2020 Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 501 - 1000 of 2844
Date: October 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-41041
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiffs' 8 U.S.C. 1503 claim and motion to reinstate or refile the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims. The court held that plaintiffs forfeited…
Date: October 12, 2020
Docket Number: 20-50867
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit granted the Secretary's emergency motion for stay pending appeal of the district court's order enjoining the Secretary and local officials from enforcing Governor Abbot's October 1, 2020 Proclamation…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40361
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Because defendant's arguments for plea withdrawal—particularly his argument that his plea was not given…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40498
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence for one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 20-10581
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit granted a petition for mandamus filed by HC Operating, LP. Purchasers filed two Notices of Lis Pendens, in Denton County and Dallas County real property records; sellers moved to expunge the Notices,…
Date: October 8, 2020
Docket Number: 17-11526
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Texas answered the Fifth Circuit's question and held that a transferee on inquiry notice of fraud cannot shield itself from the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act's (TUFTA) clawback provision…
Date: October 8, 2020
Docket Number: 18-10442
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's 37 month sentence imposed following the revocation of his second term of supervised release. The court held that defendant's sentence did not violate the terms of his plea agreement…
Date: October 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30711
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and 600 month sentence for sex trafficking a 14 year old girl across state lines. The court held that the district court did not err by denying defendant's motion to…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40526
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for conspiring with intent to distribute cocaine. The court held that defendant was aware of his sentencing exposure and would have pleaded guilty regardless of any error…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50942
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking offenses. Defendant received two concurrent, within Guidelines sentences of 27 months. The court held that the…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60364
Justia Opinion Summary: After their twenty-two month old son suffered terrible injuries by ingesting eight Buckyball magnets, plaintiffs filed suit against M&O for manufacturing and distributing Buckyball magnets in the United States. The jury…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-11143
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for attempted enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction;…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50447
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit vacated special conditions of supervised release that prevented defendant from using the Internet, computers, and other electronic devices for the ten years following his initial sentence of 151 months.…
Date: October 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50577
Justia Opinion Summary: After the Chairman refused to issue media pass cards to certain individuals that would have given them access to the floor of the House chamber, the individuals and their employer filed suit alleging constitutional…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 18-50433
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed three conditions of supervised release imposed as part of defendant's sentence for aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a firearm.…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10639
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for three firearms offenses, but vacated his sentence in part, remanding for amendment of the written judgment by removing an unpronounced special condition. The court…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-11181
Justia Opinion Summary: A defendant cannot demand that his federal sentence run concurrently with a state sentence without establishing that both are premised on the same conduct. The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's offense, holding that the…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-11272
Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiffs were unable to collect on a $55 million judgment against Dynex Commercial, Inc., plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Dynex Commercial, Inc. and Dynex Capital, Inc., alleging fraudulent-transfer and…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30796
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's order staying administrative proceedings that were initiated by the FTC against the Board under the Federal Trade Commission Act. The district court concluded that it lacked…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50792
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal whistleblower statute, 41 U.S.C. 4712, does not render unenforceable an arbitration agreement between plaintiff and his former employer, Intratek. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court correctly…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-51099
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal district court in Texas does not have jurisdiction to vacate an arbitration award in Florida. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the action based on lack of personal jurisdiction over…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 20-20193
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Texas resident, filed suit against Allstate Texas, a Texas entity, seeking damages for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Texas Insurance Code, the Texas…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 20-30111
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claim alleging that the seizure of his vehicle violated his clearly established constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment. In this case, the…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-40643
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit granted the Secretary's motion to stay the district court's preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of Texas House Bill 25 (HB 25), which eliminates straight-ticket voting. The court applied the…
Date: September 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20157
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's 120 month sentence imposed after she was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The court held that defendant failed to…
Date: September 25, 2020
Docket Number: 18-11203
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief to petitioner, who was convicted of murder and aggravated assault. Because of petitioner's prior convictions at the time of the shooting, he was a…
Date: September 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-11310
Justia Opinion Summary: Father filed suit under the Hague Convention, alleging that mother wrongfully removed their children from Argentina to Texas. While this appeal was pending, the Supreme Court held in Monasky v. Taglieri, 140 S. Ct. 719,…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30555
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against defendant under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for violations of various constitutional rights and under Louisiana tort law. In this case, after defendant approached, questioned, and reached to grab…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-30400, 19-30889
Justia Opinion Summary: Paul Batiste, a local jazz musician, brought a copyright infringement action against the world-famous hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. After the district court found no evidence of copyrighting, it granted summary…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30704
Justia Opinion Summary: Waypoint, the project owner, entered into a construction contract with Team Contractors, the general contractor, and entered into an architectural contract with HCA. HCA then retained KLG as the project's engineer. Team…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60331
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of Officer Currie's motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity. Plaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988, alleging constitutional violations after Mark…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Number: 20-60072
Justia Opinion Summary: Lamar filed suit in state court against MTC, challenging a Mississippi statute governing the height of roadside billboards. After MTC removed to federal court, the district court dismissed the suit because of Lamar's…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-70016
Justia Opinion Summary: Wardrip committed five murders in Texas in 1984-1986.. He surrendered to police and confessed to his last murder. Wardrip was released on parole in 1997. After DNA testing connected Wardrip to unsolved murders, he was…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40553
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit treated appellees' Petition for Rehearing En Banc as a Petition for Panel Rehearing and granted it, withdrawing its prior opinion and substituting the following opinion. The Employees appealed the…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Number: 20-70019
Justia Opinion Summary: Vialva was convicted under federal law of capital murder and sentenced to death. Since his 2000 conviction, Vialva’s conviction was affirmed on direct appeal; his 28 U.S.C. 2255 challenge was denied; and his effort to…
Date: September 18, 2020
Docket Number: 18-41120
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of the government's motion to dismiss Sahara's suit for injunctive relief in a Medicare recoupment case, holding that the government provided Sahara adequate process.…
Date: September 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30684
Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiffs contracted with Regions Bank for it to manage, as their agent, their mineral interests in a large tract of land, Regions signed a lease extension with a third party, intending to extend the lease for…
Date: September 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50832
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained during a traffic stop. The search of defendant's vehicle revealed a suitcase that contained nine bundles of…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Number: 18-50977
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against CBP and others, alleging constitutional violations after his truck and its contents were seized at the United States-Mexico border. The district court granted defendants' motions to dismiss…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50656
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against State Farm after it denied their claim for windstorm damage to their home. The district court granted summary judgment for State Farm on various causes of action. Plaintiffs' breach of…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-60071, 19-60152
Justia Opinion Summary: After the Board certified two groups of employees of STP to join a collective bargaining unit represented by the Union, STP refused to recognize and bargain with the Union on the basis that its "unit supervisors" and…
Date: September 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10785
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a former medical school professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, filed suit against various professors and school administrators under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that they violated his…
Date: September 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30766
Justia Opinion Summary: After a panel of arbitrators issued an arbitration award dismissing all of plaintiff's claims against Ameriprise and three of its franchise advisors, plaintiff then filed a petition in Louisiana state court to vacate…
Date: September 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-60792
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit denied petitions for review of the BIA's dismissal of petitioner's appeal of the IJ's denial of asylum. The court held that the evidence does not compel a reasonable factfinder to conclude that…
Date: September 14, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-20002, 19-20003
Justia Opinion Summary: OOGC filed suit to vacate two arbitration awards favoring Chesapeake on the basis of an arbitrator's failure to disclose connections with certain non-parties. The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's decision to…
Date: September 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30375
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for panel rehearing and withdrew its prior panel opinion, substituting the following opinion. Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and possession of a…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30311
Justia Opinion Summary: After two barge towboats collided on the Mississippi River, the district court found the captains of both vessels negligent to varying degrees. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's apportionment of fault,…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-30584, 19-30687
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against her former employer, REJ, alleging claims of hostile work environment, gender discrimination, disparate pay, Title VII and Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law retaliation, 42 U.S.C. 1985…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40668
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for interference with interstate commerce by robbery, in violation of the Hobbs Act. The court held that the district court had a sufficient factual basis…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-31086
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a civil rights action alleging that school administrators discriminated against him because he is an African American male. In this case, on the first day of high school, the Dean of Students asked…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10199
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims against Equifax and Experian under the Fair Credit Reporting Act after the consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) deleted a favorable credit…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30469
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for two counts of felony possession of a firearm. Defendant was sentenced to the minimum fifteen years required by the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA),…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50793
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of qualified immunity to police officers in an action brought by plaintiff alleging that the officers violated the Constitution when they mistakenly arrested him…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60677
Justia Opinion Summary: After Michael Renfroe was shot to death by a sheriff's deputy, Mrs. Renfroe filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim for excessive force, as well as several state law claims. The deputy was responding to a 911 call from an…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 20-50407
Justia Opinion Summary: Section 82.003 of the Texas Election Code does not violate plaintiff's Twenty-Sixth Amendment right to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiffs based their Twenty-Sixth Amendment claim on the argument that…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 20-50667
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against the Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for allegedly imposing a voter-registration requirement that violates federal law. After the district court denied the…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-50979
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to provide a rational…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30331
Justia Opinion Summary: Federal regulations establish a compensation formula for the payment of certain health care providers—a formula that changes once a year. However, each formula takes effect on January 1 and runs until January 1 of the…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30591
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for possessing a firearm as a felon. The court held that, even assuming it was plain error under United States v. Rehaif not to require evidence of…
Date: September 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40899
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, primarily former U.S. military personnel who were injured by Saddam Hussein's use of mustard gas during the Gulf War, seek to hold Alcolac, Inc. liable for these injuries because, they allege, it illegally…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20674
Justia Opinion Summary: After ASIC denied Waste coverage for all costs associated with a criminal proceeding, Waste filed suit in Texas state court against ASIC and AIG Claims. After ASIC removed to federal court, the district court denied…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40144
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit alleging claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983, seeking to recover damages suffered from a series of alleged wrongful prosecutions, convictions, and imprisonment. The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal and…
Date: September 3, 2020
Docket Number: 20-60473
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for reduction of sentence under the First Step Act. The court held that defendant is not excused from the statute's textual requirement that…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30222
Justia Opinion Summary: Taylor pleaded guilty as a felon in possession of firearms. The “offense conduct” section of the PSR includes information about Taylor’s involvement in shootings on August 12 and 13, 2017, and information regarding an…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30791
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001-2013, Ridgeway worked for Stryker, which believed that Ridgeway intended to use its confidential business information at his next job. Stryker sued Ridgeway. A jury found that Ridgeway had breached his…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40553
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against 4JLJ under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), alleging that 4JLJ violated the FLSA's overtime wage mandates. Plaintiffs argued that the stage bonus and performance bonus should have been…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40554
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress the evidence found during the forensic search of his cell phone. After determining that it had jurisdiction to hear the merits of…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40745
Justia Opinion Summary: D2 filed suit for breach of contract, quantum meruit, violations of the Texas prompt pay statute, and to foreclose on a statutory and constitutional lien. Thompson, in turn, alleged that D2 breached the excavation…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50795
Justia Opinion Summary: Oliva attempted to enter a VA hospital. The entrance was protected by VA police and metal detectors. While Oliva stood in line for the metal detector, he spoke with an officer. The conversation escalated into a physical…
Date: September 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60616
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit denied the union's petition for review and held that Entergy's transmission and distribution dispatchers are "supervisors" and thus excluded from the National Labor Relations Act's collective bargaining…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-40495
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to set aside his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court granted a certificate of appealability on…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20651
Justia Opinion Summary: After the clinic that plaintiffs were employed at closed and they were terminated, plaintiffs filed suit alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The jury…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30609
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's conviction for felony criminal contempt. The court first held that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 42(a)(3) does not apply to this case because the particular conduct that led to…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40586
Justia Opinion Summary: After defendant was convicted for a drug trafficking offense but failed to appear for sentencing, he was subsequently apprehended and convicted separately for failing to appear. The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's 108…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50283
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commission alleged that the Army violated the Randolph-Sheppard Act by failing to give priority to blind vendors in the bidding process for a vending facility services contract at an Army base cafeteria. After the…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50851
Justia Opinion Summary: After finding that defendant violated three conditions of his release by assaulting and robbing another with a firearm, the district judge revoked defendant's supervised release. Defendant argued that the district court…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50860
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed the district court's judgment favoring Five Star in a quiet title action over oil-and-gas interests. Five Star, asserting itself as the grantee’s successor-in-interest, sought a declaration that it…
Date: August 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40664
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's First Amendment claim alleging political retaliation. Plaintiff was the Crime Victims Unit (CVU) Coordinator for the 229th Judicial District…
Date: August 28, 2020
Docket Number: 20-10162
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose out of a labor dispute between a group of railroad companies and a labor organization representing the railroads' employees (SMART-TD). The railroads filed suit against SMART-TD, alleging that its…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30995
Justia Opinion Summary: After Buyers purchased two care facilities from Sellers, Buyers filed suit alleging that Sellers made fraudulent or, at best, negligent misrepresentations in the parties' sale agreements. Buyers also brought claims…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50354
Justia Opinion Summary: After the City of Austin denied applications to digitize existing billboards, Reagan and Lamar filed suit alleging that the distinction in the City's Sign Code between on-premises and off-premises signs violates the…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50982
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit held that section 4.1 of the Local Plan, which requires debtors in the Western District of Texas turn over to the bankruptcy trustee any tax refund amounts they receive in excess of $2,000, is invalid…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 20-30078
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal, for failure to state a claim, of UIG's complaint alleging claims for fraud and detrimental reliance. UIG obtained a loan from Pedestal Bank and Wolters Kluwer provided written…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10937
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's below-Guidelines sentence of 280 months in prison imposed after she pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. The court rejected defendant's argument that the district court coerced her…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20661
Justia Opinion Summary: After TABC investigated Spec's and brought a largely unsuccessful administrative action against it, Spec's filed suit against TABC. The district court dismissed the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30890
Justia Opinion Summary: After Armond Jairon Brown was tragically shot by a police officer after a stand-off in (and in front of) a house, Brown's mother (defendant) properly submitted claims to American General Life Insurance Company (AGLIC)…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-40470
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against a correctional officer and several staff members and administrators under 42 U.S.C. 1983, as well as state tort law, for allegedly failing to protect him from an attack by another inmate in…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60017
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's motion to reopen removal proceedings. The court held that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in determining that petitioner's…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 20-20034
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's complaint alleging retaliation under Title VII, based on lack of statutory standing. Plaintiff was employed by Prelle Financial Group as a…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 20-60054
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the tax court's denial of petitioners' motion for costs under 26 U.S.C. 7630. Petitioners moved for costs after a dispute over an IRS notice of deficiency assessing them about $51,000 in taxes,…
Date: August 22, 2020
Docket Number: 17-51060
Justia Opinion Summary: Almost three years after a federal district court declared that Texas Senate Bill 8 placed an undue burden on a woman's right to access a previability abortion and enjoined its enforcement, the State seeks to stay the…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10759
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his 180 month sentence for conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court did not clearly err by applying the reckless engagement…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30688
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the law firms in an action brought by the firms against a former client, seeking to enforce the terms of the parties' contingency fee…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-70010
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Defendant, a former police officer, used his position and the police department's resources to orchestrate a murder. The Fifth Circuit denied defendant…
Date: August 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-50635
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and his wife were convicted of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The district court granted defendant a new trial because the record does not show that he knew that the…
Date: August 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20298
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims in a putative class action alleging that defendants' omissions from a proxy statement led Tesco shareholders to approve an all-stock…
Date: August 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50723
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit challenging the efforts of New Jersey's Attorney General and others to thwart plaintiffs' distribution of materials related to the 3D printing of firearms, alleging infringement of plaintiffs' First…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10797
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant challenged two special conditions of his supervised release following the revocation of his first term of supervised release: first, a condition prohibiting possession of pornographic matter; and second, a…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50436
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a petition for habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. 2241. Petitioner claimed that he was improperly denied release to home confinement under the First Step Act's Elderly…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50591
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's 235 month sentence after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The court held that the district court procedurally erred by offering…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-60294, 19-60295, 19-60380
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendants' motion to suppress evidence of credit card skimming found in a Toyota and a Volkswagen stopped at a driver's safety checkpoint. The court held that…
Date: August 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-70030
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment that petitioner's Rule 60(b) motion was a successive habeas petition. The court held that when a court order disposes of a habeas claim on procedural and, in the…
Date: August 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20427
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress evidence of child pornography found on his phone. In this case, DHS suspected defendant of participating in his mother's…
Date: August 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30558
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) claim against SCW. In this case, SCW identified itself as a "debt collector" representing Louisiana and…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20506
Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiff was injured when he tripped on a pipe welded to the deck of a jacked-up offshore drilling rig, he filed a negligence action against Smart Fabricators under the Jones Act. The district court denied…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-30550
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff challenged the district court's summary judgment dismissal of her action for intentional discrimination under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as retaliation under…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-60719
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Wal-Mart for retaliation and wrongful termination and an assistant manager at Wal-Mart for tortious interference with an employment contract. Plaintiff alleged that she was fired after she…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-60384
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for rehearing, withdrew its prior opinion, and substituted the following opinion. After ExxonMobil sought a revised Title V permit under the Clean Air Act concerning an expansion of…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10565
Justia Opinion Summary: After plaintiff allegedly damaged a house's electrical wiring while installing siding, Mid-Continent refused to provide him with defense and indemnity for the accident. The district court granted defendant a partial…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10884
Justia Opinion Summary: 18 U.S.C. 3583(g), which requires revocation of supervised release and a term of imprisonment for certain drug and gun violations, is not unconstitutional under United States v. Haymond, 130 S. Ct. 2369 (2019). In…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-20272
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against the Government, alleging that the male-only military draft unlawfully discriminates based on sex. The Military Selective Service Act requires essentially all male citizens and immigrants…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50857
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of plaintiff's request for attorneys' fees incurred at trial and during the first appeal to this court. This appeal arose from a bench trial where plaintiff, a…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-50401
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his sentence for illegal reentry, contending that the district court vindictively resentenced him to a harsher sentence. In this case, defendant's initial sentence was 72 months that was to run…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: 20-30127
Justia Opinion Summary: After the Supreme Court ruled in Ramos v. Louisiana, 140 S. Ct. 1390, 1394, 1397 (2020), that the Sixth Amendment, as incorporated against the states in the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a unanimous verdict to convict a…
Date: August 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-10396
Justia Opinion Summary: Judicial review of SEC proceedings lies in the courts of appeals after the agency rules. At issue was whether a party may nonetheless raise a constitutional challenge to an SEC enforcement action in federal district…
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