Designated for publication Willett, J. (Stewart, Willett, Oldham), attorney discipline Granting petition for panel rehearing; withdrawing opinion from November 29, 2022, that had reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded from en banc district court’s order of a one-year ban from practice in front of the Eastern District of Louisiana for attorney in BP Deepwater Horizon … More February 3, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Wilson, J. (Jones, Ho, Wilson), Ho, J., concurring; criminal, Second Amendment Vacating conviction for possession of a firearm by someone subject to a domestic violence restraining order, declaring 18 USC § 922(g)(8) facially unconstitutional in light of N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022). After … More February 2, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Higginbotham, Duncan, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing, Armed Career Criminal Act, habeas corpus, mootness Dismissing as moot appeal from denial of § 2255 petition challenging ACCA-enhanced sentence on prior conviction of being a felon in possession of ammunition, and affirming 15-year sentence enhanced by the ACCA upon revocation of supervised release and … More February 1, 2023, 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 January 2023 opinion statistics
Designated for publication per curiam (Higginbotham, Oldham, by quorum), qualified immunity Denying en banc rehearing on panel decision (Higginbotham, Costa, Oldham) that had (over Judge Oldham’s dissent) affirmed in part and reversed in part denial of qualified immunity for state Department of Public Safety & Corrections officials on claims they ignored the administrative failure of … More January 31, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Smith, J. (Jones, Smith, Graves), insurance, COVID-19 Affirming dismissal of helicopter services company in dispute arising from claim against its all-risk insurer to recover economic losses from the partial interruption of business during the pandemic. The Court held that the requirement for “direct physical loss of or damage” to property as an … More January 30, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Richman, Higginbotham, Elrod), First Amendment, mootness Vacating injunction ordering display submitted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation be displayed at the Texas State Capitol, because state had repealed altogether its Capitol Exhibit Rule that had allowed the display of submitted exhibits that met certain non-onerous requirements, such that there was … More January 27, 2023, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Dennis, Elrod, Duncan), employment discrimination, Title VII Affirming summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s sex discrimination claims for failure to hire based on positions for which she did not apply and positions for which she did apply but for which she was not selected; reversing summary judgment dismissal of failure-to-hire claims based on … More January 26, 2023, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Higginbotham, Graves, Ho), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Higginbotham, Graves, Ho) criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Oldham), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Higginbotham, Graves, Ho), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and … More January 25, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Dennis, J. (King, Dennis, Ho), Ho, J., concurring in judgment only; administrative law, Administrative Procedures Act Granting petition brought by flight school to challenge FAA rule that prohibited flight school from offering a course using type-rated aircraft that would culminate in an airline transport pilot (“ATP”) certificate without a type rating, holding … More January 24, 2023, opinions
