Correspondent
Federal courthouse correspondent, covers civil rights, employment discrimination, housing rights, and Second Amendment disputes.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Saltgrass in a contract dispute over a property covenant. The court held that uncontroverted testimony from the drafter resolved the ambiguity, making interpretation a question of law rather than a jury issue.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by Howard Lawrence Ellsworth, III and Theresa Lynn Ellsworth as frivolous. The court denied their motion to proceed in forma pauperis because they failed to meaningfully challenge the district court's dismissal of their claims.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of most employment discrimination claims by a physician against the Department of Veterans Affairs. The court vacated the dismissal of two claims regarding the suspension of clinical privileges and remanded those specific counts for further proceedings.
The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court's summary judgment on an employment discrimination claim involving a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The court held that the Railway Labor Act did not automatically preclude the plaintiff's claims because his requested accommodation differed materially from prior precedent.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a motion to remand the case to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The court ordered the Board to reconsider its holding in light of two recent decisions without addressing the merits of the parties' arguments.
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court judgment that dismissed an unincorporated association as a defendant in a voter intimidation case. The court held that unincorporated associations qualify as persons who can be sued under the Voting Rights Act and Section nineteen eighty-five of the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The First Circuit affirmed the defendant's federal convictions but found error in applying a career offender sentencing enhancement. The court held that the enhancement was inapplicable because the prior state conviction did not involve a substance controlled under federal law at the time of federal sentencing.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the denial of attorneys' fees to a former Army soldier seeking a Purple Heart under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The court held the soldier was not a prevailing party because the remand was based on new evidence rather than agency error, and the government's position was substantially justified.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim against a paramedic who restrained a man in traffic. The court held that the plaintiff failed to show the right was clearly established under qualified immunity.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Florida's constitutional challenge to the federal government's reliance on private educational accreditors for disbursing student aid. The court held that private accreditors do not exercise governmental power and that the accreditation requirement is an ascertainable condition under the Spending Clause.
