Take the Fifth

May 1, 2025, opinions

May 2, 2025

Unpublished opinions Richman, J. (King, Richman, Higginson), insurance Affirming summary judgment in favor of insurer on its declaratory judgment claim regarding exclusion from coverage. per curiam (Smith, Graves, Duncan), Title VII, employment discrimination Affirming summary judgment in favor of university employer on race discrimination claims. per curiam (Davis, Smith, Higginson), insurance Affirming summary judgment in … More May 1, 2025, opinions

April 30, 2025, opinions

May 1, 2025

Unpublished opinions per curiam (Stewart, Clement, Willett), criminal, sentence reduction Vacating denial of motion for sentence reduction, and remanding for reconsideration. per curiam (Smith, Graves, Duncan), breach of contract, trade secrets Affirming summary judgment and evidentiary rulings in favor of defendant in breach of contract and trade-secret-misappropriation claims. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), criminal Affirming … More April 30, 2025, opinions

April 29, 2025, opinions

April 30, 2025

Opinions designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), criminal, sentence reduction Affirming denial of motion for sentence reduction. Higginson, J. (Smith, Higginson, Douglas), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence Affirming convictions and sentences for conspiracy to import and importation of methamphetamine. Unpublished opinions per curiam (Stewart, Clement, Willett), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence on conviction of … More April 29, 2025, opinions

April 28, 2025, opinions

April 29, 2025

Opinions designated for publication Clement, J. (Stewart, Clement, Willett), arbitration Affirming district court’s order granting defendant’s motion to confirm arbitration award and denying plaintiff’s motion to vacate arbitration award, regarding payment of “stand-by costs” under contract for construction of natural gas pipeline. Unpublished opinions per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), prisoner suit Affirming dismissal as frivolous … More April 28, 2025, opinions

April 25, 2025, opinions

April 26, 2025

Opinions designated for publication Richman, J. (King, Richman, Higginson), prisoner suit, Eighth Amendment, appointment of counsel Vacating dismissal of plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment claims arising from denial of effective care for chronic hepatitis C virus, vacating denial of motion for appointment of counsel, and remanding for appointment of counsel and leave to amend complaint. The Court … More April 25, 2025, opinions

April 24, 2025, opinions

April 25, 2025

Unpublished opinions per curiam (Higginbotham, Jones, Oldham), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Elrod, Engelhardt, Guidry), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence on conviction of illegal reentry. per curiam (Higginbotham, Jones, Oldham), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Barksdale, Stewart, Ramirez), criminal, sentencing Affirming 24-month sentence on … More April 24, 2025, opinions

April 23, 2025, opinions; plus a couple PSAs

April 24, 2025

First, a return to the daily summaries of U.S. Fifth Circuit opinions; then, an explanation for the six-week pause in the daily summaries and a couple public service announcements: Unpublished opinions per curiam (King, Jones, Oldham), bankruptcy Affirming dismissal of putative creditor’s adversary claim challenging bankruptcy court’s discharge of debtor’s debts. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, … More April 23, 2025, opinions; plus a couple PSAs

March 2025 opinion statistics

April 14, 2025

We report after each month on interesting statistics from the data we generate from the daily opinion summaries from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and at the end of each court year (Oct.-Sept.) we will aggregate that–all of which provides useful insights into the inner workings of the Court, the relative … More March 2025 opinion statistics

March 10, 2025, opinions

March 11, 2025

Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), Fair Housing Act, Rule 60(b), notice of appeal Affirming denial of landlord defendant’s Rule 60(b) motion after summary judgment for plaintiff tenant on claims of disability discrimination and retaliation under the Fair Housing Act, finding no abuse of discretion. The Court held that the original summary judgment, … More March 10, 2025, opinions

March 7, 2025, opinions

March 10, 2025

Designated for publication Hendrix, J. (Jones, Oldham, Hendrix, by designation), criminal Affirming conviction of fraud and financial crimes arising from real-estate scheme, rejecting arguments that admission of prior-convictions evidence was plain error and that district court abused its discretion in limiting the good-faith defense and denying funding for expert witness. Smith, J. (Elrod, Smith, Engelhardt), … More March 7, 2025, opinions

Opinions and Developments from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals

Category: Take the Fifth