March 8, 2023, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Springboards to Education, Inc. v. McAllen Independent School District, 21-40333, c/w Springboard to Education, Inc. v. IDEA Public Schools, 21-40334, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • Duncan, J. (Smith, Duncan, Oldham), Oldham, J., concurring; trademark infringement, sovereign immunity
    • Affirming summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s trademark claims arising from reading-incentive program against county school district; and affirming on alternative grounds to the sovereign immunity grounds relied on by the trial court the dismissal of plaintiff’s trademark claims against nonprofit charter school district.
    • The Court held that the charter school district was not an arm of the state entitled to sovereign immunity. While the Court recognized that Texas law treats a suit against the charter school entity as a suit against the state, funding for any judgment would likely not come from state funds. On the balance of all six factors in the sovereign immunity analysis, the Court held that IDEA is not an arm of the state. The Court likewise held that the district court correctly held that the county school district was not an arm of the state for sovereign immunity purposes.
    • As to the trademark claims, the Court held that the plaintiff was not clear as to what the class of consumers is that would potentially be confused by the defendants’ alleged use of infringing trademark terms. The Court also held that there was no risk of confusion in the defendants’ use of the plaintiff’s alleged marks.
    • Judge Oldham concurred, for the purpose of advocating for en banc treatment of the sovereign immunity analysis. “In this case, we were asked to hold that a private charter school enjoys state sovereign immunity while a public school district does not. The fact that our precedents allow this question to be asked is reason enough to grant en banc rehearing.” He then proposed “a new single-factor test: Was the entity asserting state sovereign immunity considered ‘the State’ in 1789? If yes, then sovereign immunity. If no, then none.”

Unpublished

  • U.S. v. Montero, 21-30767, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Clement, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 120-month sentence for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine.
  • Montgomery v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 22-10692, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Stewart, Engelhardt), breach of contract, preemption
    • Affirming dismissal of plaintiffs’ breach of contract claims as preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act.
  • U.S. v. Green, 22-10739, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Graves, Ho), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 180-month sentence and conviction for attempted armed bank robbery.
  • Grice v. Younger, 22-20144, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Clement, Oldham, Wilson), sec. 1983, municipal liability
    • Affirming dismissal of sec. 1983 and municipal liability claims arising from traffic stop.
  • Gross v. U.S., 22-40230, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Stewart, Engelhardt), tax
    • Affirming dismissal of claim for tax refund.
  • U.S. v. Herndon, 22-50379, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Higginbotham, Graves, Ho), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Saucedo-Corpus, 22-50704, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Jones, Ho), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.