Topic
Every decision we've filed under Constitutional.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed a federal prisoner's application for a certificate of appealability because the issues raised did not involve the denial of a constitutional right. The court clarified that procedural questions regarding successive habeas motions cannot bypass statutory restrictions on second-or-successive petitions.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment granting summary judgment to the Patent and Trademark Office, holding that draft decisions and related emails circulated among administrative patent judges are protected from disclosure under the deliberative process privilege of the Freedom of Information Act.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court order extending a consent decree by one hundred eighteen days due to substantial noncompliance by immigration officials. The court reversed in part the lower court's order releasing hundreds of potential class members, holding that the government's mandatory detention authority under Section twelve hundred twenty-five does not apply to noncitizens unlawfully present within the United States.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a Customs and Border Protection officer who was found guilty of depriving a traveler of his rights and falsifying records. The court rejected the officer's due process claim that the government violated his rights by deleting a video of a separate incident under its standard retention policy.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability to a state prisoner challenging the timeliness of his federal habeas petition. The court found the petitioner failed to demonstrate that reasonable jurists would debate the district court's procedural ruling that his claim was time-barred.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging the reasonableness of a below-guideline sentence. The court held that the defendant had knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal in his plea agreement.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment dismissing a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. The appellate court held that the plaintiff's claims were time-barred and that her gender discrimination claim was unexhausted.
The Fifth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a Fourth Amendment claim regarding a police re-entry into a home after officers realized they were at the wrong address. The court affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force claim, finding that pointing a gun at a sleeping couple in this context did not violate clearly established law.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of a federal habeas corpus petition filed by a South Dakota death row inmate. The court rejected six claims challenging the constitutionality of habeas deference, procedural default, and ineffective assistance of counsel.
The Ninth Circuit granted a stay and abeyance to allow a death row inmate to present an ineffective assistance of counsel claim at sentencing to state court. The court held that the claim was not procedurally barred under Arizona law despite the petitioner's failure to raise it in a prior petition.