Take the Fifth

Designated for publication

• PNC Bank, N.A. v. 2013 Travis Oak Creek General Partner, L.L.C., 24-50101, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • Douglas, J. (Smith, Higginson, Douglas), settlement agreement, jurisdiction
  • In appeal from district court’s ruling on severed motions to enforce settlement agreements by parties in dispute arising from partnership agreement, remanding to district court to determine parties’ citizenship for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.
  • The Court rejected party citizenship allegations supported merely “on information and belief.” “While it may be sufficient to allege jurisdiction on information and belief in the nascency of litigation or where the party asserting jurisdiction is unable to ascertain jurisdictional facts with reasonable certainty, that is not the case here. Appellants do not assert that they lack the necessary information to plead citizenship with more certainty, and the parties had been engaged in litigation for over five years when the severed motions to enforce were filed. Thus, something more than ‘information and belief’ is needed to sufficiently establish jurisdiction for the severed motions to enforce.”

• Texas Public Policy Foundation v. U.S. Department of State, 24-50189, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • Wilson, J. (Haynes, Duncan, Wilson), Haynes, J., dissenting; Freedom of Information Act
    • Reversing summary judgment in favor of Department of State regarding propriety of withholding information under Foundation’s FOIA request for documents related to Department’s efforts to set targets to meet greenhouse-gas-reduction targets under the 2016 Paris climate accords.
    • The Court observed that FOIA mandates disclosure of government records unless an exemption applies; Exemption 6 protects against disclosing personnel-type information that would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The core dispute is whether names and official email addresses of government employees in emails about policy matters qualify as “similar files” under Exemption 6; courts have interpreted this term broadly but have not settled this exact issue.
    • The Court rejected the Department’s claim that disclosing names and email addresses related to a climate policy initiative would pose a significant privacy threat, finding the alleged risks (e.g., doxing, harassment) speculative and insufficient to outweigh the strong FOIA presumption of disclosure.
    • The Court emphasized that federal employees using official email for government work have minimal privacy interest in that information, and that disclosure would serve the public interest by revealing who shaped a significant climate policy.
    • Judge Haynes dissented, observing that, while the majority concluded that public interest in the names and email addresses of non-policy-making employees who worked on a now-rescinded climate reduction target outweighs any privacy concerns, she disagrees. The dissent argues that these employees retain a legitimate privacy interest—especially given the controversy surrounding climate policy—and that disclosure could expose them to harassment or danger. Moreover, the rescission of the policy weakens the public interest in such disclosure, making any benefit speculative at best and failing to justify the potential harm.

Unpublished opinions

• U.S. v. Hilliard, 24-20197, appeal from S.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal
  • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.

• U.S. v. Edwards, 23-20504, appeal from S.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal
  • Affirming conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon.

• U.S. v. Jonas, 24-50739, appeal from W.D. Tex.
  • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal
  • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.

• Madjarian v. Bondi, 24-60524, petition for review of BIA order
  • per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), immigration
  • Dismissing in part and denying in part BIA’s denial of motion to reopen proceedings by stateless former citizen of the Soviet Union.