2013 Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of KPMG's motion to intervene, and modifying a protective order so that a deposition transcript would be held in escrow rather than destroyed. This case stemmed from…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial, on adverse credibility grounds, of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision finding him ineligible for cancellation of removal for failure to demonstrate good moral character. Petitioner challenged the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against defendants alleging that he was unlawfully arrested and searched in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Plaintiff was arrested for trespass under California Penal Code 602.8…

Justia Opinion Summary: These cases arose out of the energy crisis of 2000-2002. Plaintiffs, retail buyers of natural gas, alleged that defendants, natural gas traders, manipulated the price of natural gas by reporting false information to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Nicaraguan citizen, sought review of two decisions by the BIA: (1) a decision reversing an IJ's grant of withholding of removal pursuant to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and (2) a decision affirming…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, former employees of brokerage firms, filed four class actions challenging California's forced-patronage statute, section 450(a) of the California Labor Code. At issue was whether federal securities law…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, petitioner fell from a barge to a dry dock while working as a ship laborer. He then filed a workers' compensation claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. 901-950, for the…

Justia Opinion Summary: ANI, a risk retention group, filed suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Commissioner and the Division of Insurance under 42 U.S.C. 1983. ANI claimed that an order of the Commissioner violated the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his mandatory-minimum sentence, assigning error to the district court's rejection of his sentencing entrapment argument. Defendant argued a lack of predisposition to commit an offense involving the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a prison inmate, filed suit challenging his validation as an "associate" of the Mexican Mafia, a recognized prison gang. The court held that defendant's void-for-vagueness challenge of Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Firebaugh claimed that a lack of adequate drainage in part of the Central Valley Project (CVP) caused poor quality water flow into its service area. Firebaugh argued that Interior should be ordered to provide the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Acting on the bad advice of his accountant, plaintiff, the executor of an estate, filed the estate-tax return several months late. Consequently, the IRS assessed significant penalties against the estate. Plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: This dispute arose from California's implementation of a change to Medicare in 2006. The Centers argued that California mishandled the shift in payment responsibility for dual-eligibles' prescription drug costs from…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, PG&E and Pacific Bell, own and maintain utility poles throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Plaintiff filed this action against both companies, alleging that the poles discharged wood preservative into the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed the application of a "sophisticated means" enhancement imposed by the district court, pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2T1(b)(2), in determining their sentences following convictions for tax fraud. The court…

Justia Opinion Summary: On October 10, 2007, defendant was sentenced to 121 months in custody after pleading guilty to distributing 83.2 grams of crack cocaine. At issue on appeal was whether a defendant sentenced for a crack cocaine offense…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, who pleaded nolo contendere to assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 364 days in county jail but probation was imposed instead, petitioned for review of the BIA's holding that he was removeable…

Justia Opinion Summary: Tribal authorities of the Tohono O'odham nation charged LKAV, age 17, with murder in May 2009. In November 2011, the United States moved to commit LKAV pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 4241 to an adult medical facility for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought a Title VII action against her former employer, West Coast, claiming sexual harassment and retaliatory discharge. The district court granted summary judgment to West Coast and plaintiff appealed.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty in federal court to an information charging that he was "found in" the United States on or about November 25, 2009, after he had been previously deported. The court joined its sister circuits in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners challenged the district court's denial of restitution to them and others who asserted that they have been harmed as a result of the offenses for which Frederick Scott Salyer had been convicted. Petitioners…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued Robert Silverman and his law firm on behalf of a class of Filipino teachers recruited to work in several school districts in Louisiana. Plaintiffs alleged that Silverman aided and abetted a human…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of South Korea, petitioned for review of a decision by the BIA ordering his removal from the United States because he violated the terms of his student visa. The court denied the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from a union dispute involving local union officials who diverted union resources in an attempt to establish a new competing union. At issue on appeal was whether section 501 of the Labor Management…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Because defendant was charged with a single, continuous act of possession over a ten-minute…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with fourteen counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343 stemming from his scheme to defraud his employer. On appeal, defendant contended that the district court erred in denying his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued the City of Lancaster under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Article I, Section 4 of the California Constitution, requesting declaratory and injunctive relief from the City's policy of permitting prayers that mention…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and others sought and received LASIK eye surgery with a Nidek EC-5000 Excimer Laser System ("Laser") to correct farsightedness. Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated individuals,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Luvdarts sued mobile wireless carriers, who own multimedia messaging networks (MMS networks), for copyright infringement. At issue was whether the carriers could be held liable for copyright infringement that allegedly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Debtors filed a Chapter 13 petition and the Trustee objected to debtors proposed bankruptcy plan on the ground that it was not proposed in good faith because of the "miniscule" payments to unsecured claims while debtors…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of murder and sentenced to death, appealed the district court's denial of his habeas petition. The court held that petitioner's first two claims on appeal, that the Arizona courts applied an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against the Chief of Police and the City under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging a First Amendment retaliation claim. Plaintiff, a police officer for the City, led a no-confidence vote of the police…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner sought review of the BIA's decision upholding the IJ's pretermission of her adjustment of status application. The BIA pretermitted petitioner's application on the ground that she did not satisfy the definition…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, various film studios, alleged that the services offered and websites maintained by defendant and his company, isoHunt, induced third parties to download infringing copies of the studios' copyrighted works.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Beneficiaries sued Edison under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. Beneficiaries claimed that their pension plan had been managed imprudently and in a self-interested fashion. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought suit on behalf of a class of individuals from China who were seeking to acquire permanent resident status in the employment-based third preference category (EB-3). Plaintiffs alleged that during the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The government sought to forfeit two bundles of currency in the amounts of $11,500 and $2,971. Only one contrary claim was filed regarding both sets of currency. The district court concluded that the claimant failed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: FHFA, the regulator and conservator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises), issued a "directive" preventing the Enterprises from buying mortgages on properties encumbered by liens made under so-called…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an Arizona capital prisoner convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, appealed from the denial of his first habeas petition and sought authorization to file a second or successive habeas petition. The court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners challenged the district court's denial of restitution and filed a petition for a writ of mandamus pursuant to the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3771. The court held that the district court did…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a subrogation suit against defendants for recovery of insurance payments to its insured, Taube-Koret, for environmental response costs Taube-Koret incurred in cleaning up pollutants released on its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The underlying action was brought in California state court by plaintiff, who sued the Bank, a federally-insured, FDIC-supervised bank, for wrongful termination stemming from her complaints about the Bank's lending…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner appealed the district court's denial of her 28 U.S.C. 2254 habeas corpus petition. Petitioner was convicted of murdering her child and sentenced to death. At trial, petitioner protested her innocence and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff appealed the district court's denial of his mandamus petition, where he sought to compel the DOE to issue him a Stafford Loan. While plaintiff's immigration status was still pending, he obtained valid…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his jury conviction and sentence for assault resulting in serious bodily injury on an Indian reservation. The court concluded that the district court abused its discretion when it determined that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, an Armenian native, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, injunctive and declaratory relief, and mandamus (District Court Petition) seeking to enjoin her imminent removal, reverse the USCIS's denial of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of providing material support to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2339A, and of making false statements to government officials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001. On appeal, defendant argued…

Justia Opinion Summary: The state filed a civil petition against petitioner under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA), Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code 6600 et seq., just before petitioner's confinement was expected to end. Petitioner subsequently…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned allegations of corruption by a representative of the Railway during mandatory arbitration of a dispute relating to the discharge of a Railway employee, who was represented by the Union. The Union…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who has difficulty walking because of certain health problems, alleged that United did not provide her with adequate assistance moving through the airport on two airplane trips and that she suffered physical…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stemmed from Greenpeace's public campaign to stop Shell from driling in the Arctic. Greenpeace appealed the district court's grant of Shell's motion for a preliminary injunction, which prohibited Greenpeace…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this copyright infringement suit, SOFA claimed that Dodger infringed its copyright in using a seven-second clip of Ed Sullivan's introduction of the Four Seasons on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and could not justify its…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner petitioned for review of the BIA's decision holding that there was no "realistic probability" that California would apply California Penal Code 243.4(e) to conduct that was not normally turpitudinous and the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a now-retired member of Local 166, filed suit under section 101(a)(3) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. 411(a)(3), to challenge the legality of an organizing fee and a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that defendants enforced two local ordinances in violation of the Eighth Amendment. On appeal, plaintiffs challenged the district court's order granting…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent (the Warden) appealed the district court's grant of habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254 to petitioner. The court held that the California Supreme Court necessarily decided that it was not reasonably…

Justia Opinion Summary: Alaska Rent-A-Car sued Avis claiming that Avis had breached a settlement agreement causing Alaska business to be switched to Budget Rent-A-Car, its local competitor. The district court granted a partial summary judgment,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought a pre-enforcement action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against defendant, the California Secretary of State. At issue were the California Elections Code sections 8066 and 8451, which mandated that circulators…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to an information charging misprision of a felony based on her concealment and failure to notify authorities of her husband's drug trafficking activities. Defendant appealed, arguing that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Debtor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and claimed that her Mercedes was exempt from her bankruptcy estate under California Civil Procedure Code 703.140(b)(5) (the "wildcard" or "grubstake" exemption). The court held that…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose out of the long and contentious process to repair a flood-damaged road in a sensitive area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Great Old Broads appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved two provisions in Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, which makes it unlawful for a motor vehicle occupant to hire or attempt to hire a person for work at another location from a stopped care that impedes…

Justia Opinion Summary: Farmers that irrigate their land using water from the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project claimed that the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 501 et seq., compelled the Bureau to provide their irrigation…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, born in Mexico, petitioned for review of the government's reinstatement of a prior order of removal, following his illegal reentry into the United States after having been removed. The court rejected, as…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, appellant principally argued that, because the judgments obtained by the Petitioning Creditors were on appeal when the involuntary petition was filed, the bankruptcy court should have dismissed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Association sued the County, alleging that the County had breached its obligation to provide certain vested healthcare benefits in perpetuity. The Association alleged that the County had implicitly promised to…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiff filed a class action complaint against Crevier Motors and BMW, asserting ten California causes of action. At issue was whether BMW timely removed this proposed class action involving…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial of her asylum application as time-barred. Petitioner claimed that her untimely application should be excused because she suffered…

Justia Opinion Summary: The CDCR, in an effort to meet the religious exercise needs of prison inmates, maintained paid full-time and part-time chaplain positions of five faiths: Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Protestant (the…