March 2, 2026, opinions

Posted on by tadbartlett

Designated for publication

  • U.S. v. Corona-Montano, 25-50033, appeal from W.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Clement, Douglas, Ramirez) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 71-month sentence for conviction of conspiracy to transport aliens and transporting aliens, by applying sentencing enhancement for transporting an unaccompanied minor.
    • Luis Francisco Corona-Montano was convicted for conspiracy to transport aliens and transporting aliens after he picked up a group of undocumented immigrants in Texas, one of whom was an unaccompanied minor. On appeal he argued that the Sentencing Guidelines enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(4) for transporting an unaccompanied minor should not apply because he did not know the passenger was a minor. The Fifth Circuit held that the text of § 2L1.1(b)(4) is silent on intent and, under Guideline interpretation principles, does not include a scienter requirement; thus the enhancement is a “strict liability” enhancement and was properly applied.

Unpublished decisions

  • U.S. v. Walker, 25-10340, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Willett, Wilson) (no oral argument), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.
  • McDonald v. Federal Election Commission, 25-10830, appeal from N.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Clement, Douglas, Ramirez) (no oral argument), election law, First Amendment, standing
    • Affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s First Amendment challenge to disclosure of small-dollar donations through a conduit, for lack of standing on basis that no cognizable injury was shown.
  • Carver v. Baustert, 25-30101, appeal from E.D. La.
    • per curiam (Wiener, Engelhardt, Oldham) (oral argument), Oldham, J., concurring; improper joinder, defamation
    • Vacating dismissal of plaintiffs’ defamation claims against improperly joined defendant on the merits, and remanding for without-prejudice dismissal of claims against improperly joined defendant.
    • Judge Oldham concurred separately, “to explain that the district court retains its power to sanction Lee, Carver, and their attorneys for their misconduct” in having improperly joined the non-diverse defendant. “[W]hile § 1447(c) will most often apply where the removing party misbehaves, nothing in the statute’s text so limits its scope. The logic is the same either way: Parties who waste time and resources on claims that clearly do not belong in federal court should pay, regardless of how the claims arrive there.”
    • Judge Oldham then addressed the four allegedly defamatory comments of the non-diverse defendant, the mother of a college student who was determined to have been raped by the plaintiffs and left on the side of a road where she was struck by a vehicle and killed, to illustrate the impropriety of her joinder: “At a minimum, some or all four of the men in the car with Madison Brooks had sex with a blackout-drunk college student and then left her on the side of the road to die. Carver and Lee then dragged Baustert’s grieving mother into a lawsuit under spurious defamation claims so they could try to avoid federal court. Then, in federal court, counsel for the plaintiffs doubled down. Lee’s counsel said that his client was the ‘real victim’ here. Oral Arg. at 25:37–42. And he defended an earlier press conference in which he posited that ‘if [Madison] were alive . . . [s]he would not have complained about [her rape] at all.’ ROA.841. The district court has ample power to sanction this conduct.”
  • U.S. v. Salas, 25-30355, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Davis, Wilson, Douglas) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming 130-month sentence on conviction of persuading a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
  • U.S. v. Ratcliff, 25-30458, appeal from W.D. La.
    • per curiam (Richman, Southwick, Willett) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing
    • Affirming sentence on resentencing after remand in prior appeal.
  • U.S. v. Romo-Montiel, 25-40193, appeal from S.D. Tex.
    • per curiam (Richman, Southwick, Willett) (no oral argument), criminal
    • Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal.