Every decision we've summarized — searchable, filterable, neutral.
The Ninth Circuit held that the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act authorizes the government to seize funds accumulated gradually from multiple sources in an inmate's trust account. The court affirmed the district court's order turning over over $1,200 to satisfy unpaid restitution obligations.
The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's denial of a motion to certify a question of Illinois law to the state's highest court. The appellate court held that conflicting Illinois precedents regarding permitted industrial emissions create genuine uncertainty about whether such discharges constitute traditional environmental pollution under the Koloms standard.
The Seventh Circuit certified to the Illinois Supreme Court the unsettled question of whether industrial emissions of ethylene oxide discharged pursuant to a regulatory permit constitute traditional environmental pollution under standard commercial general liability policies. The court reversed the district court's judgment and remanded the case to await the state supreme court's resolution of this critical insurance coverage issue.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment quieting title to riverbeds, holding that only the Sun River to Black Eagle Falls Segment was navigable in fact at the time of Montana's statehood. The court rejected the State's argument that actual river use alone establishes navigability and confirmed that the segment-by-segment analysis required by PPL Montana was correctly applied to all disputed reaches.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to compel individual arbitration, holding that a consumer was not a 'party aggrieved' when an arbitration provider consolidated thousands of identical filings. The court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act does not allow a petitioner to challenge procedural consolidation or seek to modify the agreement to force individual arbitration.
The Second Circuit affirmed that the City of New York lawfully detained a parolee pursuant to a warrant that remained facially valid despite the expiration of the statutory deadline for a preliminary hearing. The court held that New York law requires municipal authorities to honor outstanding parole warrants until the state board of parole lifts them, regardless of procedural delays in the state's internal hearing process.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of state antitrust claims against Qualcomm, holding that California law does not depart from federal precedent regarding the company's licensing policies. However, the court vacated summary judgment on Unfair Competition Law claims because the federal court lacked equitable jurisdiction to award restitution for past conduct.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Philip Powers III's convictions for setting three forest fires, ruling that his necessity defense failed because his actions were objectively unreasonable and he did not face imminent harm at the time of the first fire. The court held that even in a life-threatening situation, a defendant must choose the safest available method to signal for help, and Powers failed to meet this standard.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Brandon Wade Kurns's conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The panel held that photographic evidence and ATF transfer forms sufficiently proved the enhancements applied, and that the district court did not violate the Fifth Amendment by suggesting Kurns could testify to rebut the government's case.
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of a criminal charge, holding that the Federal Land Policy and Management Act provides a sufficient intelligible principle to validate the Secretary of the Interior's regulatory authority. The court clarified that statutory mandates for sustainable land management constrain executive discretion enough to satisfy Article I's non-delegation doctrine.
