Correspondent
Federal courthouse correspondent, covers civil rights, employment discrimination, housing rights, and Second Amendment disputes.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Felix Mauro Torres's federal lawsuit because he failed to object to the magistrate judge's recommendation within the required timeframe. This procedural failure triggered the court's firm waiver rule, preventing Torres from raising his constitutional claims on appeal.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pro se civil rights action brought against a state superior court. The court held that the Eleventh Amendment bars such claims against state judicial bodies.
The Tenth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability because the petitioner failed to allege specific, credible constitutional violations in his habeas petition. The court dismissed the appeal, finding the petitioner's claims were delusional and factually frivolous under the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a prisoner's civil rights claims, ruling that he failed to allege facts showing a protected liberty interest or deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The court held that the plaintiff's allegations did not meet the legal standards required to survive a motion to dismiss under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
The Sixth Circuit reversed the district court's certification of a class action against State Farm, holding that individualized issues regarding the unique value of each insured vehicle predominate over common questions. The court reasoned that because determining actual cash value requires case-by-case analysis, a class-wide resolution is unmanageable under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3).
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for state defendants, holding that states and their agencies are not "persons" subject to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This ruling forecloses federal civil rights claims against state entities regardless of any waiver of sovereign immunity.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Jason Stanford's lawsuit because he filed the action without obtaining prior leave of court as required by a valid vexatious litigant order. The court held that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) permits sua sponte dismissal for such non-compliance and that Stanford could not relitigate the validity of the underlying order.
The Fifth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction against Texas's Senate Bill 4, ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the law.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a judgment finding that a police officer did not shoot a tribal member on a reservation. The court held that the government did not abuse its discretion in imposing a rebuttable adverse inference sanction for spoliation of evidence.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Proclamation and Guidance issued by President Trump, which circumvented the Immigration and Nationality Act's removal procedures, were unlawful.
