January 5, 2024, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • McNeal v. LeBlanc, 22-30180, appeal from M.D. La.
    • per curiam (Jones, Stewart, Duncan); Duncan, J., concurring; Jones, J., concurring; qualified immunity
    • Affirming denial of motion to dismiss on qualified immunity, regarding plaintiff’s claims against Department of Public Safety and Corrections official for over-detention. Plaintiff was detained in a Louisiana prison 41 days past the end of his 90-day sentence, because DPSC failed to send the release paperwork to the correct prison.
    • The Court held that Heck did not apply to bar the plaintiff’s claims because he was only challenging his over-detention, not the underlying conviction or sentence.
    • As to qualified immunity, the Court held that the “overdetained prisoner alleged a pattern of similar violations at the DPSC sufficient to deny LeBlanc qualified immunity at the motion to dismiss stage.”
    • Judge Duncan concurred, agreeing that Circuit precedent required the affirmance of the denial of qualified immunity but urging the en banc Court to correct what he characterized as mistaken precedent, expressing his belief that the pattern requirement amounts to the prohibited application of a respondeat superior analysis to a § 1983 claim. “[W]e will likely have many more overdetention cases against LeBlanc and others. We need to clarify when officials can be liable for overdetaining prisoners. If we fail to do that, we risk turning § 1983 into a source of vicarious liability for the heads of State agencies. In addition to violating Supreme Court precedent, such a misguided project would be futile. The overdetention problem is obviously a serious one. But if evidence does not connect the problem to something LeBlanc himself has done or failed to do, then making him personally liable for overdetentions will solve nothing.”
    • Judge Jones concurred. She agreed with Judge Duncan, and also would urge that the Heck bar should apply. “Louisiana has serially defaulted in its obligation to release prisoners on time. It is beyond this panel’s purview to analyze, much less solve this critical problem. However, we should have demonstrated confidence in the state courts’ ability, through habeas corpus, to resolve individual cases by remitting individuals like McNeal to the state court system for exhaustion of remedies.”

Unpublished

  • Moye v. Tregre, 22-30341, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Smith, Elrod, Graves), Title VII, employment discrimination
    • Affirming summary judgment dismissal of employment discrimination claims.
  • U.S. v. Medina, 23-10348, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Taylor, 23-10435, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. White, 23-10740, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Engelhardt, Douglas), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Gayton, 23-20315, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Choate, 23-30329, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Willett, Duncan, Wilson), criminal, restitution
    • Affirming $103,000 restitution award as part of sentence on conviction of possession and receipt of child pornography.
  • EEOC v. U.S. Drug Mart, Inc., 23-50075, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), employment discrimination, Americans with Disabilities Act
    • Affirming summary judgment in favor of employer on EEOC’s ADA claim against employer for hostile work environment for criticism leveled at employee who requested to wear a mask during early stages of the Covid-19 epidemic.
  • U.S. v. Carrasco, 23-50238, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Graves, Oldham), criminal, guilty plea
    • Affirming guilty-plea conviction of using, carrying, or possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence or drug-trafficking crime.
  • U.S. v. Aguilar-Montero, 23-50368, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Davis, Willett, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry.
  • Cohly v. Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, 23-60232, appeal from S.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Jones, Smith, Dennis), due process
    • Reversing in part, affirming in part, and remanding from district court’s dismissal of professor’s substantive due process claims arising from allegedly wrongful termination.
  • U.S. v. Chandler, 23-60322, appeal from N.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 240-month sentence on conviction of conspiring to distribute marijuana and money laundering.
  • Sutton v. Smith, 23-60393, appeal from N.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Davis, Willett, Oldham), § 1983
    • Affirming dismissal of § 1983 claims against Mississippi Attorney General and other officials arising from execution of search warrant.
  • U.S. v. Clayton, 23-60443, appeal from S.D. Miss.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Higginson, Duncan), criminal, compassionate release
    • Affirming denial of motion for compassionate release.