Topic
Every decision we've filed under Constitutional.
The Fifth Circuit remanded this case to clarify the specific relief granted in a district court judgment regarding a Takings Clause violation. The appellate court found the lower court's November ruling ambiguous about whether it provided operative relief to the plaintiff.
The First Circuit held that a state prisoner's second habeas petition challenging a conviction is not 'second or successive' under AEDPA when the underlying sentence was modified by a state court ruling declaring the original sentence unconstitutional. Because the modification created a new judgment, the petitioner bypassed the federal court's gatekeeping requirements for successive petitions.
The Eleventh Circuit denied Frank A. Walls's motion for a stay of execution, ruling that his last-minute Eighth Amendment challenge to Florida's lethal injection protocol was barred by inexcusable delay. The court held that Walls failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits because he waited months to file suit despite knowing of his health risks and the protocol's history for years.
The First Circuit affirmed the denial of James Garrey's habeas petition, ruling that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did not unreasonably apply federal law in upholding a prosecutor's peremptory strike of a minority juror. The court held that the state trial court's acceptance of the prosecutor's race-neutral explanation was reasonable given the ambiguous record and the high deference required under AEDPA.
The Eleventh Circuit held that Clearwater's five-foot vehicular safety zone buffer around an abortion clinic likely violated the First Amendment under the Supreme Court's ruling in McCullen v. Coakley. The court found the district court abused its discretion in denying a preliminary injunction because the ordinance was not narrowly tailored to serve the city's safety interests.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Cecil Buckner's § 2255 motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to his career-offender classification. The court held that Buckner failed to show prejudice because his actual sentence was below the guideline range he would have received without the classification.
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 affirmed the denial of a writ of error coram nobis for a petitioner convicted of possessing a firearm as an alien unlawfully present. The court held that the failure to give a Rehaif instruction was not fundamental error because the evidence of the petitioner's knowledge of his status was overwhelming.
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 Second Circuit affirmed R. Kelly's RICO and Mann Act convictions, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and the constitutionality of the underlying state laws. The court also upheld the district court's evidentiary rulings, jury selection process, and restitution orders, leaving the defendant subject to his original sentence and financial penalties.