2021 Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 1 - 500 of 1159
Date: December 29, 2021
Docket Numbers: 21-5017, 21-5018, 21-5019
Justia Opinion Summary: Long and the Piercys operated a Tennessee quarry. Their agreement was silent as to whether their division of “profit” would be based on gross profit after payment of a royalty or net profit after payment of the royalty…
Date: December 28, 2021
Docket Number: 21-8003
Justia Opinion Summary: In the Bankruptcy Court, Harang sought a declaration that his tax debts were dischargeable, notwithstanding 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(1). The IRS answered the complaint, served discovery requests, moved to compel answers, and…
Date: December 27, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1712
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1340
Justia Opinion Summary: For more than 20 years, Glennborough’s developers and homeowners have sought to change the subdivision’s “ZIP Code” by petitions to the Postal Service, two rounds of litigation, and one settlement. The Glennborough…
Date: December 21, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3908
Justia Opinion Summary: The Ohio National Guard ended its 45-year collective-bargaining relationship with the Union that represents its technicians, who are dual-status employees because their employment is “a hybrid, both of federal and state,…
Date: December 21, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1055
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2014, Detroit Police Officers arrested Jones and others as they demonstrated outside a city water contractor’s facility, blocking the building’s entrance. A police bus took the protestors to a police station. Jones…
Date: December 17, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3400
Justia Opinion Summary: McCall, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge involving heroin possession and distribution in 2015 and was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment, moved for compassionate release. He cited as“extraordinary and…
Date: December 17, 2021
Docket Number: 21-5011
Justia Opinion Summary: Simpson's insurer, the Fund, paid Simpson’s medical costs ($16,225) arising from a car accident. Simpson hired the Firm to represent her in a personal injury suit. The Fund maintained a right of subrogation and…
Date: December 17, 2021
Docket Number: 21-7000
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2021, 5he Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency tasked with assuring a safe and healthful workplace, issued an Emergency Rule on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing, 86 Fed.…
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-4144, 20-4128
Justia Opinion Summary: After receiving a tip, Cleveland police arranged for a controlled buy from Hall at his residence, using a confidential informant. The next day, officers executed a search warrant for Hall’s residence. They recovered…
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1323
Date: December 15, 2021
Docket Number: 21-7000
Date: December 14, 2021
Docket Number: 20-2013
Justia Opinion Summary: The events were recorded by Officer Bierenga’s dashcam and the White Castle surveillance system. Bierenga attempted a traffic stop. After failing to pull over for several blocks, Gordon came upon a red light at a busy…
Date: December 14, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3349
Date: December 8, 2021
Docket Numbers: 21-5490, 19-6363, 21-5491
Justia Opinion Summary: The Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations searches social media for people soliciting sex from children and saw that Hruby, a Texas resident, was advertising as a “[g]randpa looking for open family.” Posing as…
Date: December 6, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-1899, 20-1900
Justia Opinion Summary: A subsidiary of Whirlpool Corporation with a single part-time employee in Luxembourg sold refrigerators and washing machines to Whirlpool in a series of complicated transactions involving Whirlpool-Mexico. By means of a…
Date: December 3, 2021
Docket Number: 19-1298
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, ATF promulgated a rule that classified bump stocks as machine guns, reversing its previous position. Bump stocks assist the shooter in “bump firing,” a technique that increases a semiautomatic firearm’s rate of…
Date: December 3, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-2152, 20-2112
Justia Opinion Summary: Beginning in 1986, Arabian was the sole authorized dealer for Ford brands in Kuwait. In a 2005 Agreement, the companies agreed to use “binding arbitration” as the “exclusive recourse” for any dispute. Ford ended the…
Date: December 3, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5905
Justia Opinion Summary: Hymes pleaded guilty to possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); (b)(1)(C). Hymes had multiple prior state convictions. The district court initially sentenced Hymes to 188 months’…
Date: December 3, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3335
Date: December 3, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3365
Date: December 2, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1089
Justia Opinion Summary: Eight named plaintiffs, including two minors, brought a nationwide putative class action against e-commerce provider StockX for allegedly failing to protect millions of StockX users’ personal account information obtained…
Date: December 1, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5969
Date: December 1, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1126
Date: December 1, 2021
Docket Number: 21-5040
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, two 17-year-olds, Harris and Gaines, approached soldiers at the Fort Campbell Army base. Attempting to rob them, Gaines pulled out a handgun, which discharged. A bullet struck Private Alonso-Caravia, killing…
Date: November 30, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4119
Justia Opinion Summary: Gillispie was convicted of two 1988 rapes and spent more than 20 years in prison before Ohio courts vacated his convictions, based on his claims of failure to disclose exculpatory evidence and actual innocence. Gillispie…
Date: November 29, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3001
Justia Opinion Summary: Zometa-Orellana's domestic partner in El Salvador, Oscar, beat and raped her and locked her inside their home to prevent her from seeking help. She escaped, thinking she could not relocate within El Salvador due to its…
Date: November 23, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5213
Justia Opinion Summary: Presley pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to burglarize more than 90 pharmacies, 18 U.S.C. 2118(d), and to assault of a police officer, 21 U.S.C. 2118(c). Presley had attempted to flee from arrest by…
Date: November 22, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4268
Justia Opinion Summary: Mbonga joined an athletic club that had connections with the Congo’s then-ruling political party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Development. The club’s leaders recruited Mbonga to join the party’s youth group…
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1339
Justia Opinion Summary: Elhady, a U.S. citizen returning from Canada, was detained for questioning by border-patrol agents. They took Elhady’s jacket and shoes, leaving him only his shirt, pants, undergarments, and socks. According to Elhady,…
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3090
Date: November 18, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3737
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1955-1976, WPC, a manufacturer of industrial valves, bought primary and excess level liability insurance policies from OneBeacon’s predecessor. In 2001, asbestos lawsuits started coming against WPC. OneBeacon began…
Date: November 18, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6195
Justia Opinion Summary: Hale, charged with failing a drug test while on pretrial diversion in Boyle County, was detained at the Marion County Detention Center ahead of her trial. The Boyle County Sheriff’s Office transported Hale between the…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3930
Justia Opinion Summary: WCI holds an Ohio liquor license and does business as Cheeks Gentlemen’s Club. In 2014, the Ohio Department of Public Safety sent undercover agents to Cheeks. During the investigation, a female dancer offered an agent a…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6078
Justia Opinion Summary: Edmonson County Sheriff’s Deputy Meredith attempted to initiate a traffic stop on an automobile for an unilluminated license plate and the failure of a passenger to wear a seatbelt. The automobile was being driven by…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6169
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Hewlett-Packard hired Sloat, then 54, to develop training programs. For the next five years, his performance reviews were notably positive. In 2015, Sloat developed a highly0regarded training program. In 2016…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1129
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1992, Michigan voters, wanting to amend Michigan’s Constitution to establish term limits for state legislators, state executives, and members of Congress, got a petition on the ballot; 58.8% of voters approved the…
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Number: 21-2987
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3902
Justia Opinion Summary: The Food and Drug Administration denied Breeze’s Premarket Tobacco Product Applications for its electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Breeze sought a stay of the FDA’s order. Under the Family Smoking Prevention…
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Numbers: 21-5121, 21-5145
Justia Opinion Summary: During an investigation into whether Elmore sexually abused a seven-year-old girl, officers obtained and executed a warrant to remove Elmore’s vehicle from his stepmother’s home and search the vehicle. Elmore’s…
Date: November 9, 2021
Docket Number: 20-2286
Justia Opinion Summary: Michigan Department of Corrections inmates may hold formal group services or possess certain religious property only if the Department has formally recognized their faith. Though the Department recognizes the Ifa faith,…
Date: November 9, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3613
Justia Opinion Summary: Wesson was charged with murdering 81-year-old Varhola and attacking (and nearly killing) his 77-year-old wife, after they invited him into their home on February 25, 2008. A three-judge panel convicted Wesson of several…
Date: November 8, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5858
Justia Opinion Summary: Howell’s girlfriend, Thompson, testified for the government at Howell’s trial. Thompson had pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Howell in the robbery of a bank in Finger, Tennessee, and aiding and abetting Howell in…
Date: November 8, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-6289, 20-6347
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, FTS technicians filed suit alleging that they were unlawfully deprived of overtime compensation for the prior three years. The district court authorized a collective action; 293 technicians opted in to the…
Date: November 8, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1120
Justia Opinion Summary: Sexton reported to Redford Charter Township to begin five days with the work-release program. Cernuto and Dunn were the program supervisors. Sexton was the only woman among approximately five participants. Township…
Date: November 8, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1379
Justia Opinion Summary: Prevent, a group of European companies that specializes in turning around distressed automotive parts suppliers, organized an effort to halt supplies of their parts to obtain better terms from Volkswagen, based in…
Date: November 5, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3245
Justia Opinion Summary: To combat the spread of COVID-19, the Ohio government ordered child-care programs to shut down for around two months beginning in March 2020. As a result, Dakota Girls and the other plaintiffs could not use their…
Date: November 3, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1094
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Bass, a Michigan “drug kingpin,” was convicted of conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and 50 or more grams of cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. 846, and firearms murder during or in relation to a…
Date: November 2, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6217
Justia Opinion Summary: Card was diagnosed with “chronic lymphocytic leukemia,” which can cause fatigue. Card alleges her worsening fatigue left her unable to perform her job as a night-shift nurse. She applied for disability benefits under an…
Date: November 1, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1565
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, Traylor was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1349, 1347; conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, 18 U.S.C. 371; and five counts of health care fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1347. The…
Date: October 20, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5454
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Augustin asked Jordan to “find somebody” who sold cocaine. “Hoss,” subsequently sold Augustin six ounces of cocaine for $5,100. The deal went bad and Augustin kidnapped Jordan at gunpoint. Augustin’s…
Date: October 18, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-3862, 20-3861
Justia Opinion Summary: After serving several stints in prison, Latimer moved into his girlfriend’s Akron home. When Ohio parole officers knocked on the door, Latimer, apparently freshly awakened greeted the officers and allowed them to enter.…
Date: October 15, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1335
Justia Opinion Summary: Lakeside, a Michigan corporation, fabricates stone countertops in Michigan. Cambria a Minnesota LLC, is a nationwide manufacturer of countertop products. Lakeside buys “solid surface products” from manufacturers like…
Date: October 15, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5419
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1989, Middlebrooks was convicted of felony murder and aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to death. His conviction and sentence were upheld on direct and collateral review. Electrocution was then Tennessee’s only…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: 19-4240
Justia Opinion Summary: Owsley. a nurse for Care Connection, a company providing home healthcare to Medicare patients, alleged that she observed, firsthand, documents showing that her employer had used fraudulent data from Fazzi to submit…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-1447, 20-1466
Justia Opinion Summary: Canton’s 2006 Tree Ordinance prohibits the unpermitted removal, damage, or destruction of trees of specified sizes, with exceptions for agricultural operations, commercial nurseries, tree farms, and occupied lots smaller…
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1466
Date: October 13, 2021
Docket Number: 21-2736
Justia Opinion Summary: ZF appealed an order granting limited discovery to Luxshare under 28 U.S.C. 1782. Luxshare plans to use the discovery in the parties’ international arbitration. ZF sought a stay pending appeal, citing the Supreme Court’s…
Date: October 12, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1363
Justia Opinion Summary: Before 2013, the Michigan Department of Corrections provided kosher meals with meat and dairy to Jewish prisoners and allowed charitable Jewish organizations to bring in traditional religious foods for Jewish holidays.…
Date: October 12, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3989
Justia Opinion Summary: A Xenia Police dispatcher contacted officer Reed about a double-parked vehicle with the person in the backseat allegedly “shooting up.” Reed observed a vehicle straddling the line between a standard parking spot and a…
Date: October 8, 2021
Docket Number: 20-2279
Justia Opinion Summary: McKeon has sold “MACK’S” earplugs to retail consumers since the 1960s. In the 1980s, Honeywell's predecessor began marketing and selling MAX-brand earplugs to distributors. The brand names are phonetically identical. In…
Date: October 8, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6391
Justia Opinion Summary: Marc was arrested and taken to the Madison County Detention Center (MCDC). Marc’s wife, Dawn, told the police that her husband had lung cancer and needed immediate medical attention. Marc’s medical records also stated…
Date: October 8, 2021
Docket Number: 21-5313
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Lemons pleaded guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment, based on the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), which requires the imposition of a 180-month mandatory…
Date: October 7, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4003
Justia Opinion Summary: Rafael, a citizen of Guatemala, applied for admission to the U.S. DHS served her with a Notice to Appear at a place and time “to be determined.” Months later, she received a Notice of Hearing, stating the time, date, and…
Date: October 7, 2021
Docket Number: 21-2945
Justia Opinion Summary: Western Michigan University, a public university, requires student-athletes to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but considers individual requests for medical and religious exemptions on a discretionary basis. Sixteen…
Date: October 6, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3885
Justia Opinion Summary: The 1954 Atomic Energy Act allowed private construction, ownership, and operation of commercial nuclear power reactors for energy production. The 1957 Price-Anderson Act created a system of private insurance, government…
Date: October 5, 2021
Docket Numbers: 19-4273, 19-4247
Justia Opinion Summary: Nicolescu, Miclaus, and coconspirators posted fake eBay car auctions. Operating from Romania, they concealed their IP addresses, and employed US-based “money mules,” to collect payments from unsuspecting buyers, taking…
Date: October 4, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3210
Justia Opinion Summary: Hernandez, a citizen of Guatemala, has two minor children. Her daughter, A.L. is also a citizen of Guatemala. Her son, born in 2018, is a U.S. citizen. In 2016, Hernandez left Guatemala with her daughter and entered the…
Date: October 1, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4078
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of violating 18 U.S.C. 922(g) for unlawfully possessing a firearm—one for being a convicted felon, the other for being a domestic violence misdemeanant. In this case, defendant's…
Date: September 28, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-3639, 20-3671
Justia Opinion Summary: Sofco terminated its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with a local union. The Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Fund then assessed almost a million dollars in withdrawal liability against Sofco under the Employee…
Date: September 28, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3671
Date: September 28, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6237
Justia Opinion Summary: On April 4, Debra went to Kentucky’s Manchester Memorial Hospital emergency room where she presented with numbness from the waist down, pain in both legs, with the right leg being worse and cold. On April 19, Debra’s…
Date: September 23, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4117
Justia Opinion Summary: Golf Village owns, maintains, and administers a 900-acre planned community in Powell, including one of 11 separate lots in a commercial development. A 2003 “Declaration of Private Roads” refers to the use of private…
Date: September 22, 2021
Docket Number: 19-5623
Justia Opinion Summary: Brawner was detained at the Scott County jail. On her written questionnaire, Brawner answered that she needed to continue her prescription medications, listing three controlled substances: suboxone, clonazepam, and…
Date: September 22, 2021
Docket Number: 19-6071
Justia Opinion Summary: Devereux suffered a major stroke during or around the period of his custody by Knox County for misdemeanor first-time DUI. Corrections officers were in and out of the holding cell where he sat motionless for several…
Date: September 22, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3068
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2020, the Governor of Ohio declared a state of emergency in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. A few days later, the Director of the Ohio Department of Health ordered restaurants across the state to close…
Date: September 21, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4010
Justia Opinion Summary: In the 1930s and 1940s GE designed and manufactured self-propelled, electric passenger railcars that included liquid-cooled transformers. The transformers, which generated a great deal of heat, used a coolant called…
Date: September 17, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-1214, 20-1215
Justia Opinion Summary: The Woods brothers were members of a Detroit-based group, HNIC. The government claims that HNIC was a street gang “engaged in drug dealing, intimidation, and violence” and that the brothers participated in multiple…
Date: September 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6226
Justia Opinion Summary: Convicted of murder, Phillips has been incarcerated in Kentucky prisons since 1999. In 2014, Phillips and his cellmate got into a fight. Phillips later thought he had sprained his ankle. The pain and discoloration went…
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1870
Justia Opinion Summary: Every Saturday morning since 2003, six-12 protesters have picketed Ann Arbor’s Beth Israel Synagogue, displaying signs on the grass by the sidewalk in front of the synagogue and across the street. The signs state:…
Date: September 13, 2021
Docket Numbers: 19-1029, 18-2268, 19-1028, 18-2269, 18-2323, 18-2324, 18-2342, 18-2364, 18-2365, 18-2401, 18-2407, 18-2508, 18-2410
Justia Opinion Summary: The federal government successfully prosecuted multiple members of the “Devils Diciples Motorcycle Club” for their role in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) enterprise, 18 U.S.C. 1962(c)(d) that…
Date: September 13, 2021
Docket Numbers: 21-1037, 21-1056, 21-1063, 21-5022
Justia Opinion Summary: The noncitizens, victims of grave crimes, cooperated with law enforcement. They applied for U-visas, 8 U.S.C. 1103(a)(1), 1101(a)(15)(U), and authorization to work; two sought derivative U-visas and work authorization…
Date: September 10, 2021
Docket Number: 17-6032
Justia Opinion Summary: The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief to petitioner on his claims that counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase and that he was denied a fair trial…
Date: September 10, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3351
Justia Opinion Summary: The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision rejecting the bankruptcy trustee's efforts seeking to avoid payments from Fair Finance to Textron as fraudulent transfers under Ohio's Uniform Fraudulent Transfer…
Date: September 10, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5969
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit challenging two sections of House Bill 2263: Section 216 criminalizes the performance of pre-viability abortions at cascading intervals of two to three weeks, beginning with the detection of a…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1784
Justia Opinion Summary: A drug manufacturer cannot distribute a drug in interstate commerce without obtaining the FDA’s approval for the uses listed on the drug’s official label, 21 U.S.C. 355(a). The Act does not prohibit doctors from…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4252
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1991, Congress prohibited almost all robocalls to cell phones and landlines, 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(B). A 2015 amendment attempted to allow robocalls if they were made “solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1005
Justia Opinion Summary: Osborn, an Army veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, left a threatening voicemail for Georgia Congressman Henry Johnson. Osborn pleaded guilty under 18 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(B), (b)(4), and (c)(4). At…
Date: September 7, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3434
Justia Opinion Summary: The Training Academy hired Smith as a firefighter recruit. If Academy recruits do not pass their practical skills exams after three tries, they are dismissed. The vertical ventilation test requires climbing a ladder,…
Date: September 3, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-1238, 20-1347, 20-1448, .20-1752
Justia Opinion Summary: Each of the petitioners obtained habeas relief in the Eastern District of Michigan because they were sentenced under Michigan’s formerly mandatory sentencing guidelines that included enhancements for judicially found…
Date: September 3, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1863
Justia Opinion Summary: While patrolling a known drug house, Sergeant Murch recognized a Buick that he had stopped twice before, each time culminating in a drug-related arrest. Murch ran the plates and discovered that the vehicle’s owner,…
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: 20-2032
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson, a 56-year-old African American woman, was hired by Ford in 2018, as a production supervisor. While Johnson was shadowing him to learn the job, Rowan was in a position to evaluate Johnson’s performance. Rowan…
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-5592, 20-5632
Justia Opinion Summary: Attorney Conn represented Plaintiffs and thousands of other claimants in seeking disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. Conn bribed doctors to certify false applications and bribed an ALJ to approve…
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3102
Justia Opinion Summary: Jackson was convicted of six counts of aggravated murder (with capital specifications), three counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping, and one count of felonious assault, and sentenced to death. His first…
Date: September 1, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3620
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, DeCrane became the director of training at Cleveland's Fire Training Academy and applied to be the chief. The mayor chose McGinnis to be the next chief. DeCrane said he was surprised because McGinnis had fallen…
Date: August 31, 2021
Docket Number: 19-5852
Justia Opinion Summary: Cartwright is serving a 24-year sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1). When Cartwright was sentenced in 2005, seven of his past convictions qualified as violent felonies. In 2015, the…
Date: August 30, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1973
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Gibbs (then 16) and Henderson, robbed a Flint, Michigan store. Henderson struck the owner in the head with a gun, severing part of his ear. Gibbs was not armed but took property. Before jury selection began,…
Date: August 30, 2021
Docket Number: 21-1275
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1992, Hunter, a 23-year-old hitman for a Detroit drug enterprise, escaped from a parole camp and killed 23-year-old Johnson, to prevent her from testifying. Hunter was convicted of intentionally killing Johnson in…
Date: August 27, 2021
Docket Number: 19-4067
Justia Opinion Summary: AtriCure, an Ohio company, that develops medical devices to treat atrial fibrillation, contracted with Dr. Meng’s company, ZenoMed, to serve as AtriCure’s exclusive Chinese distributor. AtriCure later believed that…
Date: August 27, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5980
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and to commit money laundering. Johnson was sentenced as a career offender under U.S.S.G. 4B1.1(a) based on his two prior controlled-substance convictions. …
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1887
Justia Opinion Summary: Clark robbed three banks, stating that he had a gun. When police attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Clark fled at high speed and hit other cars. A 67-year-old suffered significant injuries. Clark was indicted under 18…
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3346
Justia Opinion Summary: Twyford was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death in 1993. Twyford filed a federal habeas petition and sought transport for neurological imaging. Twyford noted that he may have neurological problems due…
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4133
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Briggs, a Black man, began working as a compensation analyst for the University of Cincinnati (UC) Human Resources department. In 2013, the HR department hired Wittwer, a Caucasian woman, in the same position…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: 15-4308
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-1588, 20-1538
Justia Opinion Summary: Taylor received several parking tickets from Saginaw for leaving her car in its downtown area beyond the time allowed by an ordinance. Each time, Hoskins chalked the tire of Taylor’s vehicle several hours before issuing…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4030
Justia Opinion Summary: For more than 50 years, the Trust has owned contiguous parcels on Garfield Road, Mentor, Ohio, comprising 16.15 acres near the terminus of Norton Parkway, a road completed in 2006 that connects Garfield Road to Center…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: 7-3766
Date: August 24, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1246
Justia Opinion Summary: While incarcerated and working as a laundry porter at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Rhodes suffered a severe skull fracture and other injuries when an industrial laundry cart—weighing about 400 pounds—fell…
Date: August 23, 2021
Docket Number: 20-2256
Justia Opinion Summary: To control the spread of COVID-19, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) required that all persons five years of age and older wear a mask in indoor public settings, including while attending…
Date: August 20, 2021
Docket Numbers: 14-3718, 99-4317
Justia Opinion Summary: Hill’s death penalty sentence was imposed in 1986. Hill brought a habeas petition, arguing that he may not be executed because he is “intellectually disabled,” as defined in subsequent Supreme Court cases. In 2002 the…
Date: August 20, 2021
Docket Number: 19-3850
Justia Opinion Summary: McNeill was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death in Ohio state court for aggravated murder. Seeking federal habeas relief, McNeil argued that the prosecution failed to turn over material under Brady v. Maryland and…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5965
Justia Opinion Summary: In October 2018, the University of Louisville notified Dr. Kaplan, a tenured professor and the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (DOVS), that it was reviewing some of his actions as Chair and…
Date: August 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1051
Justia Opinion Summary: Phillips, currently incarcerated for a 2001 armed bank robbery, filed a pro se motion seeking to waive the accumulated interest on his $51,086.10 restitution sentence. He had not challenged that order on appeal or when…
Date: August 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1996
Justia Opinion Summary: At about 4:30 a.m., an anonymous 911 call reported a break-in at neighboring apartment 103, with screaming, Seven Southfield Police officers responded, entered the building, and heard screaming but could not identify the…
Date: August 17, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5947
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthem provides health insurance and hires nurses to review insurance claims. The company pays those nurses a salary but does not pay them overtime. Canaday, an Anthem nurse who lives in Tennessee, filed a proposed…
Date: August 16, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-5552, 20-5550, 20-5551
Justia Opinion Summary: Attorney Conn represented Plaintiffs and thousands of others in seeking disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Conn bribed doctors to certify false applications and bribed an ALJ to approve…
Date: August 16, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5902
Justia Opinion Summary: Ward received twice medical treatment at Stonecrest. Stonecrest hired NPAS, Inc. to collect Ward’s outstanding balances. NPAS first sent Ward a billing statement on October 3 related to his July hospital visit. The…
Date: August 12, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1563
Justia Opinion Summary: A deputy observed a vehicle swerving in traffic and initiated a stop. Kerns was operating the vehicle. When the car stopped, Kerns’s prior romantic partner exited and yelled that Kerns had kidnapped her at gunpoint.…
Date: August 10, 2021
Docket Number: 19-2200
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993-2017, Penfound worked for a company that provided its employees with a 401(k) plan and voluntarily contributed a portion of his wages to the plan. In 2017, Penfound transitioned to a new company, Protodesign,…
Date: August 10, 2021
Docket Number: 21-3007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Sixth Circuit previously affirmed the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to block a merger of ProMedica and St. Luke’s Hospital in Lucas County, Ohio. As part of the unwinding of the merger, ProMedica and St. Luke’s…
Date: August 9, 2021
Docket Number: 20-3045
Justia Opinion Summary: Warren pled guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm. His plea agreement bound the parties to “recommend that the Court impose a sentence within” Warren’s Guidelines range, calculated at 51-63 months, and prohibited…
Date: August 9, 2021
Docket Numbers: 20-5869, 20-5890
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on activity related to former Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell in 2014, Emmons and Lundergan (Grimes’s father) were convicted for…
Date: August 5, 2021
Docket Number: 20-6267
Justia Opinion Summary: Tennessee Code 39-15-202(a)–(h) requires that women be informed, orally and in-person by the attending physician or by the referring physician that she is pregnant; of the fetus’s probable gestational age; whether the…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1505
Justia Opinion Summary: Phillips, then 39, was arrested for driving with a suspended license. At the Lansing City Jail, Phillips said he took Lyrica to treat his epilepsy and would need another dose that night Phillips denied being under the…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: 20-5318
Justia Opinion Summary: Southard worked for Newcomb, then filed a putative class action, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 201, plus state-law claims. Newcomb removed the case to federal court. Southard amended his…
Date: August 3, 2021
Docket Numbers: 10-5658, 15-5436
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1994, Hall murdered his estranged wife by attacking her in her home, dragging her to the backyard swimming pool while at least one of her children looked on, and drowning her. A Tennessee state court jury convicted…
Date: July 30, 2021
Docket Number: 20-1104
Justia Opinion Summary: Trevino was the sole owner of a chain of marijuana dispensaries throughout Michigan. A federal jury convicted him of conspiracy and nine substantive marijuana offenses. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Trevino's argued that…
Date: July 28, 2021
Docket Number: 20-4248
Justia Opinion Summary: Ortiz, raised in Guatemala, suffered significant domestic abuse by her intoxicated father and later by her boyfriend, Carlos, who raped her. She became pregnant and, fearing aggravating her father’s violence, moved in…
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