Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a father's petition to return his two young children to Scotland under the Hague Convention. The court held that the children lacked a habitual residence in Scotland because their mother never intended to settle there and the children lacked meaningful social ties to the country.
The Second Circuit affirmed convictions for RICO conspiracy and related firearm offenses against three Rollin' 30s Crips leaders, rejecting challenges to evidence sufficiency and jury instructions. The court dismissed one defendant's appeal regarding a sentencing departure for lack of jurisdiction, leaving his 288-month prison term intact.
The Second Circuit affirmed RICO and firearm convictions for three Rollin' 30s Crips leaders, rejecting claims of insufficient evidence and trial errors. The court dismissed one defendant's sentencing appeal for lack of jurisdiction while upholding the remaining judgments.
The Second Circuit affirmed the convictions of three Rollin' 30s Crips members for racketeering and firearms offenses, finding the evidence sufficient to support the jury's verdicts. The court dismissed one defendant's appeal regarding a sentencing departure for lack of jurisdiction due to a missed filing deadline.
The Second Circuit reversed a dismissal of an antitrust claim against Meta, holding that the plaintiff adequately alleged fraudulent concealment to equitably toll the statute of limitations. The court found that Meta's public statements about its algorithmic feed and the inherently self-concealing nature of the suppression scheme prevented the plaintiff from discovering the claim until October 2017.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Barry Ray Knight's conviction for child pornography offenses but vacated specific supervised release conditions that were not orally pronounced. The court rejected Knight's argument that a pornography restriction was overbroad because it applies only to visual depictions rather than written descriptions.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction against Idaho's 'recruiting' prong of its abortion trafficking statute, ruling it unconstitutionally overbroad under the First Amendment. However, the court reversed the injunction regarding the 'harboring' and 'transporting' provisions, finding those terms cover non-expressive conduct unlikely to violate the Constitution.
The Second Circuit affirmed Andrew Davis's conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, ruling that circumstantial evidence sufficiently linked his girlfriend's cash deposits to his drug trafficking proceeds. The court also rejected ten pro se arguments regarding ineffective assistance, double jeopardy, and sentencing enhancements as meritless, forfeited, or premature.
The Second Circuit vacated a default judgment against a corrections officer, ruling that the district court abused its discretion by awarding damages while dismissing identical claims against co-defendants for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Applying the prohibition on inconsistent judgments, the court held that a plaintiff cannot prevail against a defaulting defendant when the same legal bar precludes the claims against litigating co-defendants.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a nearly $100 million forfeiture judgment against Julian Omidi and his business for a health care fraud scheme. The court rejected the argument that a '100% Fraud Rule' applies, holding that all proceeds derived from the fraud must be forfeited even if some legitimate transactions contributed to those proceeds.
