Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), personal tort, Federal Tort Claims Act Affirming judgment in favor of plaintiff in personal injury and death arising from an auto collision with a U.S. Postal Service vehicle that then caused the plaintiff to go forward and collide with his neighbor’s house. The Court analyzed a case … More May 16-18, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Graves, Engelhardt, Oldham), Graves, J., dissenting; Americans with Disabilities Act Affirming dismissal of former employee’s ADA claims on the pleadings. The Court held that Turner cannot establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination under the ADA because he failed to demonstrate that he was “qualified” for the job, having … More May 14, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Douglas), Jones, J., dissenting; Eighth Amendment, Americans with Disabilities Act, appellate jurisdiction Dismissing state defendants’ appeal of judgment on liability on Eighth Amendment and ADA class claims on behalf of prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and vacating stay of “Remedial Order” that contemplated further proceedings to determine … More February 12, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Wilson, J. (Elrod, Oldham, Wilson), First Amendment, standing Vacating district court’s order denying legislative privilege to defendant Parish councilmembers whose Resolution to terminate library board members for erecting Pride Month displays at libraries had been challenged by three of those members as viewpoint discrimination, holding that the plaintiffs did not have standing … More February 10, 2025, opinions
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 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
Unpublished per curiam (Graves, Willett, Wilson), criminal, sentence reduction Affirming denial of motion for sentence reduction. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Duncan), Americans with Disabilities Act, § 1983 Affirming dismissal of former nursing student’s ADA and § 1983 claims arising from student’s dismissal from academic program. per curiam (Haynes, Higginson, Douglas), criminal Affirming conviction for possessing … More December 4, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Dennis, Higginson), maritime, breach of contract, insurance Reversing post-bench trial dismissal of two maritime breach of contract claims arising from injury of defendant’s employee. Cross-claim plaintiff owner of crew boat had been found liable for damages to an employee of the cross-claim defendant owner of a construction company, who … More November 15, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Douglas, J. (Wilson, Douglas, Vitter, by designation), tax Reversing district court judgment in favor of plaintiff tire retailer and against IRS on question of liability for excise tax, holding that, “[w]hen a party orders taxable articles to be shipped to the United States for resale and is otherwise uninvolved in the importation … More October 8, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Ho, Duncan, Oldham), qualified immunity Previously released as an unpublished per curiam opinion on October 1, 2024, this is now a published opinion attributed to Judge Oldham, affirming the denial of a qualified immunity summary judgment moved for by the defendant state trooper who shot the plaintiff at point-blank range … More October 4, 2024, opinions
