Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
The Seventh Circuit dismissed an appeal from a denial of qualified immunity because the case turned on genuine disputes over material facts. Appellate courts lack jurisdiction to resolve factual contests at the summary judgment stage, even when video evidence exists.
The Seventh Circuit granted Indiana's emergency motion to stay a district court injunction that had barred enforcement of Senate Bill 10. Applying the Purcell principle, the court held that federal courts should generally avoid altering election rules on the eve of an election to prevent voter confusion and administrative chaos.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed Omari Andrews's conviction for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, finding the evidence sufficient based on his own admission of four guns during a jail call. The court also upheld the district court's decision to admit fingerprint expert testimony, ruling that the defendant's late objection was untimely and that the expert's methodology was reliable.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to stay litigation in favor of arbitration, holding that the employer failed to prove the employee validly consented to arbitrate. The court clarified that federal policy favors treating arbitration agreements like other contracts, not favoring them above all others.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a § 1983 claim alleging that police officers violated the substantive due process rights of child pornography victims by sharing their images with an untrained auxiliary officer. The court held that no fundamental liberty interest exists under the Fourteenth Amendment to prevent the government from sharing such materials with individuals assisting in an investigation, even if those individuals lack proper authority.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs' substantive due process claims against police officers who shared child pornography images with an untrained auxiliary officer. The court held that while the officers' conduct was improper, no fundamental constitutional right was violated because the delegation of access was not historically prohibited.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs' federal civil rights claims, holding that law enforcement's sharing of child pornography images with an auxiliary officer for identification purposes did not violate a clearly established substantive due process right. The court ruled that while the officer's subsequent misconduct was egregious, the officers' actions were not objectively unreasonable under existing precedent.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Bato Petrov's petition for cancellation of removal, holding that he failed to prove the statutory requirement of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S. citizen relatives. The court further ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted within its discretion in rejecting Petrov's motion to reopen the case as untimely and insufficiently probative.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Bato Petrov's petition for cancellation of removal, holding that his evidence failed to meet the statutory standard of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S. citizen relatives. The court further ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted within its discretion in denying Petrov's motion to reopen based on newly submitted medical and economic evidence.
The Seventh Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging a district court's denial of qualified immunity because the lower court's ruling was not a final adjudication. The appellate court held that the district court's decision to deny immunity without prejudice and invite further arguments at summary judgment did not satisfy the collateral order doctrine.