United States v. Williams Docket: 19-60463 Opinion Date: February 27, 2020 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) imposed after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. Defendant argued that he could not be sentenced under the ACCA because 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2), not 924(e), was charged in the indictment, and that his 2008 Mississippi robbery conviction does not constitute a violent felony conviction under the ACCA. Defendant conceded that his arguments are contrary to precedent but, nonetheless, wished to preserve the issues for further review. The court held that defendant's argument that the district court erred in sentencing him under the ACCA because section 924(e) was not cited in the indictment was unavailing. Furthermore, the court rejected defendant's challenges to his conviction for Mississippi robbery in light of its prior rulings and defendant's failure to cite Mississippi case law that establishes a realistic probability that Mississippi courts would apply the robbery statute to conduct that does not involve "the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another." Read Opinion
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5 of the top 10 'super polluter' chemical plants are in Louisiana, report says www.nola.com/news/environment/article_39b8e060-58c4-11ea-8597-433bbb66a486.html Latiolais v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. Docket: 18-30652 Opinion Date: February 24, 2020 Judge: Edith H. Jones Areas of Law: Government Contracts, Personal Injury Upon reconsideration of the scope of the revised Federal Officer Removal Statute, the en banc court held that Avondale was entitled to remove this negligence case filed by a former Navy machinist because of his exposure to asbestos while the Navy's ship was being repaired at the Avondale shipyard under a federal contract. The en banc court aligned with its sister circuits and relied on the plain language of the Removal Clarification Act of 2011, holding that, to remove under 28 U.S.C. 1442(a), a defendant must show (1) it has asserted a colorable federal defense, (2) it is a "person" within the meaning of the statute, (3) that has acted pursuant to a federal officer's directions, and (4) the charged conduct is connected or associated with an act pursuant to a federal officer's directions. In this case, the pleadings satisfied the "connection" condition of removal. Accordingly, the en banc court vacated and remanded for further proceedings. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's v. Axon Pressure Products Inc. Docket: 18-20453 Opinion Date: February 21, 2020 Judge: Stuart Kyle Duncan Areas of Law: Contracts, Insurance Law, Products Liability This dispute arose from a 2013 oil well blowout on the HERCULES 265 drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. After the rig's charterer filed suit raising products liability claims against a refurbisher of the rig's blowout-prevention components, counterclaims and third-party claims ensued. The district court subsequently granted a series of summary judgments, based both on contractual indemnity and also on the merits of the liability claims. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment as to Hercules' duty to defend, hold harmless, and indemnify Axon; reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment as to Walter's duty to directly indemnify Axon; reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment as to Walter's duty to indemnify Hercules for Axon's claims; vacated the district court's order excluding Bellemare's testimony; vacated the district court's orders excluding the expert reports of Sones, Bourgoyne, Williams, Rusnak, Bellemare, and Adair, as well as the orders excluding the affidavits of Sones and Bourgoyne; reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment as to the causation and "unreasonably dangerous condition" prongs of the Louisiana Products Liability Act; vacated the district court's final judgment and fee orders; and remanded for further proceedings. Read Opinion First farmers get hemp licenses, 1,500 businesses licensed to sell CBD in Louisiana www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_45e7368e-5419-11ea-8dc0-b3d2d7dc6618.html Louisiana licenses issued allowing farmers to grow hemp www.wbrz.com/news/louisiana-licenses-issued-allowing-farmers-to-grow-hemp/ EPA awards Louisiana grant of over $300k to reduce childhood exposures to lead in drinking water www.wbrz.com/news/epa-awards-louisiana-grant-of-over-300k-to-reduce-childhood-exposures-to-lead-in-drinking-water/ Louisiana case is U.S. Supreme Court’s chance to fully eliminate non-unanimous jury verdicts, attorney says www.theusconstitution.org/news/louisiana-case-is-u-s-supreme-courts-chance-to-fully-eliminate-non-unanimous-jury-verdicts-attorney-says/ United States v. James Docket: 18-31069 Opinion Date: February 18, 2020 Judge: Catharina Haynes Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Louisiana offense of armed robbery qualifies as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Defendant was sentenced as an armed career criminal after pleading guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. In Louisiana, armed robbery is "the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon." The court stated that elements of simple robbery are the same, except that they lack the dangerous-weapon element. In United States v. Brown, 437 F.3d 450, 452 (5th Cir. 2006), the court held that the Louisiana crime of simple robbery qualifies as a violent felony under the ACCA. The court rejected defendant's contention, under the rule of orderliness, that the Brown panel must have relied on the residual clause when it concluded that the use of force needed for robbery was the same as the use of force contemplated in the ACCA. Furthermore, subsequent precedent has supported, rather than overruled, Brown. Read Opinion THE INVESTIGATORS: Reports of elder abuse on the rise in Louisiana www.wafb.com/2020/02/18/investigators-reports-elder-abuse-rise-louisiana/ Roy v. City of Monroe Docket: 18-31063 Opinion Date: February 14, 2020 Judge: E. Grady Jolly Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law Clarence Roy, a Christian street preacher, was issued a summons outside a nightclub in Monroe, Louisiana, after a woman accused him of following her and making inflammatory remarks. The summons, which was issued by Sergeant James Booth of the Monroe Police Department, cleared the way for formal charges under the city of Monroe’s “disturbing the peace” ordinance. Roy was tried and ultimately acquitted by a municipal court judge. Shortly thereafter, he filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, in which he argued Booth and the city deprived him of numerous constitutional rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Two district court judges denied relief, first in part and then in whole, respectively. Finding no reversible error, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Sea-Land Services, Inc. v. DOWCP, et al. Docket: 18-60698 Opinion Date: February 14, 2020 Judge: Jerry E. Smith Areas of Law: Admiralty & Maritime Law, Government & Administrative Law, Personal Injury Clarence Ceasar, Jr. injured his neck and back while working as a longshoreman for Sea-Land Services, Inc. in 1997. Because of those injuries, Ceasar was unable to work and had to undergo several medical procedures. Thirteen years later, Ceasar and Sea-Land reached a settlement, under which Ceasar received a lump sum instead of continuing disability payments. Sea-Land remained on the hook for Ceasar’s ongoing medical expenses. Ceasar was cleared to return to longshoreman duties in 2010 with no restrictions, despite chronic neck and lower back pain. Ceasar started working for Universal Maritime Service Company ("UMS") and was injured again a year later when a coworker lowered a cargo container onto his hands. Sea-Land petitioned the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for review of an order of the Benefits Review Board (“BRB”) which upheld the determination of an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) that Ceasar did not aggravate his 1997 injury at Sea-Land while working for UMS in 2011. After review, the Fifth Circuit determined the BRB did not err, denying Sea-Land's petition. Read Opinion McCoy v. Alamu Docket: 18-40856 Opinion Date: February 11, 2020 Judge: Jerry E. Smith Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment based on qualified immunity to a correctional officer in a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action. Plaintiff, a Texas prisoner, filed suit alleging that the officer violated his Eighth Amendment rights by spraying him in the face with a chemical agent without provocation. The court held that, although a reasonable jury could conclude that the officer's use of force was excessive, it was not beyond debate that the officer's single use of spray stepped over the de minimis line. Therefore, the law was not clearly established at the time and the officer was entitled to qualified immunity. Finally, the court held that the district court did not err by refusing plaintiff leave to amend his complaint and for injunctive relief. Read Opinion Budgets boost plans to deepen Mississippi River in Louisiana www.wbrz.com/news/budgets-boost-plans-to-deepen-mississippi-river-in-louisiana/ Ransomware attacks on New Orleans, other Louisiana entities, part of growing trend www.nola.com/news/politics/article_7d22e948-3e31-11ea-98bc-9b69342bc6a8.html Creation of new business startups continue to fall in Louisiana www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_ed610e70-46af-11ea-a6ba-6708c59fb6b0.html Are Prosecutors Above the Law? slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/new-orleans-da-fake-subpoenas-absolute- immunity.html Leonard v. Deville Docket: 18-30374 Opinion Date: February 3, 2020 Judge: Stuart Kyle Duncan Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law When a state prisoner is implicitly granted extra time to seek supervisory writs from the denial of his state post-conviction application—and he does so within that time—his initial application therefore remains "pending" under the tolling provision in 28 U.S.C. 2244(d)(2). The Fifth Circuit relied on its own precedents and by the Supreme Court's teaching that a state post-conviction application remains pending for statutory tolling purposes as long as the ordinary state collateral review process is in continuance. The court vacated the district court's dismissal of a 28 U.S.C. 2254 petition as time-barred and held that petitioner was entitled to statutory tolling and thus his petition was not time-barred. Read Opinion $15M Louisiana project aims to improve rural internet access www.klfy.com/louisiana/15m-louisiana-project-aims-to-improve-rural-internet-access/ |
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