Louisiana marriage law rewrite wins passage, amid lawsuit www.dailyprogress.com/louisiana-marriage-law-rewrite-wins-passage-amid-lawsuit/article_833f088f-f513-574c-9572-75cb8ded8f7f.html
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United States v. Leatch Docket: 16-10701 Opinion Date: June 6, 2017 Judge: Costa Areas of Law: Criminal Law A court does not depart under USSG 4A1.3 when calculating a defendant's applicable guideline range, but instead departs from the applicable guideline range under section 4A1.3 after having calculated that range. After defendant's 262 month sentence for trafficking in crack cocaine was reduced to 235 months, he argued that he should have received a greater reduction to account for the downward departure based on overrepresented criminal history that the district court awarded him at his original sentencing. The Fifth Circuit rejected defendant's contention that a district court's inability to impose the previously-applied departure violated United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005); no ex post facto violation occurred here, as the amendment to the USSG 1B1.10 commentary did not have the effect of retroactively increasing the punishment for an offense; and the court rejected the argument that Congress's instructions that the Sentencing Commission determine whether and when a sentencing reduction should apply violated the separation of powers. Furthermore, defendant failed to establish that the district court's inability to reapply the departure violated res judicata or collateral estoppel, and depriving defendant of the departure would not undermine the sentencing goal of proportionality between himself and his codefendants. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. The Latest: Lawmakers Open Special Session on the Budget www.usnews.com/news/best-states/louisiana/articles/2017-06-08/the-latest-louisiana-budget-battle-heads-to-special-session US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Brooker Docket: 16-10698 Opinion Date: June 7, 2017 Judge: Edward C. Prado Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's revocation of defendant's term of supervised release and sentence of 24 months in prison. The court held that, even if the district court was required to consider the treatment exception under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d), the record did not indicate that it failed to do so. The court also held that defendant had ample opportunity to address the district court after revocation, and he failed to present any case law mandating an opportunity for allocution prior to revocation. New bullying law could put kids in jail www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2017/06/07/bullying-story/360515001/ Appeals court to weigh Texas voting law limiting language interpreters www.texastribune.org/2017/06/08/appeals-court-consider-texas-election-law-language-interpreters/ US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Ass'n v. US DOT Docket: 16-60324 Opinion Date: June 6, 2017 Judge: Edith Brown Clement Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Transportation Law The Fifth Circuit dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the Association's appeal of the FMCSA's grant of permanent operating authority to two Mexico-domiciled motor carriers. The court held that the Association failed to file a timely appeal as required by statute. In this case, the orders rejecting and dismissing the Association's protest were final orders of the FMCSA, a fact that was unaffected by the Association's motion for reconsideration. Tesla claims Louisiana law makes it harder to do business www.kalb.com/content/news/Tesla-427069223.html Tesla Says New Law Will Prohibit Direct Sales in Louisiana www.usnews.com/news/best-states/louisiana/articles/2017-06-06/tesla-says-new-law-will-prohibit-direct-sales-in-louisiana Louisiana Medical Cannabis Protection Bill Headed to Governor blog.mpp.org/medical-marijuana/louisiana-protection-bill-headed-governor/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogmpp+%28MPP+Blog%29 United States v. Rodriguez Docket: 15-40357 Opinion Date: June 5, 2017 Judge: Catharina Haynes Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's motion for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255(f)(4). The court held that the facts underlying defendant's claim -- that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to file defendant's appeal -- could have been discovered through the exercise of diligence at least one year before defendant filed for habeas relief. In this case, defendant's characterizations of the facts before the district court did not justify a determination that his habeas petition was timely under section 2255(f)(4). Paddling students with disabilities in Louisiana is about to be illegal www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_767e4b54-4989-11e7-ba79-079a90471802.html US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Zuniga Docket: 14-11304 Opinion Date: June 5, 2017 Judge: James Earl Graves, Jr. Areas of Law: Criminal Law Defendant conditionally pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress, holding that the totality of the circumstances surrounding the turn-signal violation provided the requisite reasonable suspicion to stop defendant's vehicle, and the collective knowledge doctrine provided the grounds for imputation of that information to another officer. The court also held that Beckles v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 886 (2017), foreclosed defendant's argument that remand of his career offender sentence was required under the reasoning of United States v. Johnson, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). However, the court held that defendant's prior Texas conviction for delivery of a controlled substance cannot serve as a predicate offense for purposes of USSG 4B1.1's enhancement in light of United States v. Hinkle, 832 F.3d 569 (5th Cir. 2016), and Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016). Because such error affected defendant's substantial rights, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing. Analysis: Louisiana lawmakers jettison long list of ideas www.sanluisobispo.com/news/business/article153999299.html Louisiana less likely to strip law enforcement officers of credentials than any other state; lawmakers aim to change that www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_e3f12332-464b-11e7-a4f4-f369e513d850.html Houma lawmaker at center of debate over Tesla’s future in La. www.dailycomet.com/news/20170603/houma-lawmaker-at-center-of-debate-over-teslas-future-in-la United States v. Rico-Mejia Docket: 16-50022 Opinion Date: June 1, 2017 Judge: Carl E. Stewart Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit withdrew the prior opinion and substituted this opinion. The court held that the district court erred by imposing a sixteen-level enhancement under USSG 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based on a prior conviction for terroristic threatening in violation of Arkansas law. Even if the district court correctly resorted to the modified categorical approach, the Arkansas conviction could not constitute a crime of violence because it lacked physical force as an element. Because the Government failed to meet its heavy burden to convincingly demonstrate that the district court would have imposed the same sentence regardless of its erroneous calculation, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing. United States v. Bams Docket: 16-41197 Opinion Date: June 1, 2017 Judge: Jerry E. Smith Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering. In this case, the officer stopped defendant because he believed that defendant did not "safely clear" a tractor-trailer when he tried to pass the trailer on the road. The court held that the initial traffic stop was justified, and the officer did not unreasonably extend the detention because the officer had reasonable suspicion that defendant was engaged in drug trafficking. The court also held that the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to conclude that defendant reached an agreement to distribute drugs with another individual. Furthermore, a rational jury could infer that the money was related to the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Finally, the district court did not err by determining that defendant was a career offender. The court disposed of defendant's remaining claims and affirmed the judgment. Lockport police chief, 3 others released from jail www.dailycomet.com/news/20170601/lockport-police-chief-3-others-released-from-jail Fairmont Cash Management v. James Docket: 16-41449 Opinion Date: May 31, 2017 Judge: Higginbotham Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law The ATF revoked Cash Cow Pawn Shop's federal firearms license (FFL) after numerous violations of the Gun Control Act. The district court affirmed the revocation decision. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment against Cash Cow, holding that a single willful violation of the Act sufficed to sustain the ATF's revocation decision; in the alternative, the mere fact that Cash Cow's other violations were paperwork violations did not make them any less serious or less willful; the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Cash Cow's motion to compel the ATF to turn over its internal investigation file on Cash Cow because the district court found that it needed no additional evidence beyond the administrative record to rule on the pending motion for summary judgment; and the court was unclear as to what relief Cash Cow was seeking by raising a challenge to the district court's decision to decline to enforce an automatic stay under FRCP 62(a). U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Massey Docket: 16-10438 Opinion Date: May 31, 2017 Judge: James L. Dennis Areas of Law: Criminal Law Defendant pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and the district court sentenced him under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), based on a prior Texas felony conviction under section 38.14 of the Texas Penal Code. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment and held that the caselaw defendant presented -- Dobbs v. State, and Finley v. State -- did not definitely calibrate the amount of force required for a violation of resisting arrest under section 38.03, and there was no indication that the definition of force was intended to apply outside of section 38.03. The court held that section 38.14 has as an element the "threatened use of force" and qualifies as a violent felony under the ACCA. |
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