Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Sixth Circuit reversed the dismissal of ERISA claims alleging that pension plans used outdated mortality data to calculate benefits for married participants. The court held that the statutory requirement for actuarial equivalence prohibits the use of unreasonable, inapplicable actuarial assumptions that fail to reflect modern life expectancies.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a defendant's request to disqualify his probation officer. The panel held that challenges to modified supervised release conditions were moot and that the district court lacked authority to order reassignment based on a self-created conflict.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Tomonta Simmons's conviction for unlawful firearm possession by a felon, rejecting his Second Amendment challenge to his guilty plea. The court also upheld his sentence, finding no procedural or substantive error in the district court's application of sentencing guidelines.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a 12-month supervised release revocation sentence, finding no plain error in the district court's handling of the defendant's arguments regarding his original state detainer. The panel held that the sentence was substantively reasonable given the defendant's overall dishonesty and performance on supervision, not just a single relapse event.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a 105-month prison sentence for a felon in possession of a firearm, rejecting claims that the sentence was procedurally or substantively unreasonable. The court held that the district court properly considered the defendant's arguments and adequately justified an upward variance from the Sentencing Guidelines.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a defendant's motion for compassionate release, ruling that the district court's reliance on sentencing factors was sufficient to deny relief. The court held that any potential error regarding the defendant's extraordinary and compelling circumstances was harmless because the sentence reduction would not reflect the seriousness of the offense.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of Dayton Peterson and John Lohden, Jr., for kidnapping, robbery, and impersonating an officer. The court rejected the defendants' challenges to the admission of text messages, the sufficiency of evidence, and the propriety of their joint trial.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Jesse Moore's conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery and firearm offenses, rejecting his challenge to the denial of his motion to suppress. The court held that the initial police encounter was a consensual exchange and that the subsequent search of the property fell under the open fields doctrine.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 60-month prison sentence imposed on Damon Eugene Houston for violating conditions of supervised release in two prior federal cases. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by ordering consecutive sentences and by properly weighing the mitigating evidence presented by the defendant.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from representing Joshua Thompson in his direct criminal appeal. The court affirmed the defendant's conviction and sentence after an independent review found no arguable issues for appeal.
