November 26, 2024, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, 23-50669, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Willett, J. (Jones, Willett, Engelhardt), Administrative Procedures Act
    • Reversing summary judgment in favor of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and remanding to the district court to enter partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs’ APA challenge to OFAC’s inclusion of Tornado Cash’s immutable crypto-mixing smart contracts on the list of “property” of a foreign national or entity that can be frozen and subject of sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
    • “OFAC’s concerns with illicit foreign actors laundering funds are undeniably legitimate. Perhaps Congress will update IEEPA, enacted during the Carter Administration, to target modern technologies like crypto-mixing software. Until then, we hold that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts (the lines of privacy-enabling software code) are not the ‘property’ of a foreign national or entity, meaning (1) they cannot be blocked under IEEPA, and (2) OFAC overstepped its congressionally defined authority.”
    • The Court also started with “a primer on cryptocurrency and blockchain,” including helpful diagrams to explain immutable smart contract transactions, though it cautioned that it was not answering the question in other litigation challenges to whether crypto assets are currency or securities for purposes of SEC regulation, or are part of the banking industry and subject to banking regulations.
    • The Court also noted the implications of the use of “mixers,” enabled by immutable smart contracts, for money laundering efforts: “Nearly a quarter of funds sent to mixers in 2022 were tied to money laundering efforts. Most relevant to this case, North Korea, through one of its cybercriminal organizations known as the Lazarus Group, has hacked and stolen just shy of one billion dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency. And all of that dirty money needed to be laundered before it could be cashed out for traditional (and far more liquid) fiat currencies. So North Korean hackers turned to mixers. More than 65 percent of North Korea’s dirty crypto went through mixers in 2021, up from 42 percent in 2020 and 21 percent in 2019. And how does North Korea use this laundered money? To fund its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.” (Internal quotation marks omitted).
    • The Court then relied on the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision from last term to hold that the district court had erred in giving deference to OFAC’s definition of “property” and in finding that the immutable smart contracts fell within that definition.

Unpublished

  • U.S. v. Williams, 23-10912, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and 180-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon.
  • U.S. v. Mata-Gardea, 23-11244, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Haynes, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 57-month sentence on conviction of illegal reentry.
  • U.S. v. Cohen, 23-20261, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • Singleton v. Louisiana, 24-30304, appeal from M.D. La.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), Title VII, attorneys’ fees
    • Affirming award of attorneys’ fees to two state agency defendants on plaintiff’s Title VII claims on a finding that the claims were groundless.
  • Simon v. Harrison, 23-30767, appeal from M.D. La.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Duncan, Kernodle, by designation), bankruptcy
    • Affirming bankruptcy court’s denial of a discharge for fraudulently transferred estate property to the debtor’s brother.
  • U.S. v. Lizcano, 24-40175, appeal from E.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, forfeiture
    • Affirming conviction of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and civil forfeiture award of $12,500.
  • Vela v. Compton, 24-40302, appeal from E.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), § 1983
    • Affirming dismissal as time-barred the plaintiffs’ § 1983 claim arising from alleged failure to investigate their relative’s death as a homicide.
  • U.S. v. Gordon, 24-40354, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • U.S. v. Miguel-Limon, 24-40408, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Haynes, Higginson, Douglas), criminal
    • Remanding to district court to clarify which violations of supervised release terms the defendant’s revocation of supervised release was based on.
  • U.S. v. Schrock, 24-50050, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 60-month sentence on revocation of supervised release.
  • U.S. v. Aguilar-Gutierrez, 24-50169, c/w 24-50179, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming conviction and sentence for illegal reentry.
  • U.S. v. Sanchez, 24-50276, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Oldham), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • Hernandez v. Gutierrez, 24-50422, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Smith, Graves, Engelhardt), prisoner suit
    • Dismissing as frivolous appeal from dismissal of Texas state prisoner’s § 1983 claim.
  • Mulvey v. Liquid Property Group, L.L.C., 23-50528, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • Higginson, J. (Smith, Clement, Higginson), breach of contract
    • On competing breach of contract claims arising from real estate transaction, affirming denial of JMOL on plaintiff’s breach of contract claim, reversing denial of JMOL on defendants’ breach of contract counter-claim, vacating award of attorneys’ fees, denying sanctions motion, and remanding for further proceedings.
  • U.S. v. Frayer, 23-50685, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Haynes, Wilson), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 151-month sentence on conviction of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
  • U.S. v. Byles, 23-50830, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Barksdale, Stewart, Ramirez), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 63-month sentence on conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon.
  • Conner v. Paxton, 23-50847, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Southwick, Willett, Oldham), prisoner suit
    • Dismissing as frivolous appeal from dismissal of Texas state prisoner’s § 1983 claims.