First Circuit -- Mendes v. Brady

State supreme court gatekeeper process for state habeus claims upheld - referees whether claim is 'new and substantial.'


Mendes v. Brady

Second Circuit -- A.Q.C. v. United States

Claim barred by FTCA statute of limitations - if SOL could be tolled, it wouldn't be tolled in this case, due to dilatory lawyerin'.


A.Q.C. v. United States

Second Circuit -- United States v. Aumais

Child pr0n victim's injuries not proximately caused by possessor of images - Circuit split flagged.

No substantive/procedural error in sentence.

United States v. Aumais

Eleventh Circuit -- Manuel Valle vs Steven Singer, Timothy Cannon, et al

Death penalty prisoner's habeus challenge to injection protocol denied.

Manuel Valle vs Steven Singer, Timothy Cannon, et al  

[Thou shalt not kill.  -TMB]

Eleventh Circuit -- Sara E. Krinsk v. Suntrust Bank

Amendment of the complaint revived (amending) party's right to compulsory arbitration.

Sara E. Krinsk v. Suntrust Bank

Eleventh Circuit -- Lydia Rosenfeld v. Oceania Cruises, Inc.

Question of suitability of floor materials in slip & fall case was an appropriate one for expert witness

Lydia Rosenfeld v. Oceania Cruises, Inc.

Eleventh Circuit -- Covenant Christian Ministries, Inc., Pastor Frederick T. Anderson vs City of Marietta, Georgia

RLUIPA challenge to municipal building codes.


Injunctive relief claims made moot by subsequent legislation.

No damages, as church was seeking to build in a residential zone.

Covenant Christian Ministries, Inc., Pastor Frederick T. Anderson vs City of Marietta, Georgia

Eleventh Circuit -- Kenneth Loggins v. Thomas

Though Roper bars the death penalty for juveniles, they can still be charged with capital crimes and sentenced to life without parole.

Kenneth Loggins v. Thomas

Eleventh Circuit -- James D. Gentry v. Harborage Cottages-Stuart

Florida property developer not exempt from disclosure requirements, as there was no real-world reason to split the acquisition of the property into two lots, neither of which was large enough to trigger the requirements.

James D. Gentry v. Harborage Cottages-Stuart

Eleventh Circuit -- USA v. Arthur Smith

FSA challenge TKO'd by appeals waiver.

USA v. Arthur Smith

Tenth Circuit -- Tarrant Regional v. Herrmann

We hold that the Red River Compact insulates Oklahoma water statutes from dormant Commerce Clause challenge insofar as they apply to surface water subject to the Compact. We also uphold the Oklahoma statutes against Tarrant’s preemption claim.

Tarrant Regional v. Herrmann

Tenth Circuit -- Helm v. State of Kansas

Farragher-Ellis affirmative defense TKO's Title VII harassment claim of judge's administrative assistant.

Helm v. State of Kansas

Tenth Circuit -- Rivera-Barrientos v. Holder, Jr.

No abuse of discretion in BIA holding that El Salvadoran young women who have resisted gangs are not a cognizable social group.

Rivera-Barrientos v. Holder, Jr.

Tenth Circuit -- City of Hugo v. Nichols

Municipality can't sue state water board because of dormant commerce clause - municipality is a subdivision of state.

Plaintiff whose claims derive from the municipality has no standing as well, as claim is not redressable.

Dissent - subdivision has standing where sufficiently independent & making a constitutional claim.

City of Hugo v. Nichols

Ninth Circuit -- OLGA CERVANTES V. COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.

Probable cause for arrest of driver very different than probable cause for search of car.

OLGA CERVANTES V. COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.

Ninth Circuit -- OLGA CERVANTES V. COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.

Dismissal of class action against electronic mortgage system upheld.

OLGA CERVANTES V. COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.

Ninth Circuit -- LACEY SIVAK V. JOHN HARDISON

Knowing presentation of perjured inmate testimony suffices for habeus for death penalty deft.

LACEY SIVAK V. JOHN HARDISON

[Thou shalt not kill.  -TMB]

Eighth Circuit -- Employers Reinsurance Company v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins

 Insurance contract had a follow-the-settlements provision.

Continuing course of conduct did not toll SOL under Connecticut law.

Employers Reinsurance Company v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins

Eighth Circuit -- Nancy Mader v. United States

When claimant's representative doesn't produce appropriate credentials to agency, subsequent Article III claims are barred, as FTCA requires such showing.

Dissent - the requirement comes from a reg, not the statute.

Nancy Mader v. United States

Seventh Circuit -- USA v. Gary Stevenson

No error in introduction of marihuana evidence given that cocaine conspiracy was slam dunk.

No variance from guidelines.

USA v. Gary Stevenson

Seventh Circuit -- USA v. Israel Pillado

Some relief for drug conspiracy defts, given that more than half were strangers who agreed to unload a truck.


USA v. Israel Pillado

Seventh Circuit -- USA v. Jose Alvarado-Tizoc

When sentencing drugs defts by weight of drugs sold, dealers who sell undiluted products to distributors who then dilute them before retail should be sentenced for the wholesale weight, not the retail weight.  

Judge can then adjust ranges to account for extrinsic factors.

USA v. Jose Alvarado-Tizoc

Seventh Circuit -- Ronald Reher v. Frank Vivo

Officer had probable cause for disturbing the peace arrest given knowledge of S1983 plaintiff's troubled relationship with ex-wife.

Second officer get qualified immunity, as others in park said deft was videotaping kids, depsite deft claim that he was taping confrontation with ex-wife.

Ronald Reher v. Frank Vivo

Seventh Circuit -- Sergio Escobar v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Columbian pro-government trucker wasn't getting persecuted for being a trucker.  Remand to BIA.


Sergio Escobar v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Sixth Circuit -- Stanley Jalowiec v. Margaret Bradshaw

Death Penalty habeus denied.

Brady violation procedurally defaulted.  Prejudice from gov't's delay in revealing the information does not excuse, as the information isn't sufficiently material (i.e. game-changing).

Ineffective assistance claim TKO'd - another client of deft's counsel testified against deft in exchange for some consideration, deft's counsel crossed witness at trial.

State finding that hearsay introduced in penalty phase to dispel residual guilt was kosher is not contrary to clearly established law.

No mitigation-stage ineffective assistance.

No ineffective assistance on appeals, as even a non-'inept' presentation would not have seen these claims prevail.

Stanley Jalowiec v. Margaret Bradshaw 

[Thou shalt not kill.  -TMB]

Fifth Circuit -- Opelousas General Hosp Auth v. FairPay Solutions,

Conduct of local deft insufficient to trigger CAFA local controversy exception.

Opelousas General Hosp Auth v. FairPay Solutions,

Fifth Circuit -- USA v. Aaron Robinson

 No error in sentencing court's application of 'use of minor' enhancement where deft had the kid buy the cell phone that deft later used to make bomb threats.

USA v. Aaron Robinson

Fifth Circuit -- Toni Hollinger, et al v. Home State Mutual Ins Co.

 No error in District Court CAFA finding that most of the plaintiffs were non-alien Texans.

 Toni Hollinger, et al v. Home State Mutual Ins Co.

Fifth Circuit -- USA v. Antonio Scott

Sentencing bump for prior sentences for crimes of violence would be the same if considered as prior crimes of violece - doesn't matter that deft shot all victims as part of the same occurrence.

Later revision of guidelines do not establish that changed bits accomplish none of the valid purposes of punishment.

USA v. Antonio Scott

Third Circuit -- Amer Auto Ins Co v. Stephen Meloni

While a directly injured victim has standing in a declaratory insurance action, a passenger who attaches liability to a third party who then can sue the client of the insurance company does not have standing.

For purposes of accrual of the policy's timeframe, the wrongful act was not failing to purchase liquor liability insurance on the date of the accident, but rather not purchasing same upon first discovery of the need for it.

Amer Auto Ins Co v. Stephen Meloni

Third Circuit -- USA v. Thomas Pendleton

Venue is proper in the district of arrest when the act is committed entirely in a foreign country.

As the jurisdictional element in statute has an express [as opposed to local?] connection to interstate commerce, valid under Lopez.

USA v. Thomas Pendleton

Third Circuit -- Robert Jackson, III v. Carl Danberg

No abuse of discretion in denial of stay of execution due to pending challenge to lethal injection prototcol.

Robert Jackson, III v. Carl Danberg

[Thou shalt not kill.  - TMB]

Second Circuit - Dyncorp v. Dir., OWCP

Revised opinion.

Dyncorp v. Dir., OWCP