Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict awarding compensatory damages and attorney fees to an employee who suffered severe sexual harassment. The court rejected the employer's arguments that the damages were unsupported by evidence or that the fee award was excessive.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of two defendants who orchestrated a fraudulent discount scheme involving medical and consumer goods. The court rejected challenges to the indictment, the admission of prior bad acts evidence, and the exclusion of expert testimony.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict awarding a former employee compensatory damages and back pay for a hostile work environment. The court rejected the employer's arguments that the damages were unsupported by evidence or that the attorney fees were excessive.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of two defendants who orchestrated a fraudulent discount scheme involving medical supplies. The court rejected arguments that the scheme was merely a legal deception and upheld the admission of prior bad acts evidence to prove intent.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a conviction for child pornography, ruling that a user's consent to a cloud storage provider's terms of service validly authorized a search of their files. The court held that the provider's review of data to detect illegal content was a private search, not a government action requiring a warrant.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment granting summary judgment to the Patent and Trademark Office, holding that draft decisions and related emails circulated among administrative patent judges are protected from disclosure under the deliberative process privilege of the Freedom of Information Act.
The Eighth Circuit dismissed an appeal by a defendant who had entered a plea agreement containing an appeal waiver. The court found the waiver valid and enforceable, concluding there were no non-frivolous issues outside its scope.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment revoking supervised release and imposing a twelve-month prison term. The appellate court held that any error in admitting hearsay evidence at the revocation hearing was harmless because the conviction alone sufficiently proved the violation.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that police had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle based on the totality of circumstances and the defendant's flight.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by the Federal Public Defender to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review.
