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The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the Yateses' mortgage dispute, ruling that their claims were barred by the doctrine of res judicata. The court also upheld the lower court's prefiling injunction, finding no abuse of discretion in restricting the plaintiffs' ability to file new lawsuits on the same issues.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a vessel owner, holding that a longshoreman failed to provide sufficient evidence of a latent defect in a walkway railing. The court ruled that without proof the owner knew of the danger, the vessel did not breach its narrow safety duties under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Keionta Shawn Hagens's conviction and sentence, ruling that any potential error in calculating his Sentencing Guidelines range was harmless. The court held that the district court would have imposed the same 156-month sentence regardless of the error and that the sentence remained substantively reasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a negligence judgment in favor of a truck driver's victim, ruling that the driver's conduct lacked the 'evil mind' required for punitive damages under Arizona law. The court further held that sufficient medical evidence supported the causal link between the accident and the plaintiff's vision loss, rejecting arguments for a new trial or judgment as a matter of law.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by a nonparty challenging a district court's refusal to docket his unauthorized motion. The court held that the order returning the motion was neither a final judgment nor an appealable interlocutory order, leaving the appellant without standing to proceed.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a 240-month statutory maximum sentence for child pornography possession, rejecting claims that the district court unreasonably weighed the defendant's prior sexual assault conviction. The court held that the district court properly considered the defendant's lack of remorse and the need to protect the public under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a pro se borrower's complaint but modified the order to dismiss without prejudice. The court held that dismissals based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, which addresses subject matter jurisdiction defects, must be without prejudice because a court lacking jurisdiction cannot adjudicate claims on the merits.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Emmanuel Adeyinka's § 1983 false arrest and conspiracy claims because his complaint failed to allege sufficient factual matter to state a plausible claim. The panel applied de novo review and found the plaintiff did not provide enough facts to support the necessary elements for Fourth Amendment violations or municipal liability.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision that Wildseed's patent claims were unpatentable as obvious. The court rejected Wildseed's narrow interpretation of claim language regarding user data, ruling that derived information from text messages satisfies the patent's requirements.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a former city employee's due process claims, ruling that her at-will employment status negated any protected property interest in her job. The court further held that her substantive due process claim was time-barred because the termination became final upon receipt of the notice, not after the internal appeal process concluded.
