Eighth Circuit: Jose Refugio Gomez-Gutierrez v. Loretta E. Lynch

Immigration

State solicitation of prostitution statute categorically a crime of moral turpitude.

Sufficient consideration by board.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143374P.pdf

Eighth Circuit: United States v. Brandon Lovell

Sentencing

Above-guidelines sentence not substantively unreasonable when additional counts were dismissed as part of the deal.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143277P.pdf

Sixth Circuit: USA v. Shawn Bivens

Sentencing

No error in court's not grouping multiple crimes based on an ongoing relationship.

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0021p-06.pdf

Sixth Circuit: Ronald Miller v. Comm'r of Social Security

SSA

Insufficient evidence for ALJ finding, given medical facts in evidence.

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0020p-06.pdf

Fourth Circuit: Frederick Aikens v. William Ingram, Jr

S1983, Military

S1983 Fourth Amendment claim for monitoring national guardsman's email barred by military abstention, as the harm was incident to military service.

http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/142419.P.pdf




Fourth Circuit: United States ex rel. Steven May v. Purdue Pharma

FCA

FCA claim prevented by prior claim bar where counsel for qui tam plaintiff had knowledge of prior claims.


http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/142299.P.pdf

Fourth Circuit: Central Radio Company Inc. v. City of Norfolk

First Amendment

Municipal sign ordinance was a content-based restriction on speech as it targeted commercial speech.

Aesthetics and traffic safety considerations don't satisfy strict scrutiny.

Insufficient bad intent for selective enforcement claim.

(Appendix: Sign was a protest against pending eminent domain action.)

http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/131996A.P.pdf




Second Circuit: United States v. Allen

Fourth Amendment

Absent exigent circumstance, a warrantless arrest made across the threshold - where the police are outside and arrestee inside after being summoned to the door by the police - violates the Fourth Amendment.

Compelled by earlier circuit precedent.

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d4b80e2f-29b7-4b35-941f-313aacb7b3f6/1/doc/13-3333_complete_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d4b80e2f-29b7-4b35-941f-313aacb7b3f6/1/hilite/


Second Circuit: United States v. Liddon Young

Sentencing

No error in denial of downward departure.

Sentencing court erred in double counting trafficking and subsequent-use-in-felony enhancements, as there was insufficient connection between the trafficking and the eventual offense.  Expressio unius.

Error in Obstruction enhancement, as specific intent is necessary for unsworn out of court statements.

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d4b80e2f-29b7-4b35-941f-313aacb7b3f6/2/doc/14-2383_complete_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/d4b80e2f-29b7-4b35-941f-313aacb7b3f6/2/hilite/






Eleventh Circuit: Brandon Jones v. GDCP Warden

AEDPA, Habeas

Petition for recall of madate resulting from earlier Habeas is a second/successive petition.

No merit in stay pending upcoming en banc holding on whether summary/brief affirmance by highest state court is the final state decision for purposes of federal habeas review, as it would not alter the merits of the underlying Strickland claim.

Insufficient miscarriage of justice to justify recall of mandate sua sponte.

http://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201114774.ord.pdf

[CB Editorial: The death penalty is morally unjustifiable.]

Ninth Circuit: David Zachary v. California Bank and Trust

Bankruptcy

Petitioner can cram down plans over the objection of a dissenting class of unsecured creditors while retaining post-petition property but not while retaining pre-petition property .

(From summary)

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/28/13-16402.pdf

Eighth Circuit: United States v. Quincy Jackson

Immigration

Agency Violence Against Women Act finding that underlying marriage was bona fide did not compel the IJ to accept that finding when balancing deportation arguments (including VAWA) when the IJ had already issued an opinion that the marriage was fraudulent.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143671P.pdf


Eighth Circuit: Judith Mutie-Timothy v. Loretta E. Lynch

Fourth Amendment

Probable cause for search of aircraft after drug dog alert.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143756P.pdf

Seventh Circuit: Charles Donelson v. Randy Pfister

Administrative, Habeas

State denial of claim that witnesses were not provided during prison disciplinary proceeding due to the fact that a form was copied and sent intact as opposed to detached from the receipt portion was not an adequate and independent state ground for denial.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-28/C:14-3395:J:Hamilton:aut:T:fnOp:N:1694237:S:0

Seventh Circuit: USA v. Terry Smith

Sentencing

Substantial evidence supporting conviction.

Below-guidelines sentence vacated for insufficient explanation of reason for downward departure & conditions on supervised release.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-28/C:14-3744:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1693902:S:0

Seventh Circuit: USA v. Ambrose Clayton

Sentencing

Court did not need to consider deft's postconviction conduct at denial of resentencing, as deft did not raise postconviction behavior at sentencing, and there is no guarantee of effective counsel at that stage of appeal.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-28/C:15-2553:J:PerCuriam:aut:T:fnOp:N:1694235:S:0

Seventh Circuit: Hedeen International, LLC v. Zing Toys, Inc.

FRCP

21 Day limit for challenging personal jurisdiction isn't jurisdictional limit on subsequent motions.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-27/C:15-1749:J:Rovner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1693702:S:0

Sixth Circuit: David Eaton v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County

S1983, FRCP

Summary judgment upheld against S1983 challenge to effectiveness of municipality's drug testing program.

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0019p-06.pdf

Fifth Circuit: Marilyn Garner v. Knoll, Incorporated

Bankruptcy, UCC

Although the first claim on the funds transferred into the deposit account survived any secured interest against the acount, a subsequent commingling created a burden on the Trustee to establish that the funds remained identifiable.

http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/15/15-10274-CV0.pdf

Fifth Circuit: USA v. Roberth Rojas, et al

Crim

Drug statute constitutional, extraterritorial application valid, extraterritorial application did not violate due process.

Venue was proper in the first judicial district that the defts entered.  (Not Cuba.)

Insufficient connection between defts and US at time of foreign wiretap to invoke Fourth Amendment.

Many other challenges, including conspiracy exit instruction, variance from indictment.

http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/13/13-40998-CR0.pdf