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Louisiana Will Give Child Victims More Time to File Lawsuits
www.usnews.com/news/best-states/louisiana/articles/2021-06-15/louisiana-will-give-child-victims-more-time-to-file-lawsuits
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Criminal Law Borden v. United States Court: US Supreme Court Docket: 19-5410 Opinion Date: June 10, 2021 Judge: Elena Kagan Areas of Law: Criminal Law Borden pleaded guilty as a felon-in-possession. The prosecution sought an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), which mandates a 15-year minimum sentence for persons found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm who have three or more prior convictions for a “violent felony.” An offense qualifies as a violent felony under ACCA’s elements clause if it necessarily involves “the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another,” 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(2)(B)(i). One of Borden’s three predicate convictions was for reckless aggravated assault in violation of Tennessee law. Borden argued that this offense was not a violent felony under ACCA’s elements clause because a mental state of recklessness suffices for conviction and only purposeful or knowing conduct satisfies the requirement of the use of force “against the person of another.” The Sixth Circuit affirmed his enhanced sentence. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded, with four Justices concluding that a criminal offense with a mens rea of recklessness does not qualify as a “violent felony” under ACCA’s elements clause. The Justices found that the narrow “category of violent, active crimes” is best understood to involve a purposeful or knowing mental state—a deliberate choice of wreaking harm on another, rather than mere indifference to risk. Classifying reckless crimes as “violent felonies” would also conflict with ACCA’s purpose of addressing the special danger created when a particular type of offender, a violent criminal, possesses a gun. The “against” clause is not window dressing: It is the “critical” text for deciding the level of mens rea needed. Read Opinion Louisiana lawmakers vote to end jail time for marijuana use
www.wbrz.com/news/louisiana-lawmakers-vote-to-end-jail-time-for-marijuana-use/ Louisiana lawmakers pass bill ending jail time for marijuana
www.knoe.com/2021/06/07/louisiana-lawmakers-pass-bill-ending-jail-time-marijuana/ Davis v. Sumlin Docket: 20-30010 Opinion Date: June 1, 2021 Judge: Andrew S. Oldham Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's denial of petitioner's habeas petition on the merits and concluded that petitioner failed to obtain permission from a three-judge panel of this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2244(b)(3). Because petitioner never sought or obtained that permission, the district court had no jurisdiction to accept the second-or-successive petition—much less to consider the merits of it. Furthermore, the district court erred by deciding the petition on the merits. Even if the court previously authorized a successive application under section 2244(b), petitioner still could not appeal the district court's merits determination without a certificate of appealability (COA). In this case, petitioner is not entitled to a COA. Therefore, the court remanded with instructions to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction and denied the COA application as moot. Read Opinion Mandatory COVID Vaccines at LSU? Attorney General Says Not Legal
www.houmatimes.com/news/mandatory-covid-vaccines-at-lsu-attorney-general-says-not-legal/ Sports betting rules bill advances through House committee www.houmatimes.com/news/sports-betting-rules-bill-advances-through-house-committee/ Louisiana State Police releases all videos from Ronald Greene arrest
www.houmatimes.com/crime/louisiana-state-police-releases-all-videos-from-ronald-greene-arrest/ Louisiana Supreme Court Opinions
Comeaux v. Louisiana Tax Commission Docket: 2020-CA-01037 Opinion Date: May 20, 2021 Judge: Crichton Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law Taxpayers Kraig and Kelly Strenge appealed directly to the Louisiana Supreme Court a declaration by a district court that La. R.S. 47:1990 was unconstitutional, as applied. The district court’s ruling on partial summary judgment also held that the Louisiana Tax Commission (the “Commission”) exceeded its authority in promulgating Section 3103(Z) of Title 61, Part V of the Louisiana Administrative Code (the “Rules and Regulations”) and declared Section 3103(Z) unconstitutional. The underlying issue centered on the Taxpayers challenge to the correctness of the appraisal of their residential property in Lafayette Parish in 2016. After the Lafayette City-Parish Council (Board of Review) ruled in favor of the Assessor, Taxpayers appealed to the Commission. The Commission ruled that the fair market value of the property for tax year 2016 was $231,500, not $288,270 as determined by the Assessor, and ordered the Assessor to reduce Taxpayers’ 2016 assessment accordingly. Two days after the Commission’s oral ruling, the Assessor assessed the fair market value of Taxpayers’ property for the 2017 tax year again at $288,270. Taxpayers again appealed, and after a hearing, the Commission issued a “Rule to Show Cause” to the Assessor. That dispute went before the district court, and the court’s decision served as the grounds for this appeal. The Supreme Court found the district court erred in ruling the Commission exceeded its authority in promulgating Section 3103(Z) and declaring Section 3103(Z) unconstitutional but correctly declared La. R.S. 47:1990 unconstitutional, as applied. Accordingly, judgment was reversed in part and affirmed in part. Read Opinion US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Maniar v. Garland Docket: 18-60667 Opinion Date: May 20, 2021 Judge: James C. Ho Areas of Law: Criminal Law, Immigration Law The Fifth Circuit held that petitioner's conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering plainly constitutes an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(D). Section 1101(a)(43)(D) defines "aggravated felony" to include those offenses that are "described in section 1956 of Title 18 (relating to laundering of monetary instruments) . . . if the amount of funds exceeded $10,000." The court concluded that this provision applies here because petitioner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(h), and the funds involved well exceeded $10,000. The court need not decide petitioner's contention that section 1101(a)(43)(U) requires proof of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. The court found petitioner's remaining contentions were either meritless or unexhausted. Accordingly, the court denied in part and dismissed in part his petition for review. Read Opinion United States v. Thomas Docket: 20-10757 Opinion Date: May 17, 2021 Judge: Leslie Southwick Areas of Law: Criminal Law The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and upheld the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence of a firearm discovered during a stop and frisk. The court concluded that reasonable suspicion supported the stop and frisk where defendant was encountered in a high-crime area, and in light of defendant's connection to the stolen vehicle and his interaction with others in and around the vehicle. In this case, the officers were reasonable in suspecting that at least some of the people around and inside the vehicle had been involved in the aggravated robbery. Furthermore, the officers' need to proceed cautiously was obvious in light of them being outnumbered and unable to secure all six people because they had only four sets of handcuffs. The court also concluded that defendant's detention did not exceed the permissible scope of the investigatory stop where the officers' actions were reasonable under the circumstances and the stop was not converted into an arrest prior to defendant being frisked. Finally, the court concluded that the police department's local policy does not affect the constitutionality of the officers' conduct. Read Opinion Louisiana v. Bourgeois Docket: 2020-K-00883 Opinion Date: May 13, 2021 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Education Law Defendant James Bourgeois, an elected member of the Lafourche Parish Council, was found guilty by a unanimous jury of filing or maintaining false public records. The charge arose from the allegation that defendant had falsely asserted in his Parish Council election qualifying form that he was domiciled in Lafourche Parish. The trial court sentenced him to a suspended sentence of three years imprisonment at hard labor with two years of probation. The court of appeal reversed the conviction and vacated the sentence because it found the evidence insufficient to prove that defendant falsely represented his domicile on his qualifying form. There was no dispute that the election qualifying form was a public record and that defendant filed it. The sole question for the Louisiana Supreme Court was whether the evidence, when viewed under the due process standard of Jackson v. Virginia, was sufficient to prove the form contained a false statement with regard to defendant’s domicile. The Supreme Court determined the State’s case “was not so lacking that it should not have even been submitted to the jury. The State introduced evidence from which the jury could rationally find that defendant had abandoned his domicile in Lafourche Parish and established a new domicile in Jefferson Parish by the time he filed his election qualifying form. The jury was not forced to speculate to reach this conclusion, as the court of appeal found.” Accordingly, judgment was reversed and defendant’s conviction and sentence were reinstated. Read Opinion Hester v. Walker et al. Docket: 2020-CC-01278 Opinion Date: May 13, 2021 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Personal Injury Bryant Walker was employed as an eighteen-wheeler tractor-trailer driver for BlueLinx Corporation (“BlueLinx”). Walker was attempting to make a left turn into the driveway of BlueLinx’s facility: he activated his left turn signal, and stopped his tractor-trailer in the left lane, approximately sixty feet from a break in the median, in order to wait for another vehicle to exit the driveway. Before Walker could make his turn, his tractor-trailer was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Kunta Hester. Hester died as a result of the accident. Hester’s survivors filed the instant suit against Walker, BlueLinx, and its insurer, alleging defendants breached their duty to Hester because Walker negligently stopped his vehicle on a public roadway in violation of La. R.S. 32:141(A). At issue in this case was whether defendants violated any duty to plaintiffs under the provisions of La. R.S. 32:141(A), which prohibited the stopping or parking of a vehicle in the travelled portion of a roadway. The Louisiana Supreme Court concluded defendants were entitled to summary judgment: plaintiffs failed to rebut the presumption that Hester was at fault for the accident. Read Opinion Vu Quang Nguyen v. Garland Docket: 19-60342 Opinion Date: May 12, 2021 Judge: James Earl Graves, Jr. Areas of Law: Criminal Law, Immigration Law The Fifth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's decision upholding the IJ's determination that defendant was subject to removal from the United States because he had been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. The IJ determined that the plea agreement signed by petitioner, his defense counsel, and the prosecutor was clear and convincing evidence of a criminal conviction because it contained an indication of guilt and the sentence imposed. Applying a deferential standard of review, the court concluded that petitioner failed to show that the IJ or BIA violated a statutorily imposed evidentiary requirement by finding that the plea agreement at issue proved the existence of a forgery conviction by clear and convincing evidence. Therefore, it is not, as a matter of law, deficient or inadmissible. Read Opinion ‘A pathway to success’: Fletcher, TPSO and Goodwill team up to offer inmates job training before their return to society
www.houmatimes.com/news/a-pathway-to-success-fletcher-tpso-and-goodwill-team-up-to-offer-inmates-job-training-before-their-return-to-society/ Houma lawmaker's public defender overhaul spurs debate
www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2021/05/05/houma-lawmakers-public-defender-overhaul-spurs-debate/4955839001/ Marijuana legalization in Louisiana gets boost from public support: 'The tide is changing'
www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_82eda1ba-aa87-11eb-a474-cb426f591f93.html Law banning no-knock warrants, chokeholds by Louisiana law enforcement advances to Senate
www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_7ad554fe-a7b3-11eb-b38e-bb1556de4131.html Legislation ending permit requirement for concealed carry advances in Louisiana Legislature
www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_e9f34664-a841-11eb-b55b-aba92130582d.html Bill aiming to restrict law enforcement officials from using no-knock warrants, chokeholds advanced through a Senate committee
www.houmatimes.com/news/bill-aiming-to-restrict-law-enforcement-officials-from-using-no-knock-warrants-chokeholds-advanced-through-a-senate-committee/ Supreme Court To Take Up 1st Major Gun Rights Case In More Than A Decade www.npr.org/2021/04/26/990846329/supreme-court-to- take-up-first-major-gun-rights-case-in-more-than-a-decade US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions Thomas v. Lumpkin Docket: 17-70002 Opinion Date: April 23, 2021 Judge: Leslie H. Southwick Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law Petitioner, an inmate on death row in Texas, filed a federal habeas application under 28 U.S.C. 2254, arguing that his counsel was constitutionally ineffective in numerous ways at trial and sentencing. Petitioner's convictions stemmed from his murder of his wife, son, and step-daughter. The Fifth Circuit granted a certificate of appealability on four of petitioner's issues. As a preliminary matter, the court concluded that petitioner's notice of appeal was timely and thus the court has jurisdiction. The court affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief, concluding that the state court's decision was not contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court, or was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceeding. In this case, the court concluded that petitioner is not entitled to relief on the basis that the state court improperly resolved the claim that any partial jurors were seated; on the basis of the claim involving the jurors who expressed opposition to interracial marriage; and on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to challenge petitioner's competency to stand trial, in rebutting the voluntary-intoxication theory, and in presenting a mitigation defense. Read Opinion Phillips v. Sanofi U.S. Services, Inc. Docket: 20-30405 Opinion Date: April 19, 2021 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Drugs & Biotech, Personal Injury, Products Liability The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on plaintiff's failure-to-warn claim asserted against the manufacturers of Taxotere, a chemotherapy medication. Plaintiff argues that Taxotere's manufacturers failed to provide an adequate warning of potentially permanent hair loss, which caused her injuries. The court concluded that, under Louisiana law, plaintiff cannot establish causation where, on this record, it is beyond any genuine dispute that a warning of the risk of permanent hair loss—as opposed to temporary hair loss—would not have affected the prescribing physician's decision to prescribe Taxotere. Therefore, plaintiff's claim fails as a matter of law. Read Opinion 'It gives you an opportunity to grow': Lafourche Parish inmates participate in Second Chance Month
www.wdsu.com/article/it-gives-you-an-opportunity-to-grow-lafourche-parish-inmates-participate-in-second-chance-month/36148986 US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions United States v. Deckert Docket: 19-40292 Opinion Date: April 8, 2021 Judge: James C. Ho Areas of Law: Criminal Law In this appeal, the Fifth Circuit addressed the application of the two-level reckless endangerment enhancement under U.S.S.G. 3C1.2 to a certain category of offenses known as "groupable" offenses. Defendant objected to the enhancement on the ground that his reckless flight was related only to the second drug trafficking count, and therefore not related to the offense of conviction. The court concluded that, when it comes to certain groupable offenses such as the drug trafficking offense at issue in this case, the court applies the reckless endangerment enhancement even when the defendant is not convicted for the specific crime from which he recklessly flees—so long as the crime for which he is convicted is part of the "same . . . common scheme or plan." The court affirmed the district court's application of the two-level enhancement because the facts of this case demonstrably satisfy the "same common scheme or plan" standard. Read Opinion |
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June 2021
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