News

Case Summaries

Constitutional Law

[06/28] Free Enterprise Fund v. Pub. Co. Accounting Oversight Bd.
In an action against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and its members, seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the Board was unconstitutional and an injunction preventing the Board from exercising its powers, the D.C. Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where the Board's appointment was consistent with the Appointments Clause. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) the dual for-cause limitations on the removal of Board members contravene the Constitution's separation of powers; and 2) the unconstitutional tenure provisions were severable from the remainder of the statute.

[06/28] McDonald v. City of Chicago
In an action against the City of Chicago alleging that the City's handgun ban left plaintiffs vulnerable to criminals, judgment for defendants is reversed where the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense.

[06/28] Christian Legal Soc'y v. Martinez
In an action against Hastings College of Law, a public law school, alleging that Hastings' refusal to grant a Christian group "Registered Student Organization" status violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free speech, expressive association, and free exercise of religion, the Ninth Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the Court considered only whether a public institution's conditioning access to a student organization forum on compliance with an all-comers policy violated the Constitution; and 2) the all-comers policy was a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to the RSO forum.

[06/25] Kimbrough v. State of Cal.
In an action claiming that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) grooming regulations concerning hair length interfered with plaintiff's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, the district court's award of attorney's fees to plaintiff is reversed where, because the district court did not actually adjudicate plaintiff's claims, the Ninth Circuit's decision in Siripongs foreclosed an award of attorneys' fees in this case.

[06/24] Doe v. Reed
In a First Amendment case arising out of a state law extending certain benefits to same-sex couples, involving a challenge to the Washington Public Records Act based on its provision permitting the disclosure of referendum petition signers' names and addresses, the Ninth Circuit's reversal of the district court's preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs is affirmed where disclosure of referendum petitions does not as a general matter violate the First Amendment.

[06/24] Muscarello v. Ogle County Bd. of Comm'rs
In plaintiff's suit against multiple defendants asserting various claims based on the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, Illinois statutes, and the common law, arsing from the county's decision to amend its zoning ordinances to allow special permits for the construction of windmills used to generate power, and in particular, the construction of 40 windmills adjacent to plaintiff's property, judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's federal takings, equal protection, and due process claims fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; 2) plaintiff's state law trespass and nuisance claims are not ripe for review; 3) plaintiff has failed to avail herself of the opportunity to allege and support an independent basis of federal subject-matter jurisdiction over the other seven claims; and 4) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for an administrative stay.

[06/23] Thomas v. Parker
In an action challenging various conditions of plaintiff's confinement at the James Crabtree Correctional Center (JCCC), a prison in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC), dismissal of the action is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in concluding that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies when he did not properly complete all three required written steps; 2) plaintiff's allegations were insufficient to establish fraud on the court because, at most, they showed the nondisclosure of evidence or the alteration of evidence by a party, with no showing of attorney involvement; and 3) it is difficult to see how there could be actionable fraud on the court if the district court had before it the correct documents when it made its final decision.

[06/23] Ebert v. Gaetz
District court's denial of defendant's petition for habeas relief from his murder and armed robbery conviction is affirmed where: 1) a state court's conclusion that new statements from a witness did not negate its earlier finding of probable cause to arrest defendant was not so erroneous as to be objectionably unreasonable; and 2) defendant's counsel was not constitutionally deficient in failing to file what would have been an unmeritorious motion to quash his arrest and suppress inculpatory statement.

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Criminal Law & Procedure

[06/28] McDonald v. City of Chicago
In an action against the City of Chicago alleging that the City's handgun ban left plaintiffs vulnerable to criminals, judgment for defendants is reversed where the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense.

[06/25] Dale v. Holder
In a petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding petitioner's order of removal under 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43)(F) for being convicted of an aggravated felony, the petition is granted where: 1) although the argument petitioner presented to the BIA was not identical to that which he raised in his petition for review, the arguments were sufficiently related to establish that he presented his ground for relief to the administrative agency in the first instance; and 2) the BIA erred as a matter of law in concluding that petitioner could not legally plead guilty to an attempted violation of N.Y. Penal Law 120.10(3) or (4).

[06/25] Bailey v. Cain
In a murder prosecution, petitioner's appeal of the denial of his habeas petition is dismissed and the denial of petitioner's Fed. R. Crim. P. 60 motion is affirmed where: 1) omitted from petitioner's motion for a certificate of appealability was a specific reference to the judgment or order from which appeal was taken; and 2) petitioner made no attempt to show that he could not have obtained a transcription sooner if it were necessary to make his case before the district court.

[06/25] Woodfox v. Cain
In the state's appeal from a grant of petitioner's habeas petition in a murder prosecution, the order is reversed where: 1) petitioner failed to exhaust his Confrontation Clause claim in state court; 2) there was no indication in the state court adjudication that suggested a reliance on any procedural vehicle rather than the merits to deny relief; 3) it was not unreasonable to conclude that defense counsel did not render constitutionally deficient performance by failing to pursue a confrontation objection; and 4) the absence of a fingerprint expert did not cause petitioner prejudice that warrants habeas relief.

[06/25] US v. Williams
In a case involving a defendant's transport of 74 unlawful aliens, and the death of 19 of them after he left the aliens locked in the trailer of his tractor?trailer without activating the trailer's air conditioning unit, defendant's murder convictions are affirmed where: 1) the Government's articulated reasons for striking a veniremember were supported by the voir dire transcripts; and 2) it was not clear error for the district court to include defendant's first trip, during which he transported approximately 60 unlawful aliens, as part of the relevant conduct. However, his sentence is vacated where the district court erred in its definition of "act of violence" under the Federal Death Penalty Act and, under the correct definition, the evidence at trial cannot support a finding that the requisite threshold intent was met.

[06/25] People v. Bloom
Conviction of defendant for resisting arrest and other related charges, arising from making more than 40 harassing calls to 911 in a single evening, is affirmed over a challenge to a denial of a motion to suppress as a dispatcher lawfully arrested defendant for making the calls and she was not required to physically restrain him or to be present at the time of the arrest.

[06/25] US v. Womack
In a prosecution of defendant for distributing cocaine base, district court's application of a career offender enhancement when imposing a sentence of 360 months is vacated and remanded as, although the district court did not err by applying the career offender enhancement in defendant's guidelines calculation and the sentence imposed was within a correctly calculated guidelines range, the district court erred in stating that it could not consider the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses under the guidelines because district courts may disagree with the career offender enhancement on policy grounds related to the crack/powder disparity and impose sentences accordingly.

[06/24] People v. Int'l Fid. Ins., Co.
In a prosecution of defendant for attempted murder and other crimes, trial court's denial of a motion to vacate a forfeiture and exonerate bail is affirmed where: 1) the trial court did not err in denying the motion as, although defendant was subject to a greater potential maximum penalty under the first amended information than he had been under the original complaint, the charges in the first amended information were based on the same acts alleged in the complaint; and 2) the certificate of mailing of the notice of forfeiture which was signed by a deputy clerk on behalf of the clerk of the court was properly executed.

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Evidence

[06/25] Bagby Elevator Co. v. Schindler Elevator Corp.
In an action for tortious interference with contract, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) under the court's highly deferential standard of review, there was no reversible error in the district court's decision to use the pattern jury instruction; 2) there was sufficient evidence of both malice and gross negligence to support an award of exemplary damages; and 3) there was ample evidence of causation to support the verdict.

[06/25] Woodfox v. Cain
In the state's appeal from a grant of petitioner's habeas petition in a murder prosecution, the order is reversed where: 1) petitioner failed to exhaust his Confrontation Clause claim in state court; 2) there was no indication in the state court adjudication that suggested a reliance on any procedural vehicle rather than the merits to deny relief; 3) it was not unreasonable to conclude that defense counsel did not render constitutionally deficient performance by failing to pursue a confrontation objection; and 4) the absence of a fingerprint expert did not cause petitioner prejudice that warrants habeas relief.

[06/25] US v. Williams
In a case involving a defendant's transport of 74 unlawful aliens, and the death of 19 of them after he left the aliens locked in the trailer of his tractor?trailer without activating the trailer's air conditioning unit, defendant's murder convictions are affirmed where: 1) the Government's articulated reasons for striking a veniremember were supported by the voir dire transcripts; and 2) it was not clear error for the district court to include defendant's first trip, during which he transported approximately 60 unlawful aliens, as part of the relevant conduct. However, his sentence is vacated where the district court erred in its definition of "act of violence" under the Federal Death Penalty Act and, under the correct definition, the evidence at trial cannot support a finding that the requisite threshold intent was met.

[06/25] US v. King
In defendant's appeal from the district court's judgment revoking his term of supervised release and imposing additional supervised release conditions on the basis of five violations of his supervised release conditions, the order is affirmed where: 1) 18 U.S.C. section 3605's language did not limit a transferee court's power to violations that occur after transfer; 2) together, the ordinary meaning of "associate," the court's cases, and defendant's probation officer's instructions adequately notified defendant that telephone and e-mail communications with felons were prohibited; and 3) the evidence was sufficient to support the district court's finding that defendant's misrepresentation was intentional.

[06/25] People v. Bloom
Conviction of defendant for resisting arrest and other related charges, arising from making more than 40 harassing calls to 911 in a single evening, is affirmed over a challenge to a denial of a motion to suppress as a dispatcher lawfully arrested defendant for making the calls and she was not required to physically restrain him or to be present at the time of the arrest.

[06/25] Malone v. Lockheed Martin Corp.
In plaintiff's suit for employment discrimination based on race and retaliation, district court's grant of defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law is affirmed where, for substantially the same reasons as the court indicated below, the record reveals no significant evidentiary basis for the verdict.

[06/25] Pickett v. Sheridan Health Care Ctr.
In plaintiff's Title VII suit against her former employer for being fired in retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment by residents of defendant's nursing home, district court's denial of defendant's motions for a new trial and remittitur are affirmed where: 1) plaintiff presented enough evidence to persuade a reasonable jury that her complaints caused defendant to fire her; 2) it was not an abuse of discretion to deny the motion for a new trial on the basis of plaintiff's counsel's closing arguments; 3) it was not an abuse of discretion in denying remittitur on the compensatory damages as enough evidence supported a jury award of $25,000, which is well within the $200,000 cap set out in 42 U.S.C. section 1981a(b)(3)(C); and 4) it was not an abuse of discretion in denying remittitur on the punitive damage award and the logic of Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, 128 S. Ct. 2605 (2008) does not apply to this Title VII case.

[06/25] US v. Huff
Defendant's convictions and sentences for bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bribery are affirmed in part where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to establish a single conspiracy in this case, and there was no material variance between the indictment and the evidence presented at trial; and 2) the district court did not err in basing the loss amount on defendant's substantive counts of conviction only. However, a restitution order is vacated in part where the circuit court was unable to determine whether the amount of restitution imposed by the district court exceeded the victims' actual losses.

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