Take the Fifth

Designated for publication

• Association of Club Executives of Dallas, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 22-10556, appeal from N.D. Tex.
  • Duncan, J. (Wiener, Southwick, Duncan), First Amendment
  • Vacating preliminary injunction against enforcement of city ordinance regulating aspects of operations, including business hours, of sexually-oriented businesses, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • The Court summarized, “Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the Ordinance is likely constitutional. The City’s evidence reasonably showed a link between SOBs’ late-night operations and an increase in noxious side effects, such as crime. The Ordinance also left the SOBs ample opportunity to purvey their speech at other times of the day and night.” (Internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

• Johnson v. Harris County, 22-20549, appeal from S.D. Tex.
  • Smith, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), sec. 1983, timeliness
  • Affirming dismissal of excessive force claims as untimely.

• Collins v. Department of the Treasury, 22-20632, appeal from S.D. Tex.
  • Smith, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), investor suit, Appropriations Clause, removal power
  • Affirming dismissal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors’ suit arising from delays in government divestment in the two entities, holding that their harms did were not caused by the unconstitutional restriction on the President’s power to remove the head of the FHFA, and that the new Appropriations Clause argument raised on remand was outside the scope of the remand order.

• Lewis v. Danos, 22-30670, appeal from M.D. La.
  • Wiener, J. (Wiener, Southwick, Duncan), RICO
  • Affirming dismissal of plaintiff employee’s civil RICO claims arising from the alleged burying of an independent report on sexual harassment within LSU’s football program, as untimely and insufficiently pled; Title VII and Title IX discrimination claims remain pending at the district court.

• U.S. v. Renteria, 22-50242, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • Smith, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), criminal
  • Affirming conviction for federal sex trafficking of a minor, holding that the evidence meets the Bond framework of criminalizing conduct without infringing on a state’s power to police purely local crimes.

• QEB Syndicate 1036 v. Compass Minerals Louisiana, Inc., 23-30076, appeal from W.D. La.
  • Higginson, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), insurance
  • Certifying two questions regarding coverage for drill-and-blast salt mining operations to the Louisiana Supreme Court:
    • “Does the Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act, La. Stat. Ann. § 9:2780, apply to provisions in agreements that pertain to ‘drilling for minerals,’ even where the agreement does not ‘pertain[] to a well’?”
    • If the Act applies to agreements that pertain to ‘drilling for minerals,’ irrespective of the agreement’s nexus to a well, does the Act apply to invalidate these indemnification and additional-insured provisions, contained in contracts for fire suppression and electrical work in a salt mine, by virtue of the salt mine’s use of a ‘drill-and-blast’ method for mining salt?”

Unpublished

• U.S. v. Shaw, 21-30702, appeal from W.D. La.
  • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), criminal, sentencing
  • Affirming 151-month sentence on conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon.

• U.S. v. Munoz-Medrano, 22-11143, appeal from N.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Higginbotham, Stewart, Southwick), criminal
  • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.

• O’Reilly v. All State Financial Co., 22-30608, appeal from E.D. La.
  • per curiam (Wiener, Graves, Douglas), National Environmental Policy Act
  • Reversing district court’s dismissal of challenge to issuance of 404 dredge-and-fill permit for development of wetlands area, holding that Corps of Engineers’ environmental assessment was inadequate under NEPA in that it failed to articulate a reasonable basis for the Corps’ FInding of No Significant Impact.

• U.S. v. Chasteen, 22-40593, appeal from E.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), criminal, search and seizure
  • Affirming conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon, upholding district court’s denial of motion to suppress on basis that arresting officer had reasonable suspicion to pull defendant over on suspicion of a DUI.

• U.S. v. Lozano, 22-50753, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), criminal, sentencing
  • Affirming 46-month sentence on conviction of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

• American Compensation Insurance Co. v. Ruiz, 22-60579, appeal from N.D. Miss.
  • per curiam (Stewart, Dennis, Wilson), workers’ compensation
  • Certifying to Mississippi Supreme Court this question: “Does the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Act … allow an insurer to void ab initio a workers’ compensation policy based on a material misrepresentation?”

• U.S. v. Anderson, 23-10237, appeal from N.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Higginson, Engelhardt), criminal
  • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.

• Howey v. Truist Bank, 23-10513, appeal from N.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Davis, Ho, Wilson), foreclosure
  • Affirming dismissal of suit arising from foreclosure proceedings.

• Hamilton v. Promise Healthcare, 23-30190, appeal from M.D. La.
  • Higginson, J. (Graves, Higginson, Ho), Title VII, employment discrimination
  • Vacating 12(b)(1) dismissal of plaintiff’s sex discrimination claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, because exhaustion is not a jurisdictional prerequisite for Title VII claims, and remanding for further proceedings.

• U.S. v. Salas, 23-40121, appeal from S.D. Tex.
  • Higginson, J. (Smith, Higginson, Engelhardt), criminal, search and seizure
  • Affirming conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon, upholding denial of motion to suppress.

• U.S. v. Molina-Nolasco, 23-50372, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), criminal, sentencing
  • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry.