Designated for publication per curiam (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), criminal, First Step Act On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, vacating defendants’ sentences that it had previously affirmed, and remanding for resentencing under the First Step Act in light of Hewitt v. United States, 145 S. Ct. 2165 (2025). Wilson, J. (Higginson, Ho, Wilson); Ho, J., … More August 18-19, 2025, opinions
Richman, J. (Richman, Willett, Douglas), Americans with Disabilities Act, sec. 1983, expert witness Affirming district court’s exclusion of plaintiff’s expert witness and grant of Rule 50 motion dismissing plaintiff’s ADA claim. William Carter, a paraplegic man, was jailed for eight days in the Shreveport City Jail for unauthorized use of 911. Prior to his incarceration, … More July 21, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Douglas, J. (Dennis, Oldham, Douglas), Dennis, J., dissenting; sec. 1983, pretrial detention Affirming dismissal of claims by pretrial detainee regarding the alleged misuse of suicide watch protocols by county and county officials. Ronnie Alexander, a pretrial detainee at Henderson County Jail, was moved to a “violent cell” after he falsely claimed to … More July 10, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), toxic torts, expert witness Affirming exclusion of plaintiff’s expert testimony in Deepwater Horizon-cleanup-related toxic tort action, and affirming summary judgment for defendant, but clarifying Circuit’s requirements for causation proof in an expert report. Under Daubert and Rule 702, expert testimony is admissible if it is both relevant … More May 12, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Jones, Haynes, Douglas), Jones, J., concurring; Affordable Care Act, Title IX, standing Vacating summary judgment for plaintiffs in challenge to Notification of Interpretation and Enforcement of Section 157 of the ACA, which interpreted discrimination on the basis of sex to include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and and … More December 16-27, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Wilson, J. (Southwick, Engelhardt, Wilson), criminal, First Step Act, habeas corpus Affirming denial of sentence reduction under the First Step Act in defendants’ successive § 2255 petition. The Court held that § 403 of the First Step Act was not applicable to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence where the initial sentence had … More February 2, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Southwick), Dennis, J., dissenting; qualified immunity Reversing denial of qualified immunity summary judgment on behalf of officers who attempted to execute a search warrant through a SWAT team, but on the wrong address (though the warrant itself showed the correct address), and remanding with instructions to dismiss. The … More February 1, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Duncan, J. (Higginbotham, Higginson, Duncan), criminal, guilt plea Affirming conviction of attempted interference with commerce by robbery, finding sufficient evidence in the record to support the defendant’s guilty plea. Haynes, J. (Clement, Haynes, Oldham), ERISA Affirming dismissal of ERISA claim against insurance company hired by plan’s sponsor, administrator, and fiduciary to maintain … More December 12-14, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Higginbotham, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Elrod), product liability, expert witness, jury instructions Affirming judgment and damages award against Honda in strict liability and negligence defective design and product liability claims arising from side-impact car accident, rejecting arguments that district court erred in denying motion to exclude liability experts, denying motion for new trial … More November 7-8, 2023, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Stewart, Elrod, Graves), qualified immunity, expert testimony, First Amendment Affirming in part and reversing in part qualified immunity dismissal of plaintiff’s claims arising from arrest for making a false report of a hostage situation. The Court first held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the … More November 2, 2023, opinions
