Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Dennis, Engelhardt, Oldham), Title VII, employment discrimination Reversing summary judgment dismissal of employee’s discrimination claims after he was fired for his refusal to cut his hair and beard in violation of his religious vow, in light of Groff v. DeJoy, 143 S. Ct. 2279 (2023). The Court held that the … More September 15, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Stewart, Duncan), criminal, jury instructions, sentencing Affirming conviction of illegal reentry and 105-month sentence, finding no error in jury instruction or impropriety in enhancement of sentence for obstruction of justice. After the defendant had presented evidence that he had been acting under duress due to threats by the drug-smuggling … More September 14, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Smith, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), Higginson, J., concurring; habeas corpus Affirming denial of § 2255 petition seeking relief from guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine on IAC grounds. The Court held that the petitioner had not forfeited his argument about … More September 13, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Clement, Haynes), Haynes, J., dissenting in part; diversity jurisdiction, sanctions Affirming dismissal of third-party claims as sanction for party’s deliberate “hiding of the ball” on L.L.C. citizenship/jurisdictional facts. The Court held that the district court’s power to issue a case-dispositive sanction fell within its collateral jurisdiction. The Court summed … More September 12, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), criminal, supervised release Affirming imposition of 15 “standard conditions” for terms of supervised release from district court’s Standing Order, where oral pronouncement included that the supervised release would be “subject to the standard conditions” but did not otherwise expressly articulate those conditions. Elrod, J. (Dennis, Elrod, Ho), … More September 8-11, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Richman, King, Higginson), § 1983, municipal liability, qualified immunity Affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s municipal liability claim against city, but reversing in part the qualified immunity dismissal of claim against police chief, arising from plaintiff’s § 1983 claims for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and First Amendment retaliation regarding his termination from … More September 7, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Graves, J. (Richman, Haynes, Graves), trademark infringement Affirming in part, reversing in part judgment as a matter of law in favor of defendant on plaintiff’s trademark-infringement claims, and remanding for further proceedings. The Court held that a reasonable jury could find that the defendant infringed on the plaintiff’s marks before they were … More September 6, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Wilson, J. (Duncan, Wilson, Schroeder, by designation), criminal, sentencing Affirming 480-month sentence on conviction of conspiring to possess a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it and distributing a detectable amount of a substance containing cocaine base. Higginbotham, J. (Higginbotham, Southwick, Willett), qualified immunity Affirming denial of qualified immunity on Louisiana … More September 1-5, 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 August 2023 opinion statistics
Designated for publication per curiam (Richman, Higginbotham, Southwick), habeas corpus, ineffective assistance of counsel Affirming denial of habeas relief on IAC claims of petitioner convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. per curiam (en banc court), criminal, sufficiency of evidence Ordering en banc rehearing of June 7, 2023, panel opinion that reversed and vacated … More August 30-31, 2023, opinions
