Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Higginbotham, Smith), Clean Air Act, administrative law, Administrative Procedure Act, venue On remand from U.S. Supreme Court, original panel opinion from November 22, 2023 (Elrod, Smith, Higginbotham; Higginbotham, J., dissenting) (vacating EPA decision to deny refineries’ requested exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard program of the Clean Air Act), … More August 7, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Ho, J. (Higginbotham, Willett, Ho), election law Reversing district court judgment that Texas election law requiring an ID number on the mail-in ballot application and on the mail-in ballot violated federal law, and rendering judgment for Texas official defendants. The Fifth Circuit upheld Texas’s Election Protection and Integrity Act of 2021, which … More August 4, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (en banc), habeas corpus, Brady violation, en banc Ordering en banc rehearing of now-vacated March 7, 2025, panel opinion (Higginbotham, J., joined by Higginson, J.; Duncan, J., dissenting) reversing district court’s denial of habeas petition based on prosecution’s failure to disclose witness’s status as confidential informant). Unpublished decisions per curiam … More July 30, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Richman, J. (Richman, Willett, Douglas), Douglas, J., dissenting in part; criminal, due process, immigration Affirming conviction of illegal reentry. Ismael Adan Ortiz-Rodriguez was removed from the United States in 2017 following expedited removal proceedings initiated by DHS. In 2023, he was convicted of illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). Before trial, … More July 23, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Stewart, Clement, Willett), criminal, sentencing Withdrawing prior opinion after petition for rehearing, and substituting new opinion affirming sentence of defendant on issue of intervening amendment to Sentencing Guidelines. Darrell Wickware, previously convicted of robbery under Texas law, was charged in 2021 with unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted … More July 22, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Jolly, Graves, Wilson), Title IX Affirming summary judgment in favor of school district on middle school student’s Title IX deliberate-indifference sex-discrimination claim arising from bullying of student as “gay” by other students and from suspension of student after a bullying incident. M.K., a student previously homeschooled, entered the Pearl River … More July 18, 2025, decisions
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 Willett, J. (Richman, Willett, Douglas), Douglas, J., concurring; labor law Reversing NLRB order that Apple violated the National Labor Relations Act at an Apple retail store by coercively interrogating an employee and by removing unionization literature from a break room. This Fifth Circuit case arises from unionization efforts at an Apple retail … More July 7, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Granting en banc rehearing of unpublished February 26, 2025, panel opinion (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves, per curiam) reversing denial of summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s implied-false-certification claim and remanding for dismissal of case. Higginson, J. (Davis, Higginson, Douglas), search and seizure, administrative law, standing Vacating summary judgment in favor of airplane part manufacturer … More June 26, 2025, opinions
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
