Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Southwick, Haynes, Douglas), Haynes, J., concurring; habeas corpus Affirming dismissal of § 2254 application based on holding that state court’s decision was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court precedent, when the state court determined that false testimony from the sole identifying witness regarding his … More January 17-22, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Dennis, Higginson), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence Affirming conviction and 36-month sentence for wire fraud arising from fraudulent loan scheme involving the Paycheck Protection Program, but remanding for correction of a clerical error in the judgment. Wilson, J. (Jolly, Graves, Wilson), criminal, sentencing Vacating sentence based on enhancement for … More January 15-16, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Ramirez, J. (Richman, Graves, Ramirez), qualified immunity Reversing denial of motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds, on plaintiffs’ deliberate indifference claims arising from death of detainee from combined drug toxicity after he reported to the detaining officers that he did not feel well. The Court held, “An officer’s failure to immediately … More January 14, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Richman, J. (Richman, Haynes, Duncan), criminal, sentencing, Armed Career Criminal Act Affirming constitutionality of conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon, and affirming for lack of plain error the 262-month sentence upon application of Armed Career Criminal Act. Oldham, J. (Jones, Oldham, Hendrix, by designation), criminal, compassionate release Affirming denial … More January 13, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), arbitration Reversing district court’s order compelling arbitration of plaintiff’s employment and First Amendment claims, and remanding to district court to first determine County’s motion to dismiss on government immunity grounds. Willett, J. (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), Elrod, C.J., dissenting in part; qualified immunity Reversing denial of summary judgment … More January 10, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Hendrix, J. (Jones, Oldham, Hendrix, by designation), criminal, compassionate release Affirming dismissal for lack of jurisdiction over movant’s motion for compassionate release, on basis that the compassionate-release statute does not apply to sentences imposed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, such that district courts are not empowered to grant compassionate release … More January 8, 2025, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, compassionate release Affirming denial of motion for compassionate release. per curiam (Jones, Dennis, Southwick), breach of contract, insurance Affirming summary judgment dismissal of contract and coverage claims against insurer. per curiam (Higginbotham, Jones, Oldham), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), … More January 7, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Clement, J. (Smith, Clement, Higginson), breach of contract On breach of contract claim arising from the extension of a lease over a whole tract, rather than a portion, by a bank that managed co-lessor’s interest in a mineral interests on the tract, affirming district court’s judgment that the lease calculated royalty on … More January 6, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Voting AGAINST en banc rehearing: Elrod, Stewart, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Willett, Douglas, Ramirez, JJ.; voting FOR en banc rehearing: Jones, Smith, Richman, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, Wilson, JJ.); qualified immunity Denying en banc rehearing of September 10, 2024, panel opinion (Douglas, J., joined by Wiener, J.; Smith, J., dissenting) … More January 2-5, 2025, opinions
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 December 2024 opinion statistics
