Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Donald Ray Hurst, Jr.'s conviction and sentence while dismissing his appeal regarding the reasonableness of his lifetime supervised release term. The court remanded the case solely to correct a clerical error where a recommended vocational training provision was omitted from the written judgment.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by Derritt Swearington against the Federal Trade Commission. The court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction because the district court order denying a motion for default judgment was not a final or appealable interlocutory order.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by a federal prisoner seeking to challenge a district court's dismissal of his successive habeas motion. The court denied a certificate of appealability because the prisoner failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a Tax Court order dismissing a taxpayer's challenge to restitution-based assessments for lack of jurisdiction. The appellate court also upheld summary judgment regarding unpaid federal income tax and civil penalties.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed Reshod Jamar Everett's appeal from the denial of his federal habeas corpus motion because he failed to obtain a certificate of appealability. The court independently reviewed the record and found that Everett did not make the requisite showing that reasonable jurists could find the district court's assessment of his constitutional claims debatable.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a sentence reduction motion under Section thirty-five eighty-two, subsection C, paragraph two. The court held that Amendment eight hundred twenty-one to the Sentencing Guidelines does not authorize reducing a sentence imposed for a supervised release revocation.
The Fourth Circuit denied a petition for a writ of mandamus, ruling that a district court has no obligation under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e) to evaluate a class settlement after denying class certification. The court further held that mandamus cannot serve as a substitute for an appeal when adequate appellate remedies exist.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of a sentence reduction for a defendant whose criminal history category was lowered by a Sentencing Guidelines amendment. The court held that a statutory mandatory minimum sentence prevented any further reduction of the term already being served.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a pro se plaintiff's claims under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The court held that the plaintiff failed to state a plausible claim for relief under the standard established in Ashcroft v. Iqbal.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order granting summary judgment against a pro se plaintiff. The appellate court found no reversible error in the lower court's adoption of a magistrate judge's recommendation regarding defamation and employment discrimination claims.