas, AEDPA, Miranda
As the post-invocation statement admitted at the trial was facially exculpatatory and cumulative, state court did not err in denying Habeas.
Concur in J -- The statement was the only evidence placing the deft at the scene of the crime, but state court could have reasonably read it as harmless error.
Jerome Emmanuel Davis v. Warden Kent Grandlienard
Eighth Circuit: Critique Services, LLC v. LaToya L. Steward
Bankruptcy, Ethics
Pre-petition motion for equitable disgorgement is maintainable by petitioner so long as the trustee has abandoned the estate.
Insufficient basis to question impartiality of judge who previously headed US Trustee's office that engaged in adversarial process against petitioner LLC.
Court properly construed pro se petition; LLC properly a party; partial payment didn't moot the claim, etc.
Sanctions upheld.
Critique Services, LLC v. LaToya L. Steward
Seventh Circuit: Melvin Phillips v. Sheriff of Cook County
S1983, Prisons, Class Actions, FRCP
Prisoner claims asserting deliberate indifference under S1983 were improperly certified into a class, since although they shared an essential claim, the question of commonality implies a consideration of redressibility, and the relief sought in individual claims did not always support the remedy sought on behalf of the class as a whole.
Motion for relief from final judgment was inappropriate to challenge denial of certification -- an amended motion to certify the class remained available, appealable if a subsequent decision of the court materially alters the position of the class.
Melvin Phillips v. Sheriff of Cook County
Seventh Circuit: Eileen Felix v. Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Discrimination, FMLA, Employment
Medical inquiry that considered the prospective behavior of the employee did not therefore have to establish a direct threat in order to justify the ending of employment.
Eileen Felix v. Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Sixth Circuit: Avelino Cruz Martinez v. USA
En Banc, International, Extradition
Issuance of arrest warrant stops the clock for purposes of statutes of limitations referenced in extradition treaties.
Treaty reference to lapse of time does not incorporate the speedy trial guarantee.
Concur in J -- Speedy Trial analysis doesn't follow textually, but is correct given the purposes of treaty.
Dissent 1 - Treaty incorporates the guarantee -- plain meaning.
Dissent 2 - Translation inaccurate.
Avelino Cruz Martinez v. USA
Sixth Circuit: Yaqob Thomas v. Joseph Meko
Habeas, AEDPA, FRCP
A second state Habeas claim ultimately deemed to be barred procedurally for having been available to the petitioner at the filing of the first petition nonetheless tolled the AEDPA clock, as the second petition also asserted a claim for relief from judgement under the state rules.
Yaqob Thomas v. Joseph Meko
Sixth Circuit: Altin Shuti v. Loretta Lynch
Immigration, Statutory Interpretation, Due Process
Immigration provision paralleling the ACCA residual clause is similarly void for vagueness.
Altin Shuti v. Loretta Lynch
Fifth Circuit: Linda Singletary v. Prudential Ins Co. of America
ERISA, Insurance, Choice of Law, Preemption
As the cause of action is a statutory one, courts should not construe a challenge to the denial of benefits into an equitable challenge to the adequacy of disclosure of limitations.
General concerns of public policy insufficient to invalidate choice of law provision in pendent cause of action.
ERISA preempts state statute, as it has nothing whatsoever to do with risk pooling.
Linda Singletary v. Prudential Ins Co. of America
Fourth Circuit: Monica Guessous v. Fairview Property Investments
Discrimination, S1981, Statute of Limitations
As the proof of nondiscriminatory motive followed the protected activity, there's sufficient evidence to go to trial on pretext.
The distinction between inappropriate comments and comments indicating animus is one for the finder of fact.
Individually time-barred discriminatory acts can still serve as basis for a timely hostile environment claim.
Broad ethnic aspersions can also suggest specific racial animus.
Totality shoudl be considered in hostile environment claims.
Monica Guessous v. Fairview Property Investments
Fourth Circuit: Dewayne Cox v. Bradley Quinn
Prisons, S1983
Denial of qualified immunity upheld for responding to inmate report of robbery and assault by telling the alleged attackers that the inmate had reported the violence and receiving assurances that there would be no further trouble.
Dewayne Cox v. Bradley Quinn
Second Circuit: U.S. v. Rivernider
FRCrimP, Crim, Fraud, White Collar, Sentencing
No abuse of discretion in denial of permission to withdraw guilty plea, given signed admissions and extensive colloquy.
Mens rea for the fraud was intentionally withholding information, not the desire to harm the victims.
Where claims of counsel conflict are conclusory, there is no right to new counsel for the filing of a motion to withdraw the guilty plea.
In sentencing, court appropriately considered all loans to be tainted by the fraudulent operation, despite the lack of explicit linkage of fraud to each of the loans.
Sentencing generally affirmed.
U.S. v. Rivernider
Second Circuit: United States v. Bouchard
Crim, White Collar, Fraud
Deceiving a lender which is not federally insured without the intent to deceive its federally insured parent does not violate the statute prohibiting lying to federally insured lenders.
A lender is not, for purposes of the statute, categorically a bank.
In a conviction for conspiracy, absent a special verdict indication of reliance on a particular theory, reversal of an overt act under one theory still allows the conviction to stand, given the other possible overt acts.
No abuse of discretion in denial of new trial for alleged perjury, given deft's successful cross of witness.
United States v. Bouchard
Second Circuit: Walsh v. NYCHA
Title VII, Discrimination
Evidence as to whether the hiring decision was discriminatory must be considered holistically.
Dissent -- Totality analysis problematic when asserting pretext.
Walsh v. NYCHA
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