2011 Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a Mexican national, was convicted of two counts of illegal entry and subsequently appealed the district court's application of a sixteen-level sentencing enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b). Because…

Justia Opinion Summary: These consolidated appeals arose from claims that major telecommunications carriers assisted the government with intelligence gathering following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Plaintiffs challenged the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed from the district court's dismissal of their complaint against government officials and a group of telecommunications companies. Plaintiffs challenged section 802 of the Foreign Intelligence…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from claims that the federal government, with the assistance of major telecommunications companies, engaged in widespread warrantless eavesdropping in the United States following the September 11, 2001…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a continuing political committee, alleged that three provisions of Washington election law violated the First Amendment as applied to ballot measure committees. The court held that Washington's disclosure…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging, among other things, a violation of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. The district court subsequently granted defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion and plaintiffs…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the denial of his habeas petition, contending that the California state trial court violated his Sixth Amendment rights when it imposed an upper term sentence based in part on its conclusion that he…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of three applications by the TRRC to build a a railroad line in Southeastern Montana to haul coal. The Board, or its predecessor, approved each of the three applications (TRRC I, II, and III).…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved A.S., a California minor, who was eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq. At issue was which California agency was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute. The court held that because the delay in presenting defendant to a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his conviction for maintaining his residence for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using methamphetamine. Defendant contended that the district court erred in denying his motion to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a minor who had been diagnosed with autism, appealed the district court's affirmance of the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) hearing officer's decision that plaintiff's free and appropriate public…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued defendant, a general improvement district, arguing that defendant's policy of only allowing people who own or rent real property within defendant's 1968 boundaries to access beaches that it owned and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of murder and other aggravated enhancements. This case reached the court on a certificate of appealability granted by the district court on the issue of whether the state court of appeal acted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Church appealed the adverse grant of summary judgment on its claim that the County enforced a land use regulation in violation of the Church's constitutional and statutory rights under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs contended that Barack Obama was constitutionally ineligible to be President of the United States. In addition to plaintiffs' constitutional claims, as well as their claims for declaratory and injunctive…

Justia Opinion Summary: UMG filed suit against Veoh for direct and secondary copyright infringement where users of Veoh's service have in the past been able, without UMG's authorization, to download videos containing songs for which UMG owned a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, born in El Salvador, petitioned for review of the BIA's dismissal of his appeal. The BIA found that petitioner was removable because he had committed a crime of violence and failed to establish entitlement to…

Justia Opinion Summary: PAC sought review of an order of the Board holding that PAC violated section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (Act), 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(1), by firing an employee for his outburst during a meeting with PAC…

Justia Opinion Summary: Brian Fitzgerald appealed for a second time the district court's award to him of $33,333 in quantum meruit - for his services in a medical malpractice case appellee had settled on behalf of Wende Nostro, a client…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, Washington Medicaid beneficiaries with severe mental and physical disabilities, appealed the district court's denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs sought to enjoin the operation of…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a breach of contract claim for the sale and service of an air combat maneuvering range for use by Iran's military. At issue was whether confirmation of an arbitration award in favor of the Ministry of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and a group of allegedly similarly situated state prisoners brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against defendants, alleging that they were overdetained in violation of federal and state law. At issue was whether…

Justia Opinion Summary: Three nonresidents of California brought a would-be class action against Oracle seeking damages under California law for failure to pay overtime. Plaintiffs' first two claims were based on work performed in California.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted in California state court of first degree murder and subsequently appealed the district court's denial of his federal habeas petition. Petitioner challenged the admission at trial of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed the adverse summary judgment grant in their 42 U.S.C. 1983 action arising out of the nighttime SWAT team search of their home for weapons suspected of being used in a drive-by shooting and stored in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of the Philippines, petitioned for review of an order of the BIA directing his removal, as well as the BIA's order denying reconsideration. The court held that the IJ was entitled to rely on…

Justia Opinion Summary: In sentencing defendant following her conviction on immigration and bail-jumping charges, the district court made a number of comments suggesting that the length of the sentence imposed was determined at least in part by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners challenged the prosecution's use of peremptory strikes to exclude black jurors in their trial. A magistrate judge, after holding an evidentiary hearing at which the prosecutor testified, found that he had…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who had a history of depression and bipolar disorder, filed a complaint against the Board when she was terminated from her position when she failed to complete at least six semester hours of professional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was ordered removed on the ground that he had been convicted of an aggravated felony. Petitioner contended that the evidence was insufficient to establish…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted in a California state court of first degree murder, with a finding of the special circumstance of killing a law enforcement officer engaged in the lawful pursuit of his duties, and was sentenced…

Justia Opinion Summary: This litigation arose out of a franchise agreement between West Coast Hotels and Mahmoud Karimi. The successor in interest to West Coast Hotels was Red Lion, both were incorporated in Washington state. Karimi and his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of fraud on two banks and was sentenced to one day of prison on each count and five years of supervised release, as well as restitution. Defendant subsequently violated his terms of supervised…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned the maintenance of a suit for rescission under section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78a et seq., by plaintiffs. The district court granted summary judgments to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a petition for writ of mandamus, petitioners challenged the district court's order denying their motion to intervene and be heard at defendant-real party in interest's sentencing hearing as purported crime victims…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs challenged the 2006 Gallatin National Forest Management Plan prepared by the United States Forest Service, arguing that the travel plan violated the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977, 16 U.S.C. 1131. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of a decision of the BIA determining that petitioner was ineligible for adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the ban on compensation for human organs in the National Organ Transplant Act, 42 U.S.C. 274e, as applied to bone marrow transplants. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Nicaragua, petitioned for review of an order of the BIA dismissing his appeal of an IJ's order of removal. The IJ determined that, under 8 C.F.R. 245.13(k)(1), petitioner had abandoned…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a citizen of Mexico and an alien, pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to violating 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) and 1326(b)(2) because he was found in the United States after having been removed or deported from…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and his children (plaintiffs) brought a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit against defendants for damages resulting from plaintiff's unlawful arrest. Plaintiff was arrested as he stood outside a fair selling promotional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's preliminary injunction precluding enforcement of California Welfare and Institutions Code 14105.191(f), which amended California's Medicaid Plan and set provider reimbursement…

Justia Opinion Summary: After his unsuccessful cataract surgery, plaintiff brought a claim for battery against the United States government and his United States Navy surgeon. The United States invoked the Gonzalez Act, 10 U.S.C. 1089,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed from the dismissal of his claims against two arbitrators who disqualified him from representing a client. The district court concluded that the claims were barred by arbitral immunity. The court held…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's imposition of a residency restriction as a special condition of supervised release, following his conviction and sentencing for one count of violating 18 U.S.C. 2423(c), which…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) removal of the Yellowstone grizzly bear from the threatened species list. The court affirmed the district court's ruling that the Service failed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Arizona answered questions that the court certified to that court. Specifically, it had determined that the rule of American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah did not toll the statute of repose for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to one count of witness intimidation and subsequently assisted the government in prosecuting several of his former criminal associates. At issue was whether the district court could consider factors…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a proposed class action settlement between AOL and plaintiffs where the parties agreed that AOL would make a series of charitable donations. At issue was whether the district court abused its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The NLRB petitioned for enforcement of its order finding that Legacy Health violated sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(1) and (3) by not allowing its employees to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from an oral order denying his request for appointment of new counsel and permitting him to proceed pro se. Defendant was charged in a superseding indictment with one count of being a previously…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed from the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254, claiming that his due process rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated based on…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitioned for review of a decision by the BIA affirming a decision of the IJ to deny petitioner's application for withholding of removal and withholding and deferral of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the district court dismissing his action against the State of Arizona and individual officials employed by the Arizona Department of Corrections for alleged negligence and alleged…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. 8131, 8132, claim after he was injured in a helicopter crash and received benefits totaling $409,838.11. Plaintiff then filed a civil suit against the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a motion for a stay of execution pending the United States Supreme Court decision in Martinez v. Ryan. Petitioner sought a stay of his impending execution, leave to file successive petitions for habeas…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Revett Silver Company in an action brought pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 16…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed from the district court's denial of his emergency motion for preliminary injunction or stay of execution. The district court held that the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) had provided…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought this securities fraud action against defendant, a biotechnology company and several of its officers, alleging that, by misstating and failing to disclose safety information about two of the company's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of an order of the BIA upholding the IJ's denial of registry, cancellation of removal, and voluntary departure on grounds of alleged constitutional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued defendants, employees of the State of Washington's State Operated Living Alternative (SOLA) program, on behalf of herself and her daughter's estate under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that defendants deprived…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and requested that the district court recommend a southern California housing designation to the Bureau of Prisons. At the sentencing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the former General Counsel of McAfee, alleged that McAfee maliciously prosecuted and defamed him in an attempt to deflect attention from large-scale backdating of stock options within the company. McAfee moved…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellee pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in human trafficking, and admitted that between 2001 and December 22, 2003, he conspired with others to provide controlled substances to several minors and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against defendants, county officers and the county, alleging a state law wrongful death claim and a 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim for excessive force under the Fourth Amendment when her 18-year-old son was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, four citizens of Iran who came to the United States at various times due to their long-standing opposition to that nation's theocratic regime, sued defendants, raising a number of claims including unlawful…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, current or former "franchisee" shuttle van drivers for SuperShuttle in various parts of California, filed a putative class action alleging that plaintiffs were misclassified as "independent contractors" when,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the district court's order finding him in violation of his conditions of supervised release based upon his use of marijuana. Defendant asserted that because he had a recommendation from a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner petitioned for review of the BIA's dismissal of his appeal of an IJ's decision denying his application for cancellation of removal. The BIA concluded that petitioner's 1992 parole as a Special Immigrant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the personal representative of the Estate of Gaye S. Glaser, appealed the district court's affirmance of the Medicare Appeals Council's (MAC) ruling that Kaiser was not required to pay for Glaser's liver…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions for importation and possession of cocaine. On appeal, defendant asserted that the last statement made by the prosecution in its closing rebuttal argument rendered the trial unfair and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought injunctive relief in district court pursuant to section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. 160(j), alleging that CHHP was a successor employer to Karykeion and that a majority…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from defendant's operation of a fraudulent investment fund. Defendant's Ponzi scheme took almost $13 million from over 50 investors and petitioners were among the investors. Petitioners appealed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, David Ray Newman and Jon Tedesco, committed crimes that subject them to criminal forfeiture: Newman robbed two banks, and Tedesco conspired to defraud banks. Defendants each pleaded guilty and agreed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, an Oregon state prisoner, appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 habeas corpus petition, arguing that the evidence presented was constitutionally insufficient for a rational jury to find…

Justia Opinion Summary: Over the course of more than 30 years, petitioner was convicted of crimes involving deviant sexual acts with children. After a series of unsuccessful appeals and postconviction procedures, petitioner filed a federal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. At issue was whether the California trial court's use of California Jury Instruction, Criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant plead guilty to possession of child pornography. At issue on appeal was whether 18 U.S.C. 2251(d)(1)(A) required an individual to personally produce the sexually explicit visual depictions of minors that he…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 401-34. Plaintiff claimed he was disabled by thoracic spine and lumbar spine…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a deadly use of force lawsuit filed by decedent's family against defendants. The district court issued an in limine order precluding defendants from arguing that decedent was armed when he was shot.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. 1350, case arose out of the operations of Rio Tinto mining group on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the uprising against Rio Tinto in the late 1980's that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiffs voluntarily filed applications for adjustment of status in reliance on the Ninth Circuit's opinion in Perez-Gonzalez v. Ashcroft, wherein the court purportedly held that individuals like…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's decision affirming the Social Security Administration's (SSA) denial of her applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The court held that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent appealed the district court's order granting petitioner a conditional writ of habeas corpus. At issue was whether the petition was timely; even assuming the petition was deemed timely, whether there was error…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendant was accused of drunk driving on the Kitsap Naval Base in Bremerton, Washington. At issue was whether the Government violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Ethiopia, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's conclusion that petitioner was statutorily ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal because…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case centered around the political corruption of former California Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham, who provided lucrative government defense contracts to defendant and others in exchange for expensive meals,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed her jury conviction for one count of conspiracy, one count of bank fraud, and thirteen counts of loan fraud. On appeal, defendant contended that the district court committed prejudicial error by…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiff hired defendant to move some of his household goods from southern California to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). When the UAE officials discovered plaintiff's box of firearms and ammunition,…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal presented the question of whether a provision of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936, preempted Montana's "little HIPAA" law, Mont.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, both women who were tased during an encounter with officers, filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 seeking damages for the alleged violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. At issue was whether the use of a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence of three years' imprisonment for unlawfully exporting PVS-14 Gen 3 night-vision devices in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), 22 U.S.C. 2778. These devices, designed for…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from FERC's statutory mandate set out in the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. 824-824w, to ensure that all rates and charges made, demanded, or received by power wholesalers were just and reasonable.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his jury conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a contraband in prison. On appeal, defendant argued that the district court abused its discretion by refusing to instruct the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, the former Chief Executive Officer of Brocade Communications (Brocade or the Company), a company the developed and sold data switches for networks, appealed his conviction in a second criminal trial for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted, on a plea of guilty, of serving as an airman without an airman's certificate. Defendant appealed from his sentence on the ground that the district court procedurally erred by sentencing him…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of robbery and aiding and abetting robbery in Indian country in violation of U.S.C. 1153(a) and 2111. On appeal, defendant contended that the government did not present sufficient evidence to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a death row inmate, appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner raised three grounds for relief: (1) petitioner claimed that the state failed to disclose an…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the USFS's issuance of a revised Travel Management Plan governing recreational motorized and nonmotorized use on 1.1 million acres of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, including the Middle Fork…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Peru, sought review of a decision by the BIA denying his motion to reopen on the ground that petitioner had failed to voluntarily depart. The court held that where, as here, a period…

Justia Opinion Summary: During petitioner's murder trial, defense counsel failed to object to the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges to strike six Hispanic venirepersons. Petitioner appealed the district court's denial of his petition…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence of 25 months' imprisonment plus five years of supervised release following his guilty plea to ten counts of embezzlement under 18 U.S.C. 656, and eight counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted after a three-day jury trial of four counts of injecting fluids into deep wells without a permit, in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 42 U.S.C. 300h-2(b)(2). Defendant was also…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from Suzlon's demand that Microsoft produce documents from the Microsoft Hotmail email account of Rajagopalan Sridhar, an Indian citizen imprisoned abroad. Microsoft objected to the production and the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Attorneys General of Washington and California filed parens patriae actions in their states' courts alleging that defendants engaged in a conspiracy to fix the prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his conditional guilty plea to receiving material involving the sexual exploitation of minors in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2). Defendant challenged the district court's denial of his motion…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, owner and operator the Custer Battlefield Museum, was investigated in 2005 for unlawfully attempting to sell migratory bird parts and for fraudulently misrepresenting the provenance of historical artifacts for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought this suit in 2004, challenging the constitutionality of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, 10 U.S.C. 654(b). While an appeal was pending in this case, Congress enacted the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Apple brought this action against Psystar for copyright infringement because Psystar was using Apple's software on Psystar computers. The district court held that Psystar was infringing Apple's federally registered…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, representing a putative class of purchasers of contact lens solutions, appealed the district court's order granting summary judgment for defendant. Plaintiffs brought suit alleging that defendant violated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers appealed the district court's denial of their Rule 60(b) motion to vacate a 1967 tax judgment against them. Taxpayers argued that the government committed fraud on the court during their 1967 suppression…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of illegal reentry in 2004, escape, and a second count of illegal reentry with a found-in date of June 7, 2007. Defendant appealed his conviction on the second illegal reentry offense, challenging…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision denying his applications for adjustment of status, asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against…

Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated petitions for review, petitioner challenged two decisions by the BIA: first, challenging the finding that she was statutorily ineligible for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Washington State prisoner, sought relief under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for alleged violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment right of access to the courts and alleged supplemental state law claims for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former recruiter for Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (Nielsen), appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment on her age and disability discrimination and wrongful termination claims under California…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder of two thirteen-year-old girls. Defendant challenged his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2254, arguing that he should receive an evidentiary hearing to develop the claim that his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty for violating 18 U.S.C. 704(a), which prohibited the unauthorized wearing of military medals, where defendant fraudulently obtained a Purple Heart and wore it in public. On appeal, defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a former Boeing engineer who gave technological information to China, appealed his convictions on six counts of violating the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA), 18 U.S.C. 1831(a)(1), (3); on one count of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the district court's denial in part of his motion to reduce his sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). Defendant contended that the district court's modification of his sentence to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the Port of Los Angeles prohibited motor carriers from operating drayage trucks on port property unless the motor carriers entered into concession agreements with the port. The concession agreements…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted by a jury of nine counts of bank fraud, two counts of fraudulent use of an access device, two counts of attempted fraudulent use of an access device, two counts of laundering monetary instruments,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a part of the United States Department of Treasury, froze the assets of Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Oregon (AHIF-Oregon), a non-profit organization, and designated…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Tribes of the Yakima Nation claimed that the principle of Indian tax immunity had been violated by the State of Washington's current cigarette excise tax, which the Tribes argued left their retailers liable for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty for unlawfully attempting to reenter the United States after having previously been removed. At issue was whether the district court erroneously held that defendant's petty theft convictions each…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed the district court's decision, on summary judgment, that letters sent by appellant to nearly 40,000 California residents constituted "false, deceptive, or misleading representation[s]... in connection…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case was brought pursuant to the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), 15 U.S.C. 1125(d)(1) over the registered domain name "gopets.com." The main issue on appeal was whether the term "registration"…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus, challenging the California Board of Parole Hearings' (Board) denial of his parole. Defendant, the warden, appealed the district court's order instructing the Board to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen and national of Honduras, filed an application for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The BIA denied the application, concluding that petitioner had not established that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case was related to certain documents produced in discovery and filed in the bankruptcy court, containing allegations that Father M and D, two priests who were not parties to the Portland Archdiocese's bankruptcy…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, individual homeowners, sued defendants, some of the nation's largest housing developers, seeking damages, attorneys fees and costs, and the option to rescind their home purchases due to defendants' fraud,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of, among other things, shipping and receiving firearms through interstate commerce while using a controlled substance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) because defendant illegally grew and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against the Dealership and Porsche when the pre-owned car that she purchased from the Dealership developed serious mechanical problems during the warranty period and the Dealership refused to honor…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against Toyota when the new car that she leased developed mechanical problems during the warranty period and Toyota failed to repair them to her satisfaction. In addition to several California…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine possession and sentenced to three years' probation. Defendant appealed his conviction and two conditions of probation, one permitting suspicionless…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his conviction for importation of marijuana and possession of marijuana. Defendant contended, inter alia, that the district court erred by preventing him from presenting evidence of duress at…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought, inter alia, to reopen his immigration proceedings by raising challenges to, or seeking an exception to, the April 26, 2005, deadline to seek relief under former section 212(c) of the Immigration and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the SEC instituted an enforcement action against several companies, which, among other things, led to the court appointment of a receiver. Debtor was an attorney who represented some of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs alleged that defendant, a non-profit Christian organization operating a residential drug treatment program and two homeless shelters, engaged in religious discrimination in providing shelter and residential…

Justia Opinion Summary: Day-laborer organizations challenged a city anti-solicitation ordinance that barred individuals from standing on a street or highway and soliciting, or attempting to solicit, business, or contributions from an occupant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Costco appealed the district court's order granting class certification in a class action brought by Shirley Ellis, Leah Horstman, and Elaine Sasaki (plaintiffs), alleging that Costco's promotional practices…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a tax transaction involving Henry Samueli, the co-founder of Broadcom Corporation, and his investment advisor. At issue was whether a purported securities loan with a fixed term of at least 250…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner timely petitioned for review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's holding that defendant was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his domestic violence conviction constituted an "aggravated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the district court's dismissal of his habeas petition as untimely, and not subject to statutory tolling. Petitioner's petition challenged his jury conviction in California state court for murder and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his 52-month sentence imposed following his open plea of guilty to a single-count indictment charging him with illegal re-entry after deportation. The court held that, after considering the state court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his 70-month below-Guidelines sentence of incarceration for illegal reentry after a prior deportation. The court held that, because a conviction for willful infliction of corporal injury on a spouse,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the 46-month sentence of imprisonment imposed following his guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry. The court held that because it agreed with the district court that a conviction for forcible…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 1155 motion to correct a federal sentencing enhancement imposed on account of his Utah conviction for burglarizing a "dwelling." At issue was whether the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from an indictment charging defendant with two counts of transporting an illegal alien for profit. At issue was whether a district court could, in the absence of a motion for a new trial by the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Protrero Hills Landfill, a privately owned solid waste and recycling business in Solano County, and twenty-two related businesses appealed the dismissal on Younger v. Harris abstention grounds of their 42 U.S.C. 1983…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff foster children appeal the dismissal of their class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, in which they alleged that the caseloads of the Sacramento County Dependency Court and court-appointed attorneys were so…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a frequent filer of lawsuits and indigent, sought money damages and other relief against defendant resulting from an alleged mistreatment of plaintiff when he was a prisoner. Plaintiff appealed the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a high school math teacher, filed suit in federal court alleging that the school district violated his constitutional rights by making him remove banners he displayed in his classroom which referenced "God"…

Justia Opinion Summary: The court reviewed a petition by the Union from an order of the NLRB (Board) dismissing a complaint alleging unfair labor practices by Employers. The Union alleged that the Employers violated sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5)…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when federal law enforcement officers seized funds from passengers who were temporarily in the Atlanta airport changing planes. The travelers truthfully explained that the funds were legal gambling…

Justia Opinion Summary: Chevron, the franchisor, brought suit for declaratory judgment against one of its franchised dealers, M&M Petroleum Services, Inc. M&M responded with a counterclaim of its own, a counterclaim that was not only found to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Louis Vuitton sued Managed Solutions Group, Inc. (MSG), Akanoc Solutions, Inc., and Steven Chen (collectively, Defendants) for contributory copyright and trademark infringement, contending that Defendants were liable for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's order affirming the IJ's decision that petitioner did not suffer from ineffective assistance of counsel and declining to address the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Secretary of Labor filed a complaint against the State of Washington, Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), alleging that DSHS failed to pay overtime compensation to certain social workers in violation of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a citizen and national of India, petitioned for review of the BIA's decisions. At issue was whether petitioner established changed or extraordinary circumstances that would excuse his untimely application for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a minor with dyslexia, by and through her mother and Guardian Ad Litem, appealed from the district court's order affirming the Administrative Hearing Officer's conclusion that the Hawaii Department of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, 134 farmers whose crops suffered as a result of the federal Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) use of the herbicide Oust, sued the federal government and Oust's manufacturer (DuPont). Both the jury and the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for one count of importation of marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The court held that it was an abuse of discretion to allow the government to…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant of felony murder and/or aiding and abetting felony murder, but acquitted him of premeditated murder. The trial judge then imposed the death penalty. Defendant subsequently appealed the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a putative class action challenging origination and foreclosure procedures for home loans maintained within the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS). Plaintiffs appealed from the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and oxycodone with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm and an armed career criminal, and with possession of a firearm during the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Over thirty years ago, petitioner was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1979 kidnapping, rape, and murder of a sixteen-year-old female. Petitioner subsequently appealed the district court's denial of habeas…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute (SPOSFI) and Mary Figone appealed the district court's judgment rejecting their facial First Amendment and vagueness challenges to portions of "Proposition M," a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State of Arizona appealed the district court's order granting a preliminary injunction to prevent a state law from taking effect that would have terminated eligibility for healthcare benefits of state employees'…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a native and citizen of Mexico, challenged his conviction for illegal reentry after removal on the ground that the removal order on which the conviction was based was invalid. The court held that in light of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and rape and the attempted murder of two individuals. Defendant was sentenced to death. On appeal, defendant appealed two procedural issues: whether counsel rendered…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the family-sponsored immigration process where appellants were legal permanent residents of the United States and their children were no longer under the age of 21. At issue was whether appellants'…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued Holland American, alleging that the cruise line breached its duty to warn him of the dangers associated with swimming on the Pacific Ocean side of Lover's Beach on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The district…

Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute emerged from state and federal litigation over liability for damages and defense costs in certain environmental tort suits. At issue was an action for damages that appellants brought in federal court and a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, petitioned for review of a decision of the BIA affirming the IJ's decision denying asylum in the exercise of its discretion. The BIA's decision balanced the likelihood of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of attempting to possess a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and sentenced to 180 months in prison. On appeal, defendant alleged that the district court erred under Apprendi v.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed the district court's dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) of their putative consumer class action against defendants. Plaintiffs also appealed the district court's denial of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted by a jury in an Arizona state court of first degree murder. Defendant subsequently petitioned for federal habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254, raising, inter alia, the same ineffective…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. At issue was whether defendant was entitled, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a federal complaint against officers and the Mount Shasta Police Department pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they entered his home without a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of child molestation in Washington state and sentenced to two years confinement. At issue was whether the government must prove that a defendant knew that the Sex Offender Registration and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case originated with a misunderstanding regarding a $645 charge on the credit card bill of appellant. Chase Bank misidentified the basis for the charge but failed to respond to appellant's requests for information…

Justia Opinion Summary: These consolidated cases arose out of a 2007 labor dispute between the Painters Union and Nevada contractors over whether the Union's card check established its majority status under the terms of the collective…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from plaintiff's detention as an undocumented immigrant where plaintiff claimed that various authorities deprived him of medication for his schizophrenia and that the detention resulted from the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's decision granting defendants' motion to strike plaintiff's defamation suit under California's anti-SLAPP statute. Cal.Civ. Proc. Code 425.16. Plaintiff argued that the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a traffic stop for a seatbelt violation in which a Los Angeles County Sheriff pepper sprayed plaintiff and struck him with a baton after plaintiff exited his vehicle and disobeyed the Sheriff's order…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, 37-years-old, suffered from anorexia nervosa for more than twenty years. At issue was whether defendant was required to pay for her care at a residential treatment facility, either under the terms of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: This was an appeal by objector, a Nevada attorney, seeking review of the Nevada district court's order denying his motion to quash a subpoena for bank records of his client trust account. The district court concluded…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and his wife filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against defendants, alleging, among other things, that police officers violated their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by securing the search and arrest warrants…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners challenged an order of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the proposed construction by the Port of Portland of a new runway at Hillsboro Airport (HIO). On appeal, petitioners argued that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought review of a decision of the BIA affirming the IJ's finding of removeability and denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. The BIA affirmed the IJ's conclusion that petitioner, who…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed his conviction on various counts related to transporting and harboring illegal aliens. Appellant challenged the district court's decision to admit into evidence videotaped deposition testimony of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a class of economically vulnerable Arizonians who receive public health care benefits through the state's Medicaid agency, sued the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the Director of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of attempted entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) and (b). On appeal, defendant claimed that the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA)…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's dismissal of her ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., action against defendant as not timely filed. Plaintiff was employed by defendant as a stockbroker in 1979 and starting in 1982,…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the IRS's investigation of a type of tax shelter known as a "Son-of-Boss" (a variant of the Bond and Options Sales Strategy (BOSS) shelter). Petitioner appealed the Tax Court's decision in favor of…

Justia Opinion Summary: WPP Luxembourg Gamma Three Sarl (WPP) appealed from the district court's dismissal of the amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Defendant and cross-appellants cross-appealed the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants appealed the district court's denial of certification of their putative class action in Mancini v. Ticketmaster; Stearns v. Ticketmaster, and Johnson v. Ticketmaster. Appellants' actions were directed against…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for failing to register as a sex offender and challenged the legality of the Attorney General's interim regulation for failure to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5…

Justia Opinion Summary: While handcuffed in the back seat of a patrol car, Everardo Torres (Everardo) was mortally mounded when a Madera City Police Officer shot him in the chest with her Glock semiautomatic pistol, believing it at the time to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and his children (plaintiffs) brought a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit against defendants for damages resulting from plaintiff's unlawful arrest. Plaintiff was arrested as he stood outside a fair selling promotional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed from the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction against them in an action for copyright infringement by plaintiff. The district court found that plaintiff was likely to succeed in its…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his misdemeanor convictions, after retrial, of three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. 1382. Defendant's charges arose from his protest activities on Ocean Avenue, which was a public road that crossed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitioned for review of a decision of the BIA ordering him removed to his native country. The BIA affirmed the IJ's ruling that petitioner was ineligible for asylum,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and similarly situated individuals, brought an action against Chase, alleging that it increased his interest rates retroactively to the beginning of this payment cycle after his account…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court held that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from the district court's summary judgment dismissing Fleischer Studios, Inc.'s (Fleischer) copyright and trademark infringement action where the district court ruled that Fleischer held neither a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a federal civil rights action against the county, alleging violation of her constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection. Plaintiff alleged that the county harassed her in retaliation of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed 26 putative class actions against defendants, alleging that defendants knowingly failed to disclose the potential risk of noise-induced hearing loss associated with extended use of their wireless…

Justia Opinion Summary: A former public high school student alleged that his history teacher violated his rights under the Establishment Clause by making comments during class that were hostile to religion in general, and to Christianity in…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the Washington State Department of Health (Department) would not license Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital (Memorial) to perform certain procedures known as elective percutaneous coronary interventions…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a challenge by environmental groups to a proposed incremental drawdown of water from Lake Roosevelt in eastern Washington. At issue was whether the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) took a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to have his sentence…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was the target of a grand jury investigation seeking to determine whether he used secret Swiss bank accounts to evade paying federal taxes. The district court granted a motion to compel appellant's compliance…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellee sued Mary Lafond, DSHS's Child Study and Treatment Center's (CSTC) CEO, and Norman Webster, the Director of Nursing Services, under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for violating her Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a disabled individual who required the use of a motorized wheelchair to get around, filed a lawsuit against defendants, alleging that a Food 4 Less grocery store in Chula Vista, California did not comply with…

Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated appeals, respondents appealed the district court's order granting petitioner's, an enrolled member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, amended petition for writ of habeas corpus. At issue was whether the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an employee of the Veterans Health Administration, submitted eight requests under the Freedom of Information Act, (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, primarily asking for emails to and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when a student told a police officer that her teacher, plaintiff, inappropriately touched her and police subsequently searched plaintiff's home for child pornography. Plaintiff and his son sued the police…

Justia Opinion Summary: This consolidated appeal asked the court to consider the constitutionality of the Nevada Department of Corrections' (NDOC) policy prohibiting inmates' personal possession of typewriters. NDOC inmates appealed pro se the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This interlocutory appeal arose from an action instituted in the district court to stop the government from rounding up, destroying, and auctioning off wild horses and burros in the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: These appeals involved two essentially identical actions filed in two different states by different groups of plaintiffs, each seeking to represent a class. The actions sought damages on the ground that plaintiffs'…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with his membership in the Mongols Motorcycle Club, a motorcycle gang. On appeal, defendant challenged his convictions and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) but remanding the case to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerned the requirements of due process when law enforcement officers charged with felonies were suspended without pay. The officers brought claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 in federal district court, alleging…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for being a previously-removed alien found in the United States. Defendant argued that the district court erred in refusing to give a requested jury instruction, which would have…

Justia Opinion Summary: Qui tam relators brought this action on behalf of the United States government, appealing the district court's judgment dismissing, without leave to amend, their original complaint against the Individual Defendants and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Steve Baldwin and the Pacific Justice Institute challenged the constitutionality of the so-called "individual mandate" provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119,…

Justia Opinion Summary: A majority of the en banc court overruled the court's prior holding in Navarro-Lopez v. Gonzales that the modified categorical approach did not apply "[w]hen the crime of conviction [was] missing an element of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Blue Lake Rancheria, an Indian tribe, sought a refund of Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), 26 U.S.C. 3306(c)(7), taxes paid by Mainstay Business Solutions (Mainstay), an employee leasing company wholly owned by the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's conclusion that, due to fraud in obtaining her admission, petitioner was not a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) and therefore, was not eligible for cancellation of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In connection with an assessment of a taxpayer for unpaid taxes, the IRS began searching for the taxpayer's assets and issued a summons to a bank for a related third party's account information. The taxpayer and third…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder in the first degree, and one count of attempting to elude a police vehicle. Defendant raised several issues on…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed the district court's order granting American Bankers Insurance Company's (American Bankers) motion to set aside default judgment for excusable neglect under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1). Plaintiffs argued…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a class action complaint in Nevada state court against his employer, alleging that the employer failed to pay him and other similarly situated employees overtime and minimum wages, listing causes of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mavrix Photo, Inc. (Mavrix), a Florida Corporation with its principal place of business in Miami, sued Brand Technologies, Inc., an Ohio corporation with its principal place of business in Toledo, and its CEO…

Justia Opinion Summary: CollegeSource, Inc. (CollegeSource), a California corporation with its principal place of business in California, sued AcademyOne, Inc. (AcademyOne), a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of conspiring to manufacture one kilogram or more of a substance containing phencylcidine (PCP); possession of approximately eleven kilograms of piperidinocyclohexanecarbonitrile (PCC) with intent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to one count of reentry of removed alien and the district court applied a sixteen-level enhancement for a previous "alien smuggling offense." Defendant filed a motion on March 5, 2010, arguing that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendant was charged with one count of embezzlement and theft of labor union assets. At issue was whether the district court's employment of supplemental arguments impermissibly coerced a guilty…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, John Stinson and Robert Griffin, appealed their convictions for crimes related to their membership in the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) prison gang. This appeal centered on numerous procedural decisions by the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against an airline alleging a common law breach of contract under the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. At issue was whether plaintiff's claim was preempted by the Airline…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction of its action against defendant, alleging tort, contract, and state statutory claims and seeking, among other remedies, a constructive trust and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted for several crimes related to their membership in the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) prison gang and were both sentenced to life in prison. Defendants raised numerous issues on appeal. The court held…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on two counts of violating 8 U.S.C. 1326, which prohibited a deported alien from reentering the United States without the consent of the U.S. Attorney General. Defendant appealed from his…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiff sued Lucent Technologies for disability benefits based on grounds of mental disability. At issue was whether 42 U.S.C. 1981 retaliation claims were governed by the four-year statute of…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when taxpayer transferred membership units in a family-owned LLC partly as a gift and partly by a sale to two trusts and coupled the transfers with simultaneous gifts of LLC units to two charitable…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were jointly tried and convicted of a substantive RICO violation, 18 U.S.C. 1962(c); RICO conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. 1962(d); and two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity (VICAR), 18 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This is an interlocutory government appeal from the district court's suppression of all evidence obtained as a result of an airport search of defendant's checked luggage at Hilo International Airport. The government…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant where plaintiff was a former bus driver for defendant and was terminated, subsequently reinstated pursuant to an agreement executed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, and nine other similarly situated prisoners, appealed the district court's judgment denying their 28 U.S.C. 2241 habeas corpus petitions. At issue was whether these consolidated habeas corpus petitions…

Justia Opinion Summary: Perfect 10 moved for a preliminary injunction against Google, arguing that it was entitled to an injunction because Google's web and image search and related caching feature, its Blogger service, and its practice of…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from credit agreements Lehman entities entered into with Palmdale Hills, LLC entities. Palmdale filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2008 and Lehman subsequently filed eight motions for relief…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of first degree sex abuse and two counts of first degree sodomy. At issue was whether a credible showing of "actual innocence" under Schlup v. Delon excused the statute of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a Christian sorority and fraternity, as well as several of their officers at San Diego State University, brought suit in federal district court challenging the university's nondiscrimination policy under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the tragic February 2007 crash of an Army Special Operations Aviation Regiment helicopter in Afghanistan. Plaintiffs, who include those injured and the heirs of those killed in the crash, appealed…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant conditionally pleaded guilty pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2) to one count of possession of child pornography. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress the offending…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to dismiss where plaintiff claimed that defendant violated a section of California's Rees-Levering Act (Act), Cal. Civ. Code 2983.2(a), which required a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed the district court's dismissal of their claims against manufacturers of dry cleaning equipment brought, inter alia, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6901 et…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued defendants, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Alaska Department of Transportation (Alaska), and the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (Alyeska), in federal court, alleging causes of action for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The court agreed to rehear this case en banc to clarify under what circumstances the exhaustion requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1415(l), barred non-IDEA federal or state…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a mother and her daughter. Petitioner appealed his denial of federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254, raising a number of different claims. The court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs claimed that defendants, owners and managers of a for-profit website called DMV.org, violated federal and state unfair competition and false advertising laws by actively fostering the belief that DMV.org was…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a so-called bubble ordinance enacted by the Oakland City Council, which made it an offense to knowingly and willfully approach within eight feet of an individual seeking entry to a reproductive…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed from their convictions for conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the mother of Jerry Amaro, filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim against defendants for the use of excessive force, which resulted in injuries that caused Amaro's death. At issue was whether the doctrine of equitable…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an inmate, sought enforcement of his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA or Act), 5 U.S.C. 552, request to the DEA for records pertaining to a certain confidential informant. In response, the DEA submitted a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants appealed the district court's order awarding them attorney fees following settlement of their claims against appellees brought under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619, and California law. At issue was…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from petitioners' suit against defendants, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 206 et seq., forced labor in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1589, unjust enrichment, and violations of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought an action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, seeking to prove that they were subjected to excessive force while in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail. At issue was whether the district court erred by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant, seeking indemnity and/or contribution based on the damage defendant allegedly caused through gross negligence in removing plaintiff's vessel from a coral reef. At issue was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued Icelandair in federal district court, alleging that it was liable for her injuries under Article 17 of the Convention of the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued R.R. Street & Co., Inc. (Street), which designed and manufactured a machine used in the dry cleaning business, and several other defendants for contribution to environmental cleanup costs under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Three conservation groups (Applicants) appealed from the denial of their motion to intervene on the side of defendants in an action where plaintiff challenged an interim order issued by the Forest Service in response to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Each of the defendants in these consolidated appeals sought safety-valve relief where they were serving a state probationary sentence when they committed and pleaded guilty to the charge of smuggling methamphetamine into…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action for damages resulting from a violent attack he allegedly suffered while he was an inmate in the Los Angeles County Jail. At issue was whether the district court properly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, raisin producers, appealed an administrative decision by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which imposed civil penalties and assessments for their failure to comply with the reserve pool…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants appealed the district court's order affirming the bankruptcy court's decision that they were not entitled to subrogation pursuant to the provisions of 11 U.S.C. 509. With one clarification regarding…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the denial of his federal habeas petition where his charges stemmed from a home-invasion robbery. At issue was the California Court of Appeals' rulings that he had no absolute Sixth Amendment right to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with crimes stemming from conduct involving her live-in nanny and housekeeper where defendant arranged for her to travel from her native Peru to the United States in 2006 by entering under a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the seizure and administrative forfeiture of two leopard trophies by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from two hunters (plaintiffs) who attempted to import the leopards from African…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of India, appealed from the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen premised on ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner married a U.S. citizen during the pendency of his appeal from…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision dismissing his appeal from an IJ's order finding him removable and denying his application for cancellation of removal. Petitioner…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought a writ of habeas corpus arguing that the California Supreme Court's delay in resolving the direct appeal from his murder conviction and death sentence denied him his right to due process under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, the owner and operator of a Nevada company that inspected homes for construction defects and encouraged homeowners to file claims against their builder under a Nevada statute, appealed an injunction enjoining…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an Indonesian citizen of Chinese descent, petitioned for review of the BIA's order affirming an IJ's denial of her claims for asylum and withholding of removal. At issue was whether the IJ correctly…

Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated appeals, defendants appealed the denial of their motions for judgment on the pleadings where plaintiffs brought a diversity suit to enforce California Civil Code 2527 and 2528, which required defendants…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from defendant's convictions for making two statements regarding Barack Obama on an online message board two weeks before the presidential election. At issue was whether the district court properly…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1974, African American and Mexican American students sued the Tucson, Arizona, school system alleging intentional segregation and unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of race and national origin. For some 30…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants engaged in discovery misconduct that was sufficiently egregious to cause the district court to enter an order of default against them. Although defendants subsequently challenged the default order as…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the over $450,000 petitioners owed to the IRS for failing to report income derived from a fraudulent check-cashing scheme. At issue, inter alia, was whether the Tax Court had jurisdiction in a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner applied for authorization to file a second or successive petition for a writ of habeas corpus where he was convicted of first degree felony murder, second degree burglary, and theft in March 1988. At issue was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for importation of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute, claiming that the district court erred in admitting expert testimony regarding the structure and operations of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought damages from the United States for injuries to a child allegedly caused by exposure to the toxic heavy metal thallium from soil dumped into a landfill adjacent to the child' residence and school. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision denying his application for cancellation of removal. At issue was whether a state court conviction for a simple-possession drug…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of a decision of the BIA dismissing an appeal from an order of removal to Mexico. Despite petitioner's testimony to the contrary, an IJ found that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The parents of E.M., a bilingual student, brought an action to challenge the Pajaro Valley Unified School District's (District) determination that E.M. did not qualify for special education under the Individuals with…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of China, petitioned for review of a final order of removal by the BIA where the BIA denied petitioner's applications for asylum and withholding of removal because it concluded that he…

Justia Opinion Summary: Federal Insurance Company (FIC) sued for damage to property destroyed during the inland leg of international intermodal carriage where FIC was the subrogee of the shipper which contracted with an ocean carrier, APL Co.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of two municipal entities that plaintiffs alleged were discharging polluted stormwater in violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the collective bargaining activities of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142 (Union) and the Pacific Beach Hotel (Hotel) where the Union filed numerous unfair labor practice…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a Mutual Strike Assistance Agreement (MSAA) that was entered into by defendants (grocers) where the MSAA included a revenue-sharing provision (RSP), providing that in the event of a strike/lockout,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Christian congregation church, sued the City of Yuma when the city prevented the church from conducting church services in a building it had bought for that purpose. At issue was the "equal terms" provision…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a state prisoner, sought a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 where appellant was convicted in 2005 for first degree murder, attempted murder, and attempted robbery with…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a bankruptcy appeal of a tax debt owed by debtor to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The bankruptcy court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) found that the debt was not excepted from…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a previous en banc opinion, the court held that defendant's trial counsel provided him constitutionally ineffective assistance because he failed to consult or call forensic experts to explain a pool of blood found at…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus where he was convicted of one count of first degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and six counts of attempted premeditated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to three capital charges and seven other charges in connection with the kidnapping, sexual abuse, and murder of a 9 year-old boy and the kidnapping and sexual abuse of an 8 year-old girl.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, commercial fishermen, brought an action against defendant, who was the Commissioner of the Fisheries for the State of Alaska (Commissioner), asking the district court to declare that certain regulations,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possessing and transporting child pornography and appealed his conviction, sentence, and the district court's order directing him to pay $65,000 in restitution to two victims. The court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possession of child pornography and appealed a judgment that included, as a condition of supervised release, a requirement that monitoring technology be installed on his computer-related…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the mother of a developmentally disabled high school student, alleged that the several sexual encounters her daughter had with another developmentally disabled student in a school bathroom were the result of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision dismissing his appeal from an IJ's decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Guatemala, was convicted twice for second-degree commercial burglary when he was arrested for walking out of a supermarket with unpaid items on two separate occasions. As a result, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from his conviction and sentence for reentry after deportation. Defendant contended that his deportation was invalid because the IJ failed to advise him of his eligibility for voluntary departure. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Richard Hurles appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus from his murder conviction and death sentence. He argued that the district court erred on four issues: judicial…

Justia Opinion Summary: West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) appealed from the district court's denial of its motion to intervene as a defendant in this case, in which the NRDC challenged the National Marine Fisheries Service's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Philippines, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision to affirm the IJ's order of removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii) where petitioner was an alien convicted of two…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, occurring within the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation in western Arizona. At issue was whether a district court could, over defense objection…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to aggravated identity theft and to committing fraudulent transactions with access devices. In a written plea agreement, defendant waived "his right to appeal any aspect of his convictions." At…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a 71 year old native of Turkmenistan and a citizen of Armenia, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial as untimely of her motion to reopen removal proceedings to apply for adjustment of status, on account…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed an action against defendants (collectively, the Plan) for refusing to pay certain long-term disability benefits. At issue was whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment for defendants…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). At issue was whether a February 2000 conviction for burglary in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, who came to the United States from Armenia, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision that she failed to satisfy her burden of proving eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal and the BIA's…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from the NRDC's complaint against the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) alleging that SCAQMD violated the Clean Air Act (CAA), section 173(c), by distributing invalid credits from its…

Justia Opinion Summary: This suit followed BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.'s (BPXA) temporary shut-down of its pipelines and oil production in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, upon its discovery of a leak in a pipeline located in its Prudhoe Bay Eastern…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants formerly maintained railroad tracks on a parcel of land in Stockton, California, that was contaminated by petroleum. The petroleum was spilled at a nearby industrial site and migrated onto the property via an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and molestation of a nine-year-old girl and received the death sentence. Petitioner requested permission to file a second or successive application for a writ…

Justia Opinion Summary: This is the second appeal arising from the failed prosecution of defendants for securities and investment fraud. At issue was whether the district court abused its discretion in denying defendants' motion to reopen under…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the Bureau of Prison's (BOP) calculation of his Good Conduct Time (GCT) credit under 18 U.S.C. 3624(b), contending that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of the Philippines, petitioned for review of an order of the BIA directing his removal, as well as the BIA's order denying reconsideration. At issue was whether the IJ erred in finding him removable,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor filed a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition in 1998 and submitted a plan of reorganization ("Plan"), continuing to operate as a debtor-in-possession. Article X of the confirmed Plan provided for the discharge of all…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against defendants claiming that she had been demoted in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights by attending a school board meeting and sitting next to her…

Justia Opinion Summary: The SEC brought suit against senior officers of Gateway Incorporated ("Gateway") claiming that they unlawfully misrepresented Gateway's financial condition in the third quarter of 2000 in order to meet financial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, married couples who worked as house parents to children who were "severely emotionally disturbed" in defendants' homes, sued defendants for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Former Arizona Congressman Richard G. Renzi sought to invoke the Speech or Debate Clause ("Clause") of the Constitution to preclude his prosecution for allegedly using his public office to benefit himself rather than his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The court agreed to hear this case en banc in order to reconsider its precedent as to which parties could be sued as defendants in actions for benefits under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B), part of ERISA. Some of the court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to correct a federal sentencing enhancement imposed on account of his Utah conviction for burglarizing a "dwelling." At issue was whether the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a federal grand jury indictment of twenty-two persons, including the seven defendants at issue, for illegal activities related to the Mexican Mafia. Defendants appealed their convictions of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, challenged a decision of the BIA denying him cancellation of removal and voluntary departure. At issue was whether the BIA erred in determining that petitioner was ineligible…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from an asset purchase transaction where defendants and plaintiff entered into an allocation agreement that included an arbitration clause. Defendants appealed from the district court's order enjoining…

Justia Opinion Summary: This action stemmed from the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") "ISP Remand Order", which imposed a new compensation regime for ISP-bound traffic, i.e., internet service provider-bound traffic. Plaintiff, which…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of a decision of the BIA determining that petitioner was ineligible for adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested on September 13, 2009, by Customs and Border Protection agents and was charged in a one-count indictment with attempting to transport an illegal alien. Defendant pleaded not guilty and his trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an Indian citizen and former resident of the nation's Punjab state, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision that his asylum application was time-barred because he failed to provide corroboration of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, which was prohibited by 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The government subsequently appealed from defendant's 37 month sentence, arguing that the district court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of receipt of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(1),(2), and the district court applied an enhanced sentence of 40 years imprisonment in light of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted on six counts of setting public lands afire under 18 U.S.C. 1855, when he burned about a thousand acres owned by the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") that were covered by sagebrush and other…

Justia Opinion Summary: Resolute Industries, Inc. ("Resolute"), appealed an adverse summary judgment on its products liability claims against Webasto Products NA, Inc. ("Webasto"), the manufacturer of a heater that caught fire on Curtis…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to violating the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 846, 841(a)(1), and (b)(1)(B)(ii), and received the mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment. At issue was whether the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: Two-thousand unlicensed junior accountants brought a wage-and-hour class action against their employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC"), alleging, among other things, that PwC failed to pay them mandatory overtime…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, a medicare provider, appealed its notice of program reimbursement for the fiscal year ending in 2001 to the Provider Reimbursement Review Board ("Board"), which dismissed the appeal because appellant missed…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the parties' insurance agreement where appellant insured appellees against borrower defaults on appellees' loans. Appellant appealed the district court's decision to remand the case back to state…

Justia Opinion Summary: San Diego County Sheriff's Deputies ("deputies") shot and killed Shane Hayes inside his home after the deputies arrived at Hayes' residence in response to a domestic disturbance call from a neighbor. Plaintiff, Hayes'…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the Colorado River Indian Tribes ("CRIT") exercised jurisdiction over appellants, a non-Indian closely held corporation and its non-Indian owner, in an unlawful detainer action for breach of a lease…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus relief where he was found guilty of first-degree murder. At issue was whether appellant's constitutional right to confront witnesses was denied in his jury trial by…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the controversial late-night arrests and subsequent release of two Phoenix newspaper executives. The newspaper executives and the Phoenix New Times, LLC (collectively, "plaintiffs") subsequently sued…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. 552, request concerning documents about individuals who reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") regarding their…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant appealed the grant of summary judgment in his civil rights action arising from the suspension of his medical staff privileges at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada ("UMC"), a county hospital…

Justia Opinion Summary: This action stemmed from the City of San Diego's Municipal Election Campaign Control Ordinance, San Diego, Cal., Municipal Code ch. 2, art. 7, div. 29, which imposed limitations on campaign finance. Plaintiffs raised a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Husband and wife appealed the BIA's denial of wife's motion to reopen her case to consider her application for adjustment of status after the IJ made an express adverse creditability finding against husband and wife and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction and 220 month sentence after being found guilty by a jury of one count of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. 1962(d), for participation in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty plea to one count of attempted reentry after deportation. At issue was whether the district court committed reversible error by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to imprisonment in 1982. In 2005, the California Board of Prison Terms ("Board") found petitioner eligible for parole and calculated a tentative release date.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a California prisoner, appealed the district court's denial of his habeas corpus petition challenging his California felony murder conviction. At issue was whether petitioner was entitled to habeas corpus…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the BIA's decision rejecting the IJ's conclusion that petitioner met the seven years of continuous residence requirement by finding that she was admitted in any status on the day she became the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the BIA's decision rejecting the IJ's conclusion that receiving an employment authorization document was comparable to being a participant in the Family Unity Program. Instead, the BIA found…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, a putative class of retail cable and satellite television subscribers, brought suit against television programmers and distributors alleging that programmers' practice of selling multi-channel cable packages…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the district court's dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion as untimely. Defendant argued that the court's order recalling the mandate, so that it could consider his motion for appointment of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his statutorily mandated, five-year minimum sentence following his guilty plea to conspiracy to possess crack cocaine with intent to distribute, and distribution of at least five grams of crack cocaine…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed a district court order dismissing for lack of subject matter jurisdiction his suit against defendants, asserting that federal constitutional and state common law torts arising out of allegations that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to importing 33.46 kilograms of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. 952 and 960 and sentenced to 57 months imprisonment. At issue was whether the district court erred in declining to decrease the base…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued defendant to enforce the Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") unilateral administrative order that commanded defendant to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study to assess the site…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, 25 members of the Achuar indigenous group dependent for their existence upon the rainforest lands and waterways along the Rio Corrientes in Peru, and Amazon Watch, a California corporation, sued Occidental…

Justia Opinion Summary: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR") had a paid chaplaincy program that employed Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American clergy. These chaplains served all inmates but…