Federal Circuit -- SLESINGER V. DISNEY ENTERPRISES

As earlier court had held that plaintiff had assigned all IP rights, collateral estoppel bars the suit.

SLESINGER V. DISNEY ENTERPRISES

DC Circuit -- Sealed Case

Restitution is not per se part of the sentence for purposes of appeals waiver.  Circuit split flagged.

Based on agreement, colloquy, and contra proferentem, appeals waiver did not waive appeal rights for the restitution.

 No abuse of discretion in restitution order.

Sealed Case

Ninth Circuit -- NATIONAL ELEVATOR INDUSTRY PEN V. VERIFONE HOLDINGS, INC.

When assessing scienter for purposes of PSLRA, courts can use holistic approach, piecemeal approach, or both.

Despite the facts that individual instances were explainable, viewed holistically, the inference of deliberate recklessness was at least as compelling as any other, and therefore the claim was sufficiently pleaded.

Charging a controlling person under 20(A) means that you have to establish scienter at pleading for the controlled persons violation of 10(b).

NATIONAL ELEVATOR INDUSTRY PEN V. VERIFONE HOLDINGS, INC.

Eighth Circuit -- United States v. Jeffrey J. Grimes

Where deft is indicted in one federal jurisdiction but subsequently brought to trial in a second, the Speedy Trial Act clock starts with the proceedings in the second.

Convicted counts were multiplicitous under Blockberger, but no need for resentencing as they run concurrently.  Merely vacated. 

No error in career offender sentencing bump, given  nolo contendere plea.

288 Month sentence for harassing telephone calls (upward departure) not substantively unreasonable.

United States  v.  Jeffrey J. Grimes

Eighth Circuit -- United States v. James Bruguier

Publication of Dissent for opinion published 12/13 --

Two cases published the same day in this Circuit reached opposite conclusions on a critical point of law.  [MB readers undoubtedly noticed this.]

En banc, perhaps?


United States  v.  James Bruguier

Sixth Circuit -- Dereck Dawson v. USA

Absent evidence of jury reliance on the instruction, ineffective assistance claim for not objecting to an instruction was harmless error.

No ineffective assistance claim for not objecting to prior bad act evidence, as court might have found it probative.

Tennessee Attempted Rape statute is categorically an ACCA predicate, despite the fact that it can be accomplished by fraud -- residual clause.

Dereck Dawson v. USA

Fourth Circuit -- North Carolina Growers' Assoc. v. Hilda Solis

By temporarily reinstating a void rule, the agency engaged in rulemaking by the terms of the APA.

Agency did not plainly manifest its reliance on the Good Cause exception at the time of rulemaking.

Insufficient notice & comment.

Christmas tree growers are not agricultural workers.

North Carolina Growers' Assoc. v. Hilda Solis

Third Circuit -- USA v. Dontey Tucker

In modified categorical analysis, where the charging paper and the jury instructions are vague as to which drug the deft is alleged to have sold, the conviction is not a valid ACCA predicate if it might have been MJ as opposed to cocaine.

Where state precedent allows trial conviction for possession with intent to distribute a certain drug if another (presumably similar) drug is proven - and not the one in the bill - the ACCA predicate is still valid for the drug in the bill.

USA v. Dontey Tucker

Third Circuit -- Timothy Defoe v. Lenroy Phillip

Statutory Certiarori jurisdiciton over the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands is proper here, given exceptions to final order rule.

Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands may overturn Circuit precedent on matters of territory law that was held prior to its creation, but it must not manifestly err in doing so.

Manifest error is things like internal contradiction or blatantly ignoring plain text of a statute.

The Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands erred, but not manifestly so, as they justified decision under ejustem generis.

Timothy Defoe v. Lenroy Phillip

Second Circuit -- Rivera v. Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority

District Court erred in granting SJ against Title VII plaintiff, given hostility of work environment, language used.

Title VII does not require that the retribution happen before the protected conduct.  (Yes.)

Retribution claim correctly dismissed, as there were bona fide reasons for the adverse employment action.

Second retribution claim incorrectly dismissed, due to proximacy of conduct and subsequent action.

District court erred in dismissing the state law claims - jurisdiction is proper.

Rivera v. Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority

Second Circuit -- Georgitsi Realty, LLC v. Penn-Star Insurance Company

Questions certified to NY Court of Appeals:

May malicious damage be found to result from an act not directed at the insured property?  What is the state of mind required?  Do you have Prince Albert in a can?

Georgitsi Realty, LLC v. Penn-Star Insurance Company

Second Circuit -- Looney v. Black et al

Town employee did not have constitutionally protected interest in full-time employment, as there were no specific guarantees made to him -- qualified immunity to the town official deft.

Employee with responsibility for implementing building code was speaking on matters related to his job when he spoke about wood-burning stoves -- consequently, no 1A protection.

Looney v. Black et al