Federal Circuit: Muller v. GPO

Administrative, Arbitration

Statutory time period for arbitration is a housekeeping rule, not a jurisdictional limit on the scope of arbitrablility of claim.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/15-3032.Opinion.1-12-2016.1.PDF

Ninth Circuit: USA v. Estate of Wayne Hage

Property, Administrative

Water rights merely alow for access to divert the water - there are no appurtenant grazing rights implied as an easement of necessity.

Filing of government suit is not a final agency decision subject to review under the APA.

Reassigned on remand.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/15/13-16974.pdf

Eighth Circuit: United States v. Justin Janis

Tribe Law, Agency

While tribal police, as a class, are considered federal employees as a matter of law, as they are enforcing order pursuant to a contract with the BIA, the question of whether any person is acting as a tribal officer is a question of fact to be resolved at trial.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143888P.pdf

Eighth Circuit: Shane Bailey v. Don Feltmann

S1983 - DP/4A

No error in grant of qualified immunity on claim of unconscionable delay in medical treatment, as there was no clearly established right under the Fourth Amendment or Due Process.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143859P.pdf

Eighth Circuit: Inoel Gonzalez Cano v. Loretta E. Lynch

Immigration

Sufficient evidence for agency finding that petitioner's social group was too ill-defined to warrant relief.

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/01/143730P.pdf



Seventh Circuit: Kelly Sonnenberg v. Amaya Group Holdings (IOM) Ltd

Statutory Construction

Anti-gambling statute does not have an implied cause of action for third parties to recover gambling losses from websites that hosted the game, but that were not the winning parties in the game.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-15/C:15-1887:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1688160:S:0

Fourth Circuit: Philip McFarland v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Contracts

Under state law, lack of a showing on substantive unconscionability of the agreement does not bar a finding of unconscionable inducement.

http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/142126.P.pdf


Third Circuit: In Re Trump Entertainment Resorts

Labor / Bankruptcy

The Bankruptcy Code provisions referencing CBAs apply to the terms of the prior CBA left in place after the end of a prior CBA -- the District Court therefore had jurisdiction under the Code to allow modification of the terms of the agreement, subject to the close scrutiny of the court.

http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/144807p.pdf




Federal Circuit: McCarthy v. MSPB

Administrative

Denial of motion to reopen a case when issued in the form of a letter is sufficiently final for review when the motion is based on an intervening change in the substantive law.

Where the statute gives the board the task of reopening a case, the decision of the board is subject to APA review.

As complaint phased the substantive issues but not the legal ones, insufficient exhaustion of administrative remedies.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/15-3072.Opinion.1-12-2016.1.PDF

Federal Circuit: Hymas v. US

Administrative

Cooperative agreements were initiated under permissible agency rulemaking and are therefore not procurement contracts subject to Tucker Act jurisdiction.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/14-5150.Opinion.1-12-2016.1.PDF

DC Circuit: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Administrative

Summary judgment based on appointment of committee members with conflicts of interests was error, as the claimed harms were too remote and speculative -- there was no proof that the committee's report would prompt an eventual rulemaking, no proof of confidential disclosures, and no evidence of inappropriate shaping of the committee's report.

https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/4535A54A84790EC685257F3B0054CC05/$file/14-5226-1593800.pdf

DC Circuit: National Security Counselors v. CIA

Fees

A bona fide corporation with an identity distinct from that of the natural person who represents it in court is eligible for fee-shifting provisions of FOIA.  In house counsel presumptively distinct from corporation, despite close involvement and personal commitment.

https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/EBD08628AB46B5D185257F3B0054CBEF/$file/14-5171-1593790.pdf

DC Circuit: Silverado Stages, Inc. v. FMCSA

Administrative

Challenge to mechanics of system for challenging material in online database insufficiently developed for review.

Auer deference to agency exempting database from regulatory process.

Notice and comment challenge to findings of safety violations waived here for not being raised in District court.

https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/6F8CBD8F8930A7CB85257F3B0054CBD0/$file/14-1298-1593796.pdf


Ninth Circuit: Elton Mendoza Rizo v. Loretta E. Lynch

Immigration / Administrative

Remand to IJ doesn't make case insufficiently final for review, as IJ's remit is to provide for the possibility of voluntary departure.

Petitioner insufficiently developed claims against denial of asylum -- insufficient exhaustion.

No constitutional harm in aggressive questioning by IJ.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/14/13-74216.pdf


Ninth Circuit: Steve Klein v. City of Laguna Beach

S1983, Fees

Error to deny fees for S1983 action, as although nominal claims were awarded in a suit seeking compensatory damages, the primary goal of the suit was to change government policy.

No error in denial of fees under state statute, as the other party prevailed on the state law claims.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/14/13-56973.pdf

Ninth Circuit: USA v. Christopher James

Statutory construction, Crim

Federal statute does not import state standards for the ability to consent -- fundamentally a decision for the jury.

Dissent: (Koz) No ambiguity in statute.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/14/13-10543.pdf

Ninth Circuit: Grand Jury Investigation

At this hour, the Ninth has posted an opinion and an order appearing to revoke that opinion for redaction.  As other cases have been posted since, we'll just link without comment to both the opinion and the order.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/14/15-50450o.pdf

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/01/14/15-50450.pdf

Ninth Circuit: USA v. Mark Spengler

White collar, FRE

Deft can challenge exclusion of expert on appeal, even if deft didn't offer any witnesses at trial.

Exclusion of expert under Daubert/6A upheld, as even if investments were ultimately prudent, deft thought his acts fraudulent at the time.

Prosc witnesses' references to deft as fiduciary did not mislead jury.

No error in court not striking count from superseding indictment, despite the improper citation of statute and omission of willfulness element, as willfulness was alleged broadly in the indictment.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/15/14-30042.pdf





Ninth Circuit: Mike McGee v. China Electric Motor

Securities, Fees

No error in district court's use of lodestar as opposed to percentage of fund, but the lodestar analysis was insufficiently explained.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/15/13-56903.pdf


Ninth Circuit: Steven Fue v. Marin Biter

Habeas, AEDPA

No error in denial of equitable tolling of AEDPA limit, as petitioner didn't inquire into status of state habeas for fourteen months.

Dissent: State didn't notify, policy reasons against new rule.

https://d3bsvxk93brmko.cloudfront.net/datastore/opinions/2016/01/15/12-55307.pdf