pwmollica1961

Culture Wars in the Eleventh Circuit? En Banc Court Votes to Vacate Conviction Because Christian Juror Who “Trusted the Holy Ghost” Was Erroneously Dismissed from Trial

In United States v. Brown, No. 17-15470 (11th Cir. May 6, 2021) (en banc), a strict partisan split yields a 7-4 decision to vacate the fraud conviction of a former U.S. Representative because the judge removed a juror during deliberations who said that “A Higher Being told me [the defendant] was Not Guilty on allContinue reading “Culture Wars in the Eleventh Circuit? En Banc Court Votes to Vacate Conviction Because Christian Juror Who “Trusted the Holy Ghost” Was Erroneously Dismissed from Trial”

Eleventh Circuit Holds Deaf User of City Website Had Standing to Sue, While Concurring Opinion Urges Complete Overhaul of Injury-in-Fact Inquiry for Article III Standing

In Sierra v. City of Hallandale Beach Fla., No. 19-13694 (11th Cir. May 6, 2021), the panel holds that a deaf visitor to a municipal website had standing to challenge the lack of closed captioning on the videos. Judge Newsom, in a 57-page separate opinion, expresses “doubt that current standing doctrine—and especially its injury-in-fact requirement—isContinue reading “Eleventh Circuit Holds Deaf User of City Website Had Standing to Sue, While Concurring Opinion Urges Complete Overhaul of Injury-in-Fact Inquiry for Article III Standing”

Tenth Circuit Declines Appellate Jurisdiction to Review District Court’s Findings in Investigation of a U.S. Attorney’s Office

In United States v. Carter, No. 20-3042 (10th Cir. May 4, 2021), the Tenth Circuit holds that it lacks jurisdiction to review a district court’s investigation of recordings of attorney-client communications at a federal detention center, obtained by the United States Attorney’s Office in Kansas (USAO). “After learning that the USAO had these recordings, theContinue reading “Tenth Circuit Declines Appellate Jurisdiction to Review District Court’s Findings in Investigation of a U.S. Attorney’s Office”

Panel Holds That Fourteenth Amendment Standards Constrain Fifth Amendment Personal Jurisdiction Over a Foreign Defendant, But Urges Reversal En Banc

Ed note 7-2-21: The Fifth Circuit vacated this opinion and will hear it en banc. https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-30382-CV1.pdf In Douglass v. Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, No. 20-30379 (5th Cir. Apr. 30, 2021) (per curiam), the panel struggles with application of the federal due process personal jurisdiction test to a foreign defendant. While agreeing with the plaintiff inContinue reading “Panel Holds That Fourteenth Amendment Standards Constrain Fifth Amendment Personal Jurisdiction Over a Foreign Defendant, But Urges Reversal En Banc”

Eleventh Circuit Holds That 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(1) Does Not Grant Concurrent Jurisdiction in U.S. District Court Over Case for Overpayment Interest Owed to the Taxpayer

In Paresky v. United States, No. 19-14589 (11th Cir. Apr. 30, 2021), the Eleventh Circuit holds “a matter of first impression within our Circuit” that 28 U.S.C. § 1346, the general federal jurisdiction statute for cases where the United States is a defendant, does not confer jurisdiction “concurrent with the United States Court of FederalContinue reading “Eleventh Circuit Holds That 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(1) Does Not Grant Concurrent Jurisdiction in U.S. District Court Over Case for Overpayment Interest Owed to the Taxpayer”

Defendant Waited Too Long to Move for Forum Non Conveniens, Holds Eighth Circuit

In Hersh v. CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., No. 19-2794 (8th Cir. Apr. 28, 2021), the Eighth Circuit holds that under any standard of timeliness, the defendants waited too long to raise their forum non conveniens defense – 18 months after the case commenced. The case involved a wrongful death, an electrocution at an indoor playgroundContinue reading “Defendant Waited Too Long to Move for Forum Non Conveniens, Holds Eighth Circuit”

Second Circuit Holds That the Costs of “Proactive Measures” to Avoid Identity Theft Is Not an Actual Injury for Title III Purposes

In McMorris v. Carlos Lopez & Assocs., LLC, No. 19-4310 (2d Cir. Apr. 27, 2021), the Second Circuit holds that state-law claims for an intraoffice data leak may constitute an “actual injury” for Article III standing purposes, though in this case plaintiffs factually failed to allege an injury for taking “proactive measures.” Defendant CLA “providesContinue reading “Second Circuit Holds That the Costs of “Proactive Measures” to Avoid Identity Theft Is Not an Actual Injury for Title III Purposes”

Tenth Circuit Finds No “Practical Finality” Exception to Administrative Remand Rule in IDEA Case

In C.W. v. Denver Cnty. Sch. Dict., No. 19-1407 (10th Cir. Apr. 20, 2021), the panel dismisses an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act appeal under the “administrative remand” rule and remands with directions to stay the action pending the administrative hearing. “Through his parents, C.W. sought and received a due process hearing with a stateContinue reading “Tenth Circuit Finds No “Practical Finality” Exception to Administrative Remand Rule in IDEA Case”

First Circuit Finds an “Exception to the Exception” of the Merger Rule to Review Interlocutory Order

In Commonwealth Sch. Inc. v. Commonwealth Acad. Holdings, No. 20-1112 (1st Cir. Apr. 14, 2021), the First Circuit holds that it has appellate jurisdiction over an interlocutory order denying enforcement of a settlement, in a case testing the length of an exception to the merger rule. The parties, two private schools, were locked in aContinue reading “First Circuit Finds an “Exception to the Exception” of the Merger Rule to Review Interlocutory Order”