Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), prisoner suit Affirming partial summary judgment that inmate’s sec. 1983 claim was Heck-barred, and affirming denial of motion for leave to amend. Torriana Clark, an inmate at Rayburn Correctional Center in Louisiana, filed a § 1983 lawsuit alleging that Lt. Lance Wallace used excessive force against him … More June 23, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Ramirez, J. (Dennis, Haynes, Ramirez), Dennis, J., concurring; First Amendment, Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, ripeness, standing, sovereign immunity Affirming district court judgment of facial unconstitutionality and preliminary injunction of state law requiring display of Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms. In June 2024, Louisiana enacted H.B. 71, mandating the display … More June 20-21, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Stewart, Clement, Willett), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, restitution Affirming conviction of operator of compound pharmacy for receiving illegal kickbacks as part of a conspiracy to induce physicians to prescribe highly lucrative prescriptions, and affirming restitution award. Xpress Compounding was a pharmacy focused on maximizing profits through pain cream prescriptions billed … More June 5, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Haynes, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Haynes), criminal, Second Amendment Affirming conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon. In 2019, Texas authorities arrested Betancourt after he allegedly brandished a firearm during a domestic dispute and was later found with multiple firearms, ammunition, and body armor in his home. A federal grand jury … More June 4, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Jones, Oldham, Hendrix, by designation), Sarbanes-Oxley Act, employment law, timeliness, Rule 59(e) Reversing dismissal of employee’s Sarbanes-Oxley anti-retaliation claim against employer, but affirming dismissal of claim against employer’s parent company, and remanding for further poceedings. The case involves a Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) whistleblower retaliation claim brought by Vuoncino, a corporate … More June 3, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Willett, J. (Richman, Willett, Douglas), Douglas, J., dissenting; international child custody Reversing denial of petition to return child under the Hague Convention to father in Venezuela, and remanding with instructions to enter order to return child to Venezuela. After their separation in 2019, Jose Brito retained custody rights over his daughter A.F., … More June 2, 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 May 2025 opinion statistics
Designated for publication Duncan, J. (Haynes, Duncan, Wilson), foreign official immunity, Torture Victim Protection Act Affirming dismissal of TVPA claims against former Nigerian governor under foreign official immunity. In this case, the widows of men killed by Nigerian military forces during rallies in 2020 sued former Nigerian governor Willie Obiano in a Texas federal court … More May 29-30, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Richman, Oldham, Ramirez, JJ.; Judges Richman and Ramirez did not concur in footnote 5); Fourth Amendment, state-law immunity, state constitutional claims, qualified immunity On claims arising from alleged conspiracy to steal documents from a cloud-based file storage system against various Texas agencies and in official- and individual-capacity against officials of … More May 28, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Elrod, Dennis, Higginson), First Amendment, sovereign immunity Affirming in part and vacating in part preliminary injunction against state entities to enjoin Texas law limiting information provided under managed vision plans, as an impingement on commercial speech, and affirming in part and vacating in part motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity … More May 23, 2025, opinions
