Topic
Every decision we've filed under Fourteenth Amendment - Equal Protection.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Erwin Eugene Semien's civil rights complaint, ruling that he abandoned several claims and failed to adequately allege constitutional violations. The court held that Semien did not state a claim for due process or equal protection because he lacked a protected property interest and failed to identify specific comparators.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for law enforcement officers in a civil rights lawsuit brought by a man arrested for domestic violence-related offenses. The court held that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to dispute probable cause for his arrest, discriminatory intent in his enforcement, or personal participation in firearm restrictions.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a prison official in a civil rights case, ruling that the inmate failed to prove deliberate indifference regarding his housing assignment. The court applied plain error review due to the appellant's failure to object to the magistrate judge's report and found no clear error in the district court's dismissal of the claim.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's application of Younger abstention for most claims while the plaintiffs had ongoing state proceedings, but reversed the dismissal of specific First Amendment retaliation claims. The court remanded the retaliation claims for adjudication because they were sufficiently separable from the state enforcement actions and did not pose a risk of enjoining those proceedings.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's application of Younger abstention for most claims but reversed the dismissal of a First Amendment retaliation claim. The court held that while ongoing state proceedings generally preclude federal intervention, the unique nature of the retaliation injury created an exceptional circumstance allowing the federal case to proceed on that specific issue.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Marshall Grace's conviction for drug conspiracy, ruling that he failed to prove purposeful racial discrimination under Batson v. Kentucky. The court held that the district court's assessment of the prosecutor's credibility regarding a race-neutral reason for striking a juror was not clearly erroneous.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a 360-month sentence for child pornography production, ruling that the defendant failed to prove the government's gender-based comments at sentencing constituted plain or structural error. The court held that the district court's reliance on the nature of the crime and abuse of trust, rather than the defendant's sex, meant the defendant's substantial rights were not affected.
The Third Circuit reversed the District Court's grant of summary judgment, predicting that the New Jersey Supreme Court would invalidate the state's 'Background Circumstances Rule' for employment discrimination claims. The court held that the rule, which imposes a heightened burden on majority-group plaintiffs, is incompatible with the text of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Ronald Beasley's conviction for health-care fraud and conspiracy, rejecting his claims regarding newly discovered evidence and evidentiary rulings. The court held that the district court properly admitted evidence of uncharged theft as intrinsic evidence and did not err in denying a new trial or failing to hold an in-camera hearing on a witness's Fifth Amendment invocation.
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of an indictment charging defendants with violating the Anti-Riot Act, holding that they failed to satisfy the rigorous two-prong selective prosecution standard. The panel found no similarly situated individuals were unpunished because the lower court improperly compared collective far-left groups to specific defendants and determined that timing and other government actions did not prove impermissible motive.