Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by the Department of Homeland Security against a lower court ruling. The dismissal was granted following an unopposed motion by the appellants to withdraw the appeal.
The Tenth Circuit denied Abdul Waris Akinsanya a certificate of appealability regarding his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The court held that no reasonable jurist could debate the district court's factual finding that trial counsel adequately advised Akinsanya of the immigration consequences of his plea.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Marco Atkins' convictions for assault and firearm offenses, ruling that any error in admitting a government agent's testimony about security footage did not affect the outcome of the trial. The court held that the evidence of guilt was so substantial that the jury would have convicted Atkins regardless of the agent's statements.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed that school officials violated the Equal Protection Clause by enforcing a sex-segregation policy in an elementary school and retaliated against parents who complained. However, the court reversed the denial of qualified immunity for the teacher regarding substantive due process claims and dismissed procedural due process claims against supervisors for lack of personal participation.
The Tenth Circuit denied a petition for a writ of prohibition because federal courts lack the authority to issue such writs against state courts. The court held that state courts are not inferior federal courts within the meaning of the federal writ statutes.
The Tenth Circuit denied a petition to overturn a federal ban on commercial air tours over Bandelier National Monument, ruling that the Agencies' plan was consistent with the National Parks Air Tour Management Act. The court held that the statutory standard for significant adverse impacts under the Air Tour Act differs from the environmental standard under NEPA, allowing the ban to stand despite a finding of no significant environmental impact.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed a petition for review due to a lack of prosecution. The court noted that the only contact information provided for the petitioners was an email address.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Nelly Idowu's conviction and sentence, rejecting her claim that the district court misapplied sentencing guidelines for money laundering. The court held that because Idowu failed to object to the guideline calculation at sentencing, she could only succeed by showing plain error, which she could not establish.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit granted a motion to voluntarily dismiss an appeal in a contract dispute. The court vacated the scheduled oral argument and dismissed the case upon agreement between the parties.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's summary judgment on an unlawful seizure claim because the appellant failed to challenge one of three independent alternative grounds supporting the ruling. The court also affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force claim, holding that the law was not clearly established at the time of the incident.