Topic
Every decision we've filed under Civil.
The First Circuit held that a noncitizen's deportability for a state drug conviction is determined by the federal Controlled Substances Act as it existed at the time of the conviction, not at the time of removal proceedings. This ruling affirms the Board of Immigration Appeals and joins five other circuits in rejecting the 'time of removal' rule.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court's preliminary injunction regarding Georgia's Election Integrity Act gift ban because the lower court failed to apply the Supreme Court's facial-challenge framework from Moody v. NetChoice. The appellate court remanded the case for a new analysis that weighs the law's constitutional applications against its unconstitutional ones across its full scope.
The First Circuit denied a petition for review of an asylum and withholding of removal claim, upholding the agency's finding that the Colombian government was able to protect the petitioner from a criminal gang. The court held that the petitioner failed to demonstrate the government's inability to provide protection despite ongoing telephonic threats.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a bankruptcy court's judgment rejecting a Creditor Trustee's fraudulent transfer claims against title insurance companies. The appellate court upheld the lower court's finding that the debtor received reasonably equivalent value for its assets and that the corporate entities involved were not alter egos or successors liable for the debtor's debts.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment, holding that an insurance company's interpretation of a preexisting condition exclusion was unreasonable. The court ruled that medical treatment for symptoms does not constitute treatment for a specific disease if neither the patient nor the doctors suspected that disease at the time.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment, holding that Alabama state law does not shield Walker County from federal liability under Section 1983 for its policy of contracting with an incompetent medical provider. The court found sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that the county's deliberate indifference to inmate healthcare violated the Eighth Amendment.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an air ambulance provider's attempt to vacate an Independent Dispute Resolution award under the No Surprises Act. The court held that judicial review is strictly limited to the narrow grounds of the Federal Arbitration Act and that the provider failed to plead sufficient facts of fraud or undue means.
The Eleventh Circuit held that a Walton County ordinance banning all access to privately-owned beaches during the COVID-19 pandemic constituted a physical taking under the Fifth Amendment. The court reversed the district court's summary judgment for the County, ruling that public emergencies do not create an exception to the Takings Clause.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court judgment for an insurance company in a statutory bad faith case, ruling that evidentiary exclusions did not prejudice the plaintiff. The court held that a prior jury verdict establishing excess damages was irrelevant to the jury's determination of whether the insurer acted in bad faith.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment enforcing a 1994 affordable housing agreement between Florida Housing and the Resolution Trust Corporation. The court held that Florida Housing remains bound to the contractual obligation to rent a specified percentage of units below market price for the agreed 40-year term, despite the purchaser's attempt to terminate the obligation early.