0 Comments
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions -
Criminal Law. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/23/23-50312-CR0.pdf US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Porretto v. City of Galveston Docket: 23-40035 Opinion Date: August 21, 2024 Judge: King Areas of Law: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law Plaintiff-Appellant Sonya Porretto owns Porretto Beach in Galveston, Texas. After filing for bankruptcy in 2009, her case was converted to a Chapter 7 proceeding. In 2020, the bankruptcy trustee abandoned the Porretto Beach property back to her. In 2021, Porretto filed a lawsuit against the City of Galveston Park Board of Trustees, the City of Galveston, the Texas General Land Office (GLO), and its Commissioner, alleging that their actions constituted takings without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed Porretto’s lawsuit. The court concluded that Porretto lacked standing to sue the GLO and its Commissioner because her complaint did not establish a causal link between their actions and her alleged injuries. The court also found that it lacked bankruptcy jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334 and federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, as Porretto did not invoke 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for her constitutional claims. Additionally, the court denied Porretto leave to amend her complaint and her motion for recusal of the presiding judge. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Porretto’s claims against the GLO and its Commissioner without prejudice, agreeing that Porretto lacked standing. However, the appellate court vacated the district court’s dismissal of Porretto’s claims against the Park Board and the City of Galveston, finding that the district court does have federal question jurisdiction over her constitutional claims despite her failure to cite § 1983. The case was remanded for the district court to consider alternative arguments for dismissal and the issue of supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims. The appellate court also affirmed the district court’s denial of Porretto’s motion for recusal and her request for reassignment to a different judge. Read Opinion A federal law could block reforms for Louisiana’s beleaguered prison health care system
lailluminator.com/2024/07/25/prison-health-care-2/ US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Jaquez Docket: 23-40348 Opinion Date: July 10, 2024 Judge: Leslie H. Southwick Areas of Law: Criminal Law Salvador Jaquez was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien and transporting or attempting to transport an undocumented alien within the United States. The charges stemmed from an incident where Jaquez was found in a truck with undocumented aliens hidden in a trailer. The truck was intercepted by Border Patrol agents near Laredo, Texas, after being detected by surveillance cameras. Jaquez was the only U.S. citizen in the vehicle, and various incriminating items were found in the truck, including cell phones, bolt cutters, and master locks. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas handled the initial trial. Jaquez pled not guilty, but the jury found him guilty on both counts. The district court sentenced him to concurrent 36-month prison terms followed by three years of supervised release. Jaquez appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence for both convictions. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court examined whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the jury's verdict. For the conspiracy charge, the court found that Jaquez's inconsistent statements, his knowledge of the smuggling operation, and his communications with a contact named Edgar Descargas provided sufficient circumstantial evidence of an agreement to transport undocumented aliens. For the transporting charge, the court determined that Jaquez's role in the operation, including his possession of the locks and keys and his coordination efforts, demonstrated sufficient control over the means of transportation. The Fifth Circuit concluded that a rational juror could find Jaquez guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on both counts. The court affirmed the district court's judgment, upholding Jaquez's convictions and sentences. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Gibson, Inc. v. Armadillo Distribution Enterprises, Inc. Docket: 22-40587 Opinion Date: July 8, 2024 Judge: Carl E. Stewart Areas of Law: Business Law, Intellectual Property, Trademark This case involves a dispute between Gibson, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Armadillo Distribution Enterprises, Inc., a Florida corporation, along with Concordia Investment Partners, L.L.C. Gibson, a well-known guitar manufacturer, brought trademark-infringement and counterfeiting claims against Armadillo and Concordia, alleging that they infringed on Gibson's trademarked guitar body shapes, headstock shape, and word marks. After a ten-day trial, the jury found in favor of Gibson on several counts of infringement and counterfeiting but also found that the doctrine of laches applied to limit Gibson’s recovery of damages. The district court had excluded decades of third-party-use evidence that Armadillo and Concordia submitted in support of their genericness defense and counterclaim. Armadillo and Concordia appealed this exclusion order, arguing that the evidence was relevant to their defense that Gibson's trademarks were generic and thus not entitled to protection. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's decision. The appellate court held that the district court abused its discretion by excluding all pre-1992 third-party-use evidence without examining its possible relevance. The court noted that third-party-use evidence is often relevant to show the genericness of a mark, and a mark that is generic is not entitled to trademark protection. The court concluded that the district court's error affected Armadillo’s substantial rights to put on its primary defense to the infringement and counterfeiting claims against it. Therefore, the court remanded the case for a new trial. Read Opinion Louisiana Supreme Court Opinions PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS VS. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY Docket: 2023-C-01396 Opinion Date: June 28, 2024 Judge: Weimer Areas of Law: Animal / Dog Law, Government & Administrative Law The case involves a series of public records requests made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to Louisiana State University (LSU) seeking records related to the use and treatment of wild songbirds in the labs of Dr. Christine Lattin, an associate professor at LSU. After LSU failed to produce the requested records, PETA filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Declaratory Judgment, and Injunctive Relief Pursuant to the Louisiana Public Records Act. LSU denied PETA’s allegations and asserted four affirmative defenses. The district court ruled in favor of PETA, granting access to all the records requested. LSU appealed the decision. The court of appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's decision. It found that some of the records requested by PETA had been answered by LSU and were not subject to production. However, it also found that some video recordings were not exempt from production as they had been publicly released or published. The court of appeal concluded that the district court had erred in ordering LSU to produce the video recordings that were not utilized by Dr. Lattin for the article or for her presentations and, therefore, had not been publicly released or published. The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed the decision of the court of appeal. It held that the veterinary care records, video recordings, communications relating to Dr. Lattin’s plans to trap or experiment on birds and to amend the City of Baton Rouge’s wild bird ordinance, and records relating to Dr. Lattin’s hiring of private counsel were all public records subject to production under the Louisiana Public Records Law. The court rejected LSU's arguments that the records were not public records, were exempt from production, or were unduly burdensome to produce. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Bustamante-Leiva v. Garland Docket: 22-60479 Opinion Date: April 19, 2024 Judge: Jennifer Walker Elrod Areas of Law: Immigration Law Sandra Beatriz Bustamante-Leiva and her three children, natives and citizens of Honduras, entered the United States illegally near Hildalgo, Texas. They were charged with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) for not possessing valid documentation at the time of entry. Bustamante-Leiva applied for asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and humanitarian asylum, with her children as riders to her application. The claims were based on alleged persecution due to religion, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group. Bustamante-Leiva and her children had fled Honduras due to threats from gang members, who had used an empty lot adjacent to their home for violent activities. The immigration judge denied all requested relief and ordered that the petitioners be removed to Honduras. On appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upheld the immigration judge’s findings that the petitioners did not show harm rising to the level of persecution, did not show a nexus between the harm and a protected ground, and did not establish a cognizable particular social group. The BIA also rejected due process arguments made by the petitioners and denied their request for a three-member panel as moot. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that the BIA did not err in its determinations. The court found that the petitioners failed to show membership in a cognizable particular social group and failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion. The court also rejected the petitioners' claims that the BIA violated their due process rights by allowing a single BIA member to render its decision, and that the BIA violated its regulatory obligation to be impartial. The court denied the petition for review. Read Opinion USA v. Schorovsky Docket: 23-50040 Opinion Date: March 15, 2024 Judge: Willett Areas of Law: Criminal Law In 2022, Richard Schorovsky pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He had prior convictions in Texas for felony robbery, aggravated robbery, and burglary of a habitation. The district court determined these previous convictions were "violent felonies" committed on separate occasions, qualifying Schorovsky for sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). He was sentenced to the ACCA’s mandatory minimum of 15 years of imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Schorovsky appealed, challenging his enhanced sentence and guilty plea. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. The court determined that the district court properly concluded that Schorovsky's previous convictions were committed on separate occasions, based on "Shepard-approved" documents, which included indictments and judgments for Schorovsky’s prior convictions. The court also ruled that Schorovsky's prior burglary-of-a-habitation conviction qualified as an ACCA predicate, as Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a) fits within the generic definition of burglary and thus qualifies as an ACCA violent felony. The court dismissed Schorovsky's argument that the district court violated his due process right to notice by finding that his burglary conviction was an ACCA violent felony, stating that Schorovsky was aware of and understood his ACCA enhancement. The court finally concluded that Schorovsky's guilty plea was knowing and voluntary, despite the district court advising him of incorrect minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment resulting from his plea. Read Opinion Chase v. Hodge
Docket: 23-50297 Opinion Date: March 5, 2024 Judge: Southwick Areas of Law: Business Law, Contracts This case is focused on a business dispute regarding the formation and ownership of a limited liability company. The plaintiff contends that he had an agreement with the defendant to have equal ownership in the business. However, the company was allegedly improperly formed with the defendant as the sole owner. The plaintiff alleges that this resulted in a breach of contract. The district court ruled in favor of the defendant, citing the statute of limitations and the statute of frauds as grounds for dismissal. The dispute originated from the formation of Helping Hands Capital, LLC, a Texas-based company that provided pre-settlement medical advancement loans. The plaintiff claimed that he was supposed to be an equal owner in the business, but the defendant was the only one listed as the managing member in the company's formation documents. The plaintiff claimed that after a third partner transferred his interests back to the company, the defendant told him that they were now 50/50 partners. However, in 2018, the defendant clarified that the plaintiff only had an "economic benefit" in the company and did not have "legal ownership". The plaintiff claimed that this was when he was excluded from the business, leading to his breach of contract claim. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision. The appeals court only addressed the applicability of the statute of frauds, which requires certain contracts to be in writing. The court held that the agreement fell within the statute of frauds because the agreement's performance required more than a year, and the evidence does not unequivocally support the existence of a profit-sharing contract. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Silva Docket: 22-30821 Opinion Date: February 12, 2024 Judge: Wilson Areas of Law: Criminal Law, Immigration Law In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressed an appeal by Evaristo Contreras Silva, a Mexican citizen who was convicted of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). Silva entered the United States unlawfully and was detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2018. He was informed of his illegal status and given an I-94 form. Silva argued that he believed he was lawfully in the U.S. based on the I-94 form and his interactions with immigration officials. In February 2022, Silva was found in possession of a firearm after a domestic violence call from his wife. He was subsequently charged and convicted for firearm possession as an illegal alien. On appeal, Silva argued that the Government did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew he was unlawfully in the U.S. when he possessed the firearm. He based his belief on the I-94 form, advice from his immigration attorneys, adherence to his bond conditions, and various applications to change his status after his arrest. However, the court affirmed the conviction, holding that the Government provided sufficient evidence that Silva knew he was in the U.S. unlawfully when he possessed a firearm according to the standard set in Rehaif v. United States. The court considered Silva's unlawful entry, his detention by DHS, his admission of unlawful entry in an application for status adjustment, and the pending status of his immigration applications at the time he possessed the firearm. The court concluded that although there was evidence supporting Silva's belief of lawful presence, it did not justify a judgment of acquittal as the evidence was not definitive and the issue was appropriately presented to the jury. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Raymond James & Assoc v. Jalbert Docket: 23-30040 Opinion Date: January 30, 2024 Judge: Douglas Areas of Law: Bankruptcy, Business Law In this case, Louisiana Pellets (LAP) built a wood processing facility but encountered financial issues that led to bankruptcy. LAP pursued Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a bankruptcy judge confirmed a Chapter 11 plan along with a liquidating trust agreement. Under the agreement, LAP transferred its remaining assets and causes of actions to the trust. More than a year after the creation of the trust, third parties assigned certain legal claims to the trust that the trustee, Craig Jalbert, pursued in state court. The claims involved misstatements made by Raymond James & Associates in its efforts to raise funds to construct LAP's facility. In response to Jalbert's filing, Raymond James asserted affirmative defenses, citing a pre-bankruptcy indemnity agreement it made with LAP. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that Raymond James could not maintain those defenses against the assigned claims. The court reasoned that the express language of the confirmation plan enjoined Raymond James's defensive maneuver. Also, the post-confirmation trust is not the appropriate entity against whom to invoke LAP's indemnity obligation. The court affirmed the bankruptcy court's ruling. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Conti 11. Container Schiffarts-GMBH & Co. KG M.S. v. MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. Docket: 22-30808 Opinion Date: January 29, 2024 Judge: Duncan Areas of Law: Admiralty & Maritime Law, Arbitration & Mediation, Civil Procedure In a dispute between Conti 11 Container Schiffarts-GMBH & Co. KG M.S. and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana lacked personal jurisdiction over the case and reversed the district court's decision. The dispute arose from an incident where three chemical tanks exploded onboard a cargo vessel chartered by Conti to MSC, causing extensive damage and three deaths. After Conti won a $200 million award from a London arbitration panel, Conti sought to confirm the award in the Eastern District of Louisiana. MSC argued that the court lacked personal jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court’s assessment that when confirming an award under the New York Convention, a court should consider contacts related to the underlying dispute, not just those related to the arbitration itself. However, the Fifth Circuit disagreed with the district court's ruling that MSC waived its personal jurisdiction defense through its insurer’s issuance of a letter of understanding. The court also disagreed with the district court's finding that the loading of the tanks in New Orleans conferred specific personal jurisdiction over MSC, as this contact resulted from the actions of other parties not attributable to MSC. Therefore, the Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss it for lack of personal jurisdiction. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Briar Capital Working Fund v. Remmert Docket: 22-20536 Opinion Date: January 22, 2024 Judge: James L. Dennis Areas of Law: Bankruptcy The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit addressed an unprecedented issue in its circuit regarding the sale of preference claims arising under 11 U.S.C. § 547, in the context of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The court was required to decide whether such claims could be sold and if the purchaser had the standing to pursue them. The case was initiated by South Coast Supply Company (South Coast), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after experiencing financial difficulties. During the proceedings, the company borrowed funds from its then-CFO, Robert Remmert. South Coast later filed a lawsuit against Remmert to avoid more than $300,000 of allegedly preferential transfers made before the bankruptcy proceedings. The company's sole secured lender, Briar Capital Working Fund Capital, L.L.C. (Briar Capital), eventually acquired South Coast's interest in this pending preference action against Remmert. Upon acquiring the lawsuit, Briar Capital was substituted as the assignee of South Coast. Remmert argued that Briar Capital lacked standing to prosecute the preference action. The district court agreed, holding that since a successful recovery would not benefit South Coast’s estate or its unsecured creditors, Briar Capital lacked standing to bring the preference claim against Remmert as a representative of the estate under 11 U.S.C. § 1123(b)(3)(B) of the Bankruptcy Code. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's decision. The court held that preference actions can be sold pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 363(b)(1) because they are property of the estate under 11 U.S.C. §§ 541(a)(1) and (7). Furthermore, even if Briar Capital does not qualify as a representative of the estate, it has standing to pursue the preference claim as it validly purchased the claim outright. Therefore, the court remanded the case for further proceedings. Read Opinion Johnson v. Board of Supervisors of LSU Docket: 22-30699 Opinion Date: January 8, 2024 Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed an appeal by Carolyn Johnson, an African-American female who worked at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) as an Administrative Coordinator. Johnson alleged that she experienced sexual and racial harassment as well as retaliation from her former employer, LSUHSC. The harassment claims were based on a specific incident involving a colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Schumacher, slapping her on the buttocks, as well as several other instances of inappropriate behavior by Schumacher in the months preceding this incident. After reporting the conduct to her supervisor and Human Resources, Johnson was temporarily relocated to a different workspace while an investigation was conducted. Johnson claimed this relocation was in retaliation for her reporting the harassment. The court affirmed the district court's summary judgment in favor of LSUHSC on all counts. Regarding the harassment claims, the court found that while Johnson had sufficiently demonstrated that she was the victim of uninvited sexual and racial harassment, she failed to show that LSUHSC knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take prompt remedial action. The court determined that LSUHSC took action to separate Johnson and Schumacher in response to Johnson's complaint and began an investigation into the matter, which was ultimately substantiated. In terms of the retaliation claim, the court found that Johnson failed to demonstrate that LSUHSC's decision to relocate her was a pretext for retaliation. The court noted that LSUHSC provided a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for her relocation, which was to separate Johnson and Schumacher during the investigation. Johnson did not present evidence to suggest that this reason was pretextual. Therefore, the court affirmed summary judgment on Johnson’s retaliation claim. Read Opinion Here are the new laws that are now in effect in Louisiana www.wdsu.com/article/new-laws-taking-effect-jan-1-in-louisiana/46245866 USA v. Schultz Docket: 22-11039 Opinion Date: December 20, 2023 Areas of Law: Criminal Law Between November 2020 and February 2021, Adam Joseph Schultz and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain vehicles using stolen login credentials from car dealerships. They purchased and paid for these vehicles with the dealerships' money and then used the purchase documents to pick up the vehicles. Schultz pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison, which he appealed. This case was heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Schultz's appeal was based on two claims: first, that his April 2021 offense of being stopped while driving a stolen vehicle should have been classified as relevant conduct rather than criminal history, and second, he should have received a reduction for a partially completed offense under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. He argued that the April 2021 offense shared similarities with the offense he was convicted for and that the partially completed offense reduction should apply because he intended a larger offense for which he was not charged. The court rejected both of Schultz's arguments. The court reasoned that the April 2021 offense was not similar enough to the offense of conviction to be classified as relevant conduct, and that the partially completed offense reduction did not apply because Schultz had completed all elements of the charged crime. The court affirmed Schultz's sentence, but remanded the case to the district court to clarify a discrepancy between the oral pronouncement and written judgment regarding whether the sentence would run concurrently or consecutively with any sentences imposed in his state cases. Read Opinion USA v. Jackson Docket: 22-10803 Opinion Date: December 13, 2023 Areas of Law: Criminal Law, Government & Administrative Law In the case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the appellant, Brian Jackson, challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his guilty plea for attempted interference with commerce by robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). Jackson and two co-conspirators had attempted to rob a convenience store, and in the course of the incident, the store was closed for about three hours, causing it to lose $600 in potential earnings. Jackson argued that the record did not sufficiently show that the attempted robbery impacted interstate commerce. The court, however, ruled that Jackson's plea agreement contained sufficient factual admissions to satisfy the Hobbs Act’s commerce element. It noted that Jackson admitted to attempting to rob the store with the intent to affect interstate commerce. In addition, the court found that the temporary closure of the store resulting from the attempted robbery affected interstate commerce, as it depleted the store's assets by $600, impeding its ability to engage in future interstate commerce. The court also inferred from the record that the store likely dealt in goods originating from outside Texas and therefore engaged in interstate commerce. Jackson's argument that he would not have pled guilty if he had known the facts were insufficient under the commerce element was dismissed by the court. The court noted that Jackson had pled guilty despite believing that the facts were insufficient to support the commerce prong, and he had admitted that his purpose in pleading guilty was to avoid potential conviction under a statute carrying longer sentences. The court thus found no reversible error and affirmed the lower court's decision. Read Opinion Louisiana Supreme Court Opinions STATE OF LOUISIANA VS. JOSE M. SAGASTUME Docket: 2022-K-01824 Opinion Date: December 8, 2023 Areas of Law: Criminal Law In this case, the Supreme Court of Louisiana reviewed a conviction for domestic abuse battery involving strangulation. The defendant, Jose Sagastume, was found guilty by a unanimous jury and sentenced to three years imprisonment with two years suspended, followed by two years of probation. The defendant appealed his conviction, arguing that the trial court erred in denying his challenges for cause against two potential jurors: a retired police officer and a former assistant district attorney. However, the defense counsel did not object when the trial court denied these challenges. The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction, stating that despite the lack of formal objection, the defense counsel's reasons for the challenges and subsequent use of peremptory challenges to remove the jurors were sufficient to preserve the issue for review. The Supreme Court of Louisiana disagreed, ruling that according to the Code of Criminal Procedure art. 800(A), a defendant must object contemporaneously to a ruling refusing to sustain a challenge for cause in order to assign it as an error on appeal. The court found that the defense counsel's acquiescence without objection did not meet this requirement. Therefore, it reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeal, reinstated the conviction and sentence, and affirmed them. The court emphasized that the legislature's language in Article 800(A) was clear: an objection must be made at the time of the ruling, and the nature and grounds for the objection must be stated at that time. Read Opinion USA v. Villarreal Docket: 19-40811 Opinion Date: December 5, 2023 Areas of Law: Criminal Law This case involves Rolando Villarreal who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. His sentence was enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) due to a prior burglary and two prior aggravated assaults. Villarreal challenged the enhancement under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that his sentence was improperly enhanced under the ACCA's elements or force clause based on the predicate offense that allowed conviction for reckless conduct, a claim subsequently termed a "Borden claim." The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that Villarreal did assert a Borden claim in his § 2255 motion and that his sentence was "in excess of the maximum authorized by law." This was due to the fact that, after the ruling in Borden v. United States, the convictions under the relevant aggravated assault statute could not constitute predicate offenses under the ACCA as they do not require the "physical use of force against the person of another." As a result, the Court of Appeals vacated Villarreal’s sentence and remanded the case back to the district court with instructions to resentence Villarreal without consideration of the ACCA. Read Opinion Chambers v. Kijakazi Docket: 20-10918 Opinion Date: November 20, 2023 Judge: Stephen A. Higginson Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Public Benefits Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed suit against multiple private entities and government officials, including, as relevant to the instant appeal, the Social Security Commissioner, a Social Security claims representative, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Education (the “Federal Defendants”), asserting a number of claims relating to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) allegedly improper withholding of his disability benefits. The Fifth Circuit affirmed. The court concluded that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over Mr. Chambers’ claims against the Social Security Administration representatives concerning his Social Security benefits and that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim as to its remaining claims against the Federal Defendants. The court explained that while the lack of jurisdiction is a sufficient basis on which to affirm the district court, Plaintiff’s broad challenges to “any of [the court’s] holdings dismissing the federal government defendants” warrant but a brief note. The court found no error in the district court’s dismissal of the Treasury Secretary, given its purely ministerial role in administering the offset for Plaintiff’s outstanding loan, or its dismissal of the Secretary of Education, given Plaintiff’s similar failure to exhaust administrative remedies with that department and failure to advance a colorable constitutional violation. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Boudreaux v. LA State Bar Assoc Docket: 22-30564 Opinion Date: November 13, 2023 Judge: Jerry E. Smith Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law, Legal Ethics The LSBA is a mandatory bar association. Attorneys are required to join and pay fees to the organization as a condition of practicing law in the state. Plaintiff has been a member in good standing of the LSBA since 1996. Upset that he was forced to associate with and contribute to certain causes, Plaintiff sued the LSBA, the Louisiana Supreme Court, and its justices (collectively, “the LSBA”) in 2019. He claimed that compulsory membership in the LSBA violated his rights to free speech and association. Defendants moved to dismiss, and the district court granted the motion. Plaintiff appealed. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the judgment in part and reversed it in part. The court remanded to the district court for a determination of the proper remedy. The court explained that although it takes no position on the proper injunctive or declaratory relief. The court also rendered a preliminary injunction preventing the LSBA from requiring Plaintiff to join or pay dues to the LSBA pending completion of the remedies phase. The court wrote that because the LSBA engages in non-germane speech, its mandatory membership policy violates Plaintiff’s rights to free speech and free association. Additionally, Plaintiff is entitled to a limited preliminary injunction for the same reasons as the plaintiffs in McDonald. Read Opinion Louisiana Supreme Court Overturns Criminal Justice Law Intended to Reform “Three-Strikes, You're Out” Sentences
www.lasc.org/opinions/2023/22-1827.KK.OPN.pdf Lundy v. BP Expl & Prod Docket: 22-30517 Opinion Date: October 20, 2023 Judge: Leslie H. Southwick Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Class Action, Personal Injury Before Plaintiffs’ cases were distributed to the district court, these cases were part of MDL 2179, the multi-district litigation proceeding before United States District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Judge Barbier established what is known as the “B3 Bundle” within the overall litigation. The B3 Bundle included claims for personal injury and wrongful death due to exposure to oil and/or other chemicals used during the response to the disaster. 85 B3 cases were assigned to District Judge Barry Ashe. Before his confirmation, Judge Ashe he was a longtime partner at the Stone Pigman law firm. A little more than two weeks after Judge Ashe began granting summary judgments following the exclusion of Dr. Cook, Street’s counsel moved to disqualify Judge Ashe in the five cases in which he had excluded Dr. Cook and in other cases where Daubert and summary judgment motions were still pending. Plaintiffs argued that Judge Ashe should have disqualified himself and, in the alternative, that he should have extended the case-management deadlines. The Fifth Circuit affirmed. If Judge Ashe erred when he failed to recuse in these cases, that error was harmless. Nonetheless, as the arguments on this appeal support, potential conflicts of interest must be taken seriously by every member of the judiciary. The litigants and the public need to be confident in the impartiality of those who will decide legal disputes. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Kenai Ironclad v. CP Marine Services Docket: 22-30311 Opinion Date: October 17, 2023 Judge: John W. deGravelles Areas of Law: Business Law, Contracts, Personal Injury Kenai Ironclad Corporation (“Kenai” or “Plaintiff”) alleged that CP Marine Services, LLC, breached its contract to repair and convert Kenai’s offshore supply vessel to a salmon fishing tender for use in Alaska. After Kenai expressed dissatisfaction with the work, the relationship deteriorated. Kenai alleged that, after paying its final invoice, it attempted to remove its vessel from CP Marine’s shipyard, but as it did so, CP Marine and codefendant Ten Mile Exchange, LLC (“TME”) (collectively, “Defendants”) rammed, wrongfully seized, detained, and converted Kenai’s vessel for five days before finally releasing it the district court found that CP Marine did not breach its contract with Kenai but did wrongfully seize, detain, and convert the vessel. The district court awarded punitive damages and attorney’s fees for Defendants’ bad faith and reckless behavior in ramming, seizing, and converting the vessel for five days. Defendants appealed. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that Defendants wrongfully seized and converted Kenai’s vessel in bad faith and in a manner egregious enough to warrant an award of punitive damages. The court vacated the district court’s award of damages and remanded on the limited basis of clarifying the court’s award. The court found that Kenai presented sufficient evidence and testimony to support the district court’s finding that Defendants’ conduct was in bad faith, in callous disregard for the safety of the people aboard the vessels, and in reckless disregard of Kenai’s rights. Hence, the district court did not clearly err in finding facts sufficient to support an award of punitive damages. Read Opinion |
Louisiana Law BlogLouisiana Law, News, Issues and Comments from Attorneys at the Shoultz Law Firm Archives
October 2024
Categories
|
RSS Feed