2020 Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 1 - 500 of 1293
Date: December 31, 2020
Docket Number: 20-4300
Justia Opinion Summary: The Health Department issued a resolution closing every school in the county—public, private, and parochial—for grades 7-12, effective December 4, to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the same county, gyms, tanning salons,…
Date: December 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5007
Justia Opinion Summary: Dorsa, a Miraca executive, learned of a purported scheme to defraud the government. Dorsa filed a qui tam action, alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA). Dorsa was fired and added a claim for FCA retaliation,…
Date: December 29, 2020
Docket Number: 18-3974
Justia Opinion Summary: Gabriel Taye, an eight-year-old Carson Elementary student, tied a necktie to his bunk bed and hung himself. Two days earlier, another Carson student attacked Taye in a school bathroom, knocking Taye unconscious for more…
Date: December 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5801
Justia Opinion Summary: Silvestre-Gregorio, then age 16, entered the U.S. illegally in 2001. He was detained within weeks. At his removal hearing, he did not have an attorney but was assisted by an interpreter and a social worker. The…
Date: December 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1965
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1971, Perna was hired by Health One, a federally-insured, Michigan-chartered credit union. Perna signed an employment agreement with an arbitration clause; it was set to expire in 2015. In 2014, the state concluded…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2445
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, Henry was convicted of three counts of bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a), and three counts of using or carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c), each related to the associated bank robbery…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6061
Justia Opinion Summary: Mahaffey and another were arrested at the Cincinnati Airport for suspected drug trafficking. Each possessed luggage containing about 40 pounds of vacuum-sealed marijuana. Hidden within one of Mahaffey’s marijuana parcels…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3485
Justia Opinion Summary: Donovan received from FirstCredit a letter demanding payment of a purported medical debt. The letter's envelope had two transparent glassine windows on its face, taking up most of the left half of the envelope. Because…
Date: December 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1781
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs attended licensed Michigan cosmetology schools, each of which includes a clinic salon where students work toward the state’s 965-hour practical experience requirement. The salons are open to the public.…
Date: December 16, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1029
Justia Opinion Summary: Theriot drove the vehicle from which Matthews shot an AK-47, killing a pregnant woman and injuring three others. Theriot admitted to getting the gun, which he illegally owned. One witness testified that Theriot made the…
Date: December 15, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3412
Justia Opinion Summary: Hale, employed by Morgan Stanley since 1984, was disciplined on several occasions between 2013 and 2016. Hale initiated an arbitration action and requested damages for his claims of negligence, defamation, breach of…
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1172
Justia Opinion Summary: Conti attended the University of Michigan, 1999-2003, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in musical arts. Conti obtained private loans from Citibank totaling $76,049. Conti’s loan applications are all expressly “[f]or…
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3700
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5168
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Clabo underwent surgery to correct pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Clabo’s doctor implanted her with a TVT transvaginal mesh sling device that the Defendants manufactured. By 2006, she began…
Date: December 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1314
Justia Opinion Summary: Foster and the respondent were classmates at the University of Michigan’s executive MBA program based in Los Angeles. Students participated in monthly, weekend sessions at a hotel. Foster developed a friendship with the…
Date: December 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2229
Justia Opinion Summary: Hill drove Henderson, to a controlled drug buy, where Henderson sold an undercover officer 83.5 grams of methamphetamine. Two weeks later, Henderson met an undercover investigator at a hotel for another controlled…
Date: December 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-5578
Justia Opinion Summary: When a Google employee views a digital file and confirms that it is child pornography, Google assigns the file a hash value (digital fingerprint). It then scans Gmail for files with the same value. Google learned that a…
Date: December 2, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5378
Justia Opinion Summary: Siemens shipped two electrical transformers from Germany to Kentucky. K+N arranged the shipping, retaining Blue Anchor Line. Blue Anchor issued a bill of lading, in which Siemens agreed not to sue downstream Blue Anchor…
Date: December 1, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5229
Justia Opinion Summary: Willis was charged in Kentucky state court with murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and first-degree possession of a controlled substance. The gun charge was severed from the other charges before trial.…
Date: December 1, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5301
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Korban and his medical practice Delta, practice diagnostic and interventional cardiology. In 2007, Dr. Deming filed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729(a)(1)(A)–(C), (G) against Korban,…
Date: November 29, 2020
Docket Number: 20-6341
Justia Opinion Summary: On November 18, 2020, in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases, Kentucky Governor Beshear issued Executive Order 2020-969, prohibiting in-person instruction at all public and private elementary and secondary schools;…
Date: November 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1779
Justia Opinion Summary: Thompson sold heroin to a confidential informant. After the second controlled buy, police obtained a warrant to search the apartment where the transactions occurred. On their way to execute the warrant, police…
Date: November 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5131
Justia Opinion Summary: While burglarizing a garage, Pollini was confronted by Zeigler and fled. Zeigler alerted Pruitt that a burglar was in the area. Pollini had left his tools in Zeigler’s garage. Plank drove him back to the garage. Pruitt…
Date: November 25, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1264
Justia Opinion Summary: Budzynski pleaded guilty to five counts related to fraudulently obtaining Social Security benefits totaling $48,306 in overpayments. She was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay restitution and a…
Date: November 24, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3175
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, Hernandez-Serrano, age 16, entered the U.S. without inspection and was placed in removal proceedings. A year later, a Tennessee juvenile court made findings that rendered Hernandez-Serrano potentially eligible…
Date: November 23, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1009
Justia Opinion Summary: Rogers owned RJ Control. Elder owns Multiject, which engineers and sells accessories for plastic injection molding. In 2008, the parties entered into an oral agreement. Rogers developed a control system for injection…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3701
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2019, Jones pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base and was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Jones filed a pro se emergency motion, seeking…
Date: November 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6091
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis, insured under a Hartford long-term disability policy, began missing work due to chronic back pain, neuropathy, and fatigue caused by multiple myeloma. Relying on the opinion of Davis’s oncologist, Dr. Reddy,…
Date: November 18, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1901, 19-1903, 19-1944
Justia Opinion Summary: Tisdale, Davis, and Hill held prominent positions in Detroit's "Playboy Gangster Crips," which committed hundreds of home invasions. On January 31, 2017, Tisdale and other gang members approached a house on Stout Street,…
Date: November 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1346
Justia Opinion Summary: Alemarah sued her former employer, GM, in both state and federal court, claiming employment discrimination based upon identical factual allegations. The state suit asserted state claims, the federal suit, federal claims.…
Date: November 17, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5134
Justia Opinion Summary: Mukes was arrested after a dispute with his girlfriend, Davis. He pled guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Davis claimed that Mukes had fired the gun into the air four times. Mukes denied…
Date: November 16, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1149
Justia Opinion Summary: Donna’s former husband, Carl, retired from Ford in 1998 and participated in Ford’s retirement plan. “In the event of an error” in calculating a pension, the plan requires a beneficiary to return the overpayment “without…
Date: November 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1208
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson’s Saginaw restaurant was rented out for a birthday party. A gang-related fight began inside Johnson’s building and became a gunfight in the street. City officials suspended Johnson's business license and water…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2040
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3824
Justia Opinion Summary: Federal prisoner Grant was detained at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center NEOCC while awaiting sentencing for armed robbery. NEOCC, a privately owned and operated prison, contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service to…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6367
Justia Opinion Summary: Clancy and a partner went to rob a Memphis store. Clancy wore a white hoodie, red pants with white letters, red shoes, a black mask, black gloves, and had a gun. His partner wore a black hoodie, black pants, a black…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1230
Justia Opinion Summary: Flowers worked as a pipefitter and welder for 30 years at Graphic before retiring. A few years later, WestRock was looking for pipefitters. WestRock’s online application included sections titled “Required Skills and…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3456
Date: November 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5329
Justia Opinion Summary: Hall was convicted of 11 counts of bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1344(1), and one count of identity theft, 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(1). During her trial, Hall admitted that she signed her children’s, niece’s, and sister’s names and…
Date: November 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-8028
Justia Opinion Summary: Glenview, a Glasgow, Kentucky nursing home, jointly owned by Bush and Howlett for over 30 years, filed a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. The Official Creditors Committee was formed and filed an application to…
Date: November 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3647
Justia Opinion Summary: FBI agents arrested Alebbini, a Jordanian national who immigrated to the U.S. in 2009 and became a permanent resident in 2014, at the Cincinnati Airport, suspecting that he was attempting to travel to Turkey and then…
Date: November 4, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5133
Justia Opinion Summary: Pogue, believing that he had a severe anxiety disorder that prevented him from practicing as a family doctor, submitted a disability claim to his long-term disability insurers: Northwestern Mutual and Principal Life.…
Date: November 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3599
Justia Opinion Summary: An informant told the DEA that Ruffin planned to drive to Columbus to purchase heroin from Mexican drug traffickers. She described the SUV, provided the license plate number, and stayed in contact throughout the trip.…
Date: November 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6447
Justia Opinion Summary: Ryan, a tenured professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky, was accused of misusing department resources to make a larger profit off a textbook he had authored. He was asked to resign but refused to do so.…
Date: October 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-3948
Justia Opinion Summary: Morales became a lawful U.S. permanent resident in 2001. In 2006 she traveled to Guadalajara and stayed for several months. She flew to Tijuana and called her cousin, Guadalupe, a U.S. citizen living in California. …
Date: October 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5269
Justia Opinion Summary: Williamson County District Attorney Helper told other officials that she distrusted Fairview Police officers Stockdale and Dunning and that she would not “take their cases.” Helper wrote to the city manager (Collins):…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1400
Justia Opinion Summary: Community Mental Health modified the methodology through which it allocated funding to individuals with disabilities receiving community living support services under a Medicaid waiver received by Michigan. Individuals…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6297
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, Gatewood was convicted of two counts of kidnapping and one count of robbery affecting interstate commerce. The court determined that Gatewood’s four prior Arkansas robbery convictions qualified as serious…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3146
Justia Opinion Summary: Oro contracted for Borror to manage Oro’s residential apartments. Each management contract stated: “If either party shall notify the other that any matter is to be determined by arbitration,” the parties would proceed to…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5290
Justia Opinion Summary: Troutman, a daily user of heroin and methamphetamine, committed suicide in pretrial detention after LMDC jail officials placed him in solitary confinement despite a recent suicide attempt while in LMDC custody. A…
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1811
Justia Opinion Summary: On July 24, 2020, the district court denied Payton’s motion for compassionate release or a reduction of his sentence under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(1)(A). A notice of appeal, dated August 9, was filed in the district court on…
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5358
Justia Opinion Summary: After Tennial’s mortgage company foreclosed on her home, she filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition. Her petition triggered an automatic stay of any further action against her home, allowing her to continue living there,…
Date: October 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3153
Justia Opinion Summary: Fletcher was convicted of importuning a minor under Ohio law. Under the terms of his probation, Fletcher “[a]greed to a search without warrant of [his] person, [his] motor vehicle or [his] place of residence by a…
Date: October 26, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5748
Justia Opinion Summary: Ruffin was convicted for a drug-trafficking scheme. The court calculated Ruffin’s guidelines range as 30 years’ to life imprisonment. Ruffin had a blood disorder that had caused him to suffer four strokes. He regularly…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1311
Justia Opinion Summary: SMART manages a public-transportation system for the counties in and around Detroit. For a fee, parties may display advertisements on the inside and outside of SMART’s buses and bus shelters. SMART guidelines prohibit…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3394
Justia Opinion Summary: Wilson was arrested after he ran from a routine traffic stop. Police searched the area where Wilson was apprehended and discovered two baggies of cocaine and a loaded handgun. Wilson, with previous convictions for…
Date: October 21, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1931
Justia Opinion Summary: Voter-advocacy organizations challenged Michigan statutes regulating absentee ballots and mandating that no one “hire a motor vehicle or other conveyance or cause the same to be done, for conveying voters, other than…
Date: October 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-4106
Justia Opinion Summary: Keahey and McGill lived with their daughter and two boys, the product of McGill’s prior relationship with Hampton. Hampton came to the house, pulled out a knife, charged Keahey, and stabbed him in the back. Keahey and…
Date: October 19, 2020
Docket Numbers: 20-5465, 20-5427
Justia Opinion Summary: Kentucky Governor Beshear, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, prohibited “[a]ll mass gatherings,” including faith-based events.” The order excepts “normal operations at airports, bus and train stations, . . . shopping…
Date: October 19, 2020
Docket Number: 20-6141
Justia Opinion Summary: Organizations involved in voter outreach in Tennessee and one individual Tennessee voter sued Tennessee government officials involved in election enforcement, challenging the Tennessee statutory scheme that governs…
Date: October 16, 2020
Docket Number: 18-6161
Justia Opinion Summary: A 1998 Kentucky law requires abortion facilities to obtain transfer agreements with local hospitals and transport agreements with local ambulance services, Ky. Rev. Stat. (KRS) 216B.0435; 2017 regulations imposed…
Date: October 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4186
Justia Opinion Summary: Police searched Palos’s residence on suspicion of drug trafficking and found narcotics, drug paraphernalia, and a firearm. Palos admitted that he had purchased the firearm “off the streets.” It was later confirmed to be…
Date: October 15, 2020
Docket Number: 20-6046
Justia Opinion Summary: Tennessee voters must apply to vote absentee. The county administrator of elections determines whether the voter has established eligibility to vote absentee, and compares the signature of the voter on the request with…
Date: October 14, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-6102, 18-6023, 18-6101
Justia Opinion Summary: Pilot Flying J, headquartered in Knoxville, operates hundreds of truck stops nationwide and sells billions of gallons of diesel fuel annually to trucking companies. Employees in Pilot’s direct-sales division falsely…
Date: October 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4039
Justia Opinion Summary: Beginning in 2017, DaVita provided dialysis treatment to Patient A, who was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Patient A assigned his insurance rights to DaVita.…
Date: October 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4139
Justia Opinion Summary: Fuerst fell at a military base, which left her disabled. She returned to work part-time. The Air Force removed Fuerst from service after determining that her ability to work only part-time was affecting the office’s…
Date: October 14, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3257
Justia Opinion Summary: Mohlman became a licensed securities professional in 2001. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a not-for-profit member organization, regulates practice in the securities industry and enforces disciplinary…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-2112, 19-2111
Justia Opinion Summary: The warrant to search Blomquist's father's property permitted a full search of the property, including outbuildings. Officers encountered Blomquist walking out of a chicken coop. He waived his rights, took the officers…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 17-6331
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, McCormick was convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a 10-year maximum sentence. The district court sentenced McCormick under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1),…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1226
Justia Opinion Summary: Rudd alleged that his ex-wife abducted their sons with assistance from her attorney (Meyers), during a child custody dispute. Rudd called the police but alleges that they refused to help him because Meyers is married to…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5818
Justia Opinion Summary: Bennett worked at the Metro Government Emergency Communications Center (ECC) for 16 years. On November 9, 2016, Bennett, a white woman, responded to someone else's comment on her public-facing Facebook profile, using…
Date: October 5, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5199
Justia Opinion Summary: The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA) allows the FDA to regulate tobacco products. Tobacco products that were not on the market in February 2007 or that were modified after that date must…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3839
Justia Opinion Summary: Pineda visited a Cincinnati nightclub that used private bouncers and off-duty Hamilton County deputies for parking lot security. Three deputies worked that night, in uniform. Around 2:30 a.m., a fight broke out. Pineda…
Date: October 1, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5122
Justia Opinion Summary: The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services regulates the placement of at-risk children in the Commonwealth’s custody. Father Maloney’s Boys and Girls Haven, a private, non-profit entity, educates, treats, and…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2312
Justia Opinion Summary: Freed owed $735.43 in taxes ($1,109.06 with penalties) on his property valued at about $97,000. Freed claims he did not know about the debt because he cannot read well. Gratiot County’s treasurer filed an in-rem action…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-5104
Justia Opinion Summary: French, with two others, confronted the victim at gunpoint as she was driving, demanded that she exit her car and after she complied, drove away in her vehicle. Weeks later, the three men committed a second carjacking,…
Date: September 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3884
Justia Opinion Summary: Alston received a sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. 4B1.1 for his prior convictions under Ohio Revised Code 2925.03(A)(1), which criminalizes offers to sell drugs. Alston’s initial Guidelines range was 188-235…
Date: September 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1673
Justia Opinion Summary: Kidis, driving home, after drinking heavily, caused a minor accident, exited his vehicle, and fled. Officer Reid attempted to arrest Kidis; he fled with a handcuff attached to his wrist. He jumped barbed-wire fences…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-4099, 19-4097
Justia Opinion Summary: In multi-district litigation (MDL), the district court certified an opt-out “negotiation class” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, consisting of all cities and counties (34,458 identified entities) throughout the…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4160
Justia Opinion Summary: Cruz pleaded guilty to transporting a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity; receiving child pornography; and transporting child pornography. Cruz, then 37, had maintained a two-year online relationship with the…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5636
Justia Opinion Summary: Officer Render saw a new warrant to arrest Baker for receiving stolen property. A judge had issued this warrant on the ground that Baker had received a stolen Nextbook tablet. The subject who pawned the tablet revealed…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6089
Justia Opinion Summary: Trooper Malone stopped Snoddy for speeding and learned that there were Georgia warrants out for Snoddy’s arrest, including for drug crimes. Malone and another officer arrested Snoddy on the warrants. Malone suspected…
Date: September 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6115
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Hiller, the largest home-services company in Tennessee, became a paying “member” of Success Group, which offers management advice and customer-service training to home-services companies. Clockwork owned…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-5440, 19-5378, 19-5438, 19-5439
Justia Opinion Summary: Griffith was arrested after a failed robbery attempt and was held at Franklin County Regional Jail. Griffith suffered seizures six days into his detention. He was sent to a local hospital, where he suffered another…
Date: September 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5903
Justia Opinion Summary: Schrank visited the dark web and downloaded “nearly 1,000 images of babies and toddlers being forcibly, violently, and sadistically penetrated.” After a government investigation identified Schrank, he confessed and pled…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1757
Justia Opinion Summary: Simmons pleaded guilty to drug charges. Simmons’s judgment became final on September 22, 2016, He had until September 22, 2017, to file a motion to vacate. On August 13, 2018, Simmons moved to vacate his sentence under…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1955
Justia Opinion Summary: Gerics and Monahan were Flint, Michigan neighbors. Gerics was regarded as “unstable” and was notorious for occupying others’ property and digging holes. Monahan was the neighborhood association president. Gerics, over…
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-5483, 19-5562, 19-5551, 19-5550
Justia Opinion Summary: The House of Blues music studio in Memphis suffered a burglary and arson in 2015. Brown owned House of Blues through TME. He and two tenants, Falls and Mott, submitted insurance claims to Hanover for the loss. Brown…
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2348
Date: September 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6011
Justia Opinion Summary: A fight broke out between federal penitentiary inmates. When another inmate attempted to intervene, Flores and another inmate attacked the intervenor, stabbing him at least six times with prison-made “shanks.” The…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1235
Justia Opinion Summary: Royal employed Kraft and Matthews (Defendants) in its sales team. Royal’s employee handbook prohibited using company equipment for personal activities; unauthorized use, retention, or disclosure of any of Royal’s…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 15-3442
Justia Opinion Summary: In January 1996, Coleman killed Stevens to keep her from testifying against him at his trial on charges of drug trafficking. A jury convicted him for aggravated murder (with a capital-specification for his killing a…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2391
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Lee, age 21, was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct after he pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old whom he met at a bar that required patrons to be at least 18 years…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1151, 19-1399
Justia Opinion Summary: International, an outdoor advertising company, sought to erect digital billboards in two separate locations within the City of Troy. International's permit and variance applications were denied. International filed suit…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3914
Justia Opinion Summary: Ta’Naejah, born in 2011, was in the custody of her mother, who severely abused her, including through repeated burnings and beatings. Ta’Naejah was hospitalized and interviewed by Cuyahoga County caseworkers, but…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5767
Justia Opinion Summary: Two nurses, employed by the Board of Education, claim that the School Board retaliated against them for advocating for the rights of students who are disabled within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6010
Justia Opinion Summary: Burks was a Gangster Disciple member with leadership and enforcement responsibility. On November 3, 2012, another member, Hardison, went to a Clarksville, Tennessee club, where members of the rival “Bloods” attacked him.…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6070
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1986, Mitchell, a black man, was convicted by an all-white jury of raping two white women in Tennessee. It is undisputed that the prosecution’s decision to strike a black prospective juror violated the Supreme Court’s…
Date: September 3, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-1307, 18-1305
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Michigan narrowed the crimes covered by the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) making Hart, who had been a juvenile offender, no longer a “sex offender.” Local officials required him to continue registering as…
Date: September 3, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-3543, 19-3540
Justia Opinion Summary: Cordero and Velasquez, convicted of conspiring to commit murder for hire and conspiring to distribute one kilogram of cocaine, argued that their convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and challenged the…
Date: September 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6347
Justia Opinion Summary: On January 18, 2019, the plaintiffs went with Covington Catholic High School classmates to Washington, D.C. to attend the March for Life. They later gathered near the Lincoln Memorial to await buses to return to…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-5903, 18-5607, 18-5901
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Sandra, Calvin, and their son Bryan Bailey of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud and other related crimes (18 U.S.C. 371, 1343, 1347; 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b). The three, working for medical equipment…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1419
Justia Opinion Summary: Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) creates an insurance program to protect employees’ pension benefits. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)—a wholly-owned corporation of…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-3886, 19-1579, 19-1581, 19-1586, 19-1889, 19-1977
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs sought Social Security disability and/or supplemental security income benefits. In each case, the application was denied, and an ALJ upheld the denial. The Appeals Council denied relief. The plaintiffs…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-4058
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were employed by Just Energy, a group of affiliated energy supply companies, as door-to-door solicitors. Just Energy paid them exclusively on a commission basis. Plaintiffs signed independent contractor…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-4260
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998-2010, Dimora served as one of three Cuyahoga County Commissioners. An FBI investigation revealed that Dimora had received over $250,000 in gifts from individuals with business before the County, including home…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1468
Justia Opinion Summary: Faisal Khalaf, Ph.D., who is of Lebanese descent, sued Ford, his former employer, and his former supervisors under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e, Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, and 42 U.S.C. 1981. He claimed…
Date: August 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1645
Justia Opinion Summary: Duval, a special education teacher in the Lansing district, was under the supervision of Bacon until 2011. Several teachers reported Duval’s physical abuse of students. Bacon apparently did not address those reports.…
Date: August 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6333
Justia Opinion Summary: In 144 years of the Kentucky Derby, only one horse to cross the finish line first had been disqualified. No winning horse had ever been disqualified for misconduct during the race itself. In 2019, at the 145th Derby,…
Date: August 27, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5967
Justia Opinion Summary: The Tennessee Judicial Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated Abdalla for suspected narcotics trafficking. The Tennessee judge who signed the warrant permitting officers to search Abdalla’s…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2386
Justia Opinion Summary: Lowe, born in 1958, worked for Walbro for 41 years and was promoted several times, becoming the Cass City facility Area Manager in 2014. Cass City evolved from producing carburetors to focus on blow molding and…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2405
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Willman was convicted for violating a Michigan sexual assault law. He served 10 years in prison and completed parole. Willman registered on Michigan’s sex offender registry. Congress, in 2006, passed the Sex…
Date: August 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5803
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Williams pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a). Williams’s PSR calculated a Guidelines range of 262-327 months' imprisonment. The government…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 14-6508
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1984, two 17-year-old Caucasian students were car-jacked, sodomized, robbed, and murdered by Taylor and Wade, both African-Americans. A witness picked Wade from a line-up. Wade confessed, naming Taylor as the sole…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4217
Justia Opinion Summary: The Marietta Education Association serves as the exclusive bargaining representative for the school district’s employees. After the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME (2018), Thompson sued the Association and…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-5983, 19-5815, 19-5817
Justia Opinion Summary: Sherrill, Poindexter, and Somerville were indicted on multiple counts arising out of their attempted robbery of Edwards, a drug dealer, during which Edwards was killed. Following a jury trial, all three were convicted of…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6243
Justia Opinion Summary: Hepatitis C is a contagious, progressive virus that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, and ultimately death. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Doctors previously treated the virus using interferons;…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1661
Justia Opinion Summary: Kishore and Santa Cruz seek to have their names placed on the Michigan ballot as candidates for president and vice president, without complying with the state’s ballot-access laws. They contend that the ballot-access…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1882, 19-1857, 19-1870
Justia Opinion Summary: On May 8, 2013, a fire broke out in the kitchen of Plaintiffs' restaurant. Firefighters put out the fire, but a firefighter, Woelke, died from smoke inhalation. State Police offered to investigate, but the Wayne-Westland…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-5436, 19-5519
Justia Opinion Summary: Carrier manufactures residential Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. ECIMOS produced the quality-control system that tested completed HVAC units at the end of Carrier’s assembly line. ECIMOS…
Date: August 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1202
Justia Opinion Summary: Chase was convicted of kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, unlawful imprisonment, and assault with a dangerous weapon. In 2013, the Michigan court imposed two consecutive terms of 25-80 years’ imprisonment…
Date: August 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3719
Justia Opinion Summary: Fleischer pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor (Victim 1), 18 U.S.C. 2551(a), and one count of receipt and distribution of visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct,…
Date: August 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4136
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2016, the Ohio Department of Transportation began a construction project on a portion of Interstate Highway 75 near the Plaintiffs’ Hancock County properties. As a result of this construction, storm and groundwater…
Date: August 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-4223
Justia Opinion Summary: Marquardt, a Cleveland EMS captain, posted on his personal Facebook page, concerning the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The posts did not identify Marquardt as a city employee, nor were they made during work…
Date: August 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5126
Justia Opinion Summary: Although not technically enrolled at the University of Kentucky, Doe hoped to attend the University and was enrolled at a Kentucky community college that allows its students to transfer credits to the University and…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3468
Justia Opinion Summary: Less than an hour after a Brown County, Ohio jail officer was captured on video yelling in Goldson’s ear, “I’d like to break your fucking neck right now,” multiple correctional officers apparently discovered Goldson…
Date: August 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1391
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1978, McKillop was brutally murdered. In 2006, Lolley, McKillop’s former neighbor, told police that Cooper had confessed to killing McKillop. On March 3, 2010, after multiple interviews and while in custody, Cooper…
Date: August 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-6039
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000, Lisa was found dead in her driveway. Investigators focused on McCary, Halvorson’s former boyfriend. After hearing of a $10,000 reward, Woodfork alleged that McCary had paid him and England to murder Lisa.…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-3767
Justia Opinion Summary: Euclid Officers Rhodes and Catalani were dispatched to check on a “suspicious” vehicle in a residential area near a school. Stewart was sleeping in the car. Catalani shined his flashlight through the windows and saw…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1349
Justia Opinion Summary: Pirkel committed 17 crimes in 2007. He was suicidal when he was arrested. Pirkel expressed reservations about entering a plea; he was given 90 minutes to read police reports. When the court reconvened, Pirkel pleaded…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3094
Justia Opinion Summary: Castro-White, age 23, was found dead in his bedroom with signs of an opiate overdose. The Lorain Police Department retraced Castro-White’s final hours and identified Davis as the dealer who sold the drugs that killed…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2367
Justia Opinion Summary: Wofford was found guilty of a 1993 murder in a Michigan court following the removal and replacement of a juror. While that juror was holding out against conviction at the time, the judge removed her for misconduct: she…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-4092, 20-3038
Justia Opinion Summary: Adopted in 2019, Ohio Revised Code 1349.05(B) states: No health care practitioner, with the intent to obtain professional employment for the health care practitioner, shall directly contact in person, by telephone, or by…
Date: August 13, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3119
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, Bay and Oxbow entered into a limestone supply contract, agreeing to resolve any disputes according to specified “Dispute Resolution Procedures.” Oxbow began to provide lower quality limestone that posed a danger…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1392
Justia Opinion Summary: A.F., age 14, reported to police that she was being blackmailed by a user on the messaging application Kik. The perpetrator had obtained nude photographs from her phone and was threatening to release the images if she…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-3993, 19-4249
Justia Opinion Summary: Some Vita-Mix blenders contained tiny flecks of polytetrafluoroethylene, a substance commonly used in kitchen appliances and used in the blenders' seals. Normal wear-and-tear caused tiny pieces to rub off from the seal…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5698
Justia Opinion Summary: Kettles first prostituted an 18-year-old, planning to build a prostitution “empire,” then prostituted a 13-year-old child to at least six different men. Kettles was convicted of one count of sex trafficking a child, 18…
Date: August 11, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-6008, 18-6020
Justia Opinion Summary: A.K., age 13, missed his school bus, which arrived at his stop seven minutes before its official scheduled time of arrival. A.K. ran home to retrieve his bicycle. A.K.’s father heard A.K. shout that he was going to ride…
Date: August 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5428
Justia Opinion Summary: Beck claims he was assaulted by other inmates while detained at the Hamblen County, Tennessee jail. He sued Sheriff Jarnagin under 42 U.S.C. 1983. Jarnagin had no direct involvement in Beck’s detention; section 1983 does…
Date: August 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5985
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009-2015, Bradley ran a Tennessee drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed opioid pills. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering charges, the court sentenced him to 17 years in prison and…
Date: August 10, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1038
Justia Opinion Summary: While in office, Courser, a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, had an affair with another representative, Gamrat. The defendants were legislative aides assigned to Courser and Gamrat.…
Date: August 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2179
Justia Opinion Summary: The Randolph-Sheppard Act, 20 U.S.C. 107, requires government agencies to set aside certain contracts for sight-challenged vendors. States license the vendors and match them with available contracts. In 2010, Michigan…
Date: August 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3836
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1983, Rice sought benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA), 30 U.S.C. 901–45. The Department of Labor (DOL) looks to employers that employed the miner for at least one year and are capable of paying benefits.…
Date: August 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-3034
Justia Opinion Summary: Cuevas-Nuno, a native of Mexico, entered the U.S illegally and was charged as removable, 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Cuevas-Nuno conceded removability but applied for cancellation of removal and successfully moved to…
Date: August 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3949
Justia Opinion Summary: Kozerski owned two construction companies in Detroit. He formed the second one, CA, to bid on Veterans Administration contracts set aside for small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. Kozerski does not have a…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2381
Justia Opinion Summary: Wingate was charged with one count of bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a); two counts of pharmacy robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2118(a); three counts of using or carrying a firearm during a federal crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c),…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1393, 19-1191, 19-1211
Justia Opinion Summary: Ouza was arguing with her son, Hassan. Ouza’s daughter, Maysaa called her father, Mohamad. Mohamad went to Ouza’s house, in violation of Ouza's Personal Protection Order. Maysaa called the police. When Officer Dottor…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1961, 19-1975, 19-1983, 19-2000/, 19-2005, 19-2008, 19-2011, 19-2012
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Flint and city and state officials allegedly caused, sustained, and covered up the poisoning of the people of Flint. Plaintiffs filed a 2017 “Master Complaint,” containing the allegations and claims made by…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3500
Justia Opinion Summary: Ohio and Tennessee filed suit in 2015 to enjoin the Clean Water Rule, which purported to interpret the phrase “waters of the United States,” as used in the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1362(7), and, in 2018, sought a…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-5529
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas pled guilty to two counts of distributing a mixture containing heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). Thomas had several prior Michigan law drug convictions, including convictions for delivery of heroin and for…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-6038
Justia Opinion Summary: The Sixth Circuit earlier held that the district court miscalculated the Sentencing Guidelines range for Mongtomery’s sentencing, but explained that “the record shows that the district court would have imposed its…
Date: August 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2071
Justia Opinion Summary: Beginning when G.L. was 15 years old, Paauwe, an elementary school teacher, engaged in an online relationship with G.L., a special needs girl living several states away. Paauwe persuaded her to perform sexual acts and…
Date: August 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-3370
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, Sexton pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and aggravated robbery; an Ohio state court judge sentenced him to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Sexton later argued that Ohio law required a…
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