Tag: maritime law

December 18-20, 2025, opinions

December 23, 2025

Designated for publication per curiam (en banc) (voting against rehearing: Elrod, Stewart, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Willett, Ho, Douglas, Ramirez, JJ.; voting for rehearing: Jones, Smith, Richman, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, Wilson, JJ.); Ho, J., concurring in denial of rehearing; Oldham, J., dissenting from denial of rehearing (joined by Jones, Smith, Richman, Duncan, Engelhardt, Wilson, JJ.) … More December 18-20, 2025, opinions

December 10-11, 2025, opinions

December 15, 2025

Designated for publication Richman, J. (Smith, Dennis, Richman) (oral argument), Dennis, J., concurring; criminal, sentencing Affirming conviction and concurrent five-year and life sentences for conspiracy to stalk and cyberstalking using a dangerous weapon and resulting in death; but vacating conviction and consecutive life sentence for using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a crime … More December 10-11, 2025, opinions

December 8, 2025, opinions

December 10, 2025

Designated for publication Willett, J. (Higginson, Willett, Engelhardt) (oral argument), criminal, sentencing Affirming 240-month sentence on convictions of wire fraud and money laundering. The defendant — Christopher Kirchner — was the co-founder and CEO of a logistics software startup. He diverted millions in investor funds to finance a lavish personal lifestyle rather than developing the … More December 8, 2025, opinions

November 13, 2025, opinions

November 15, 2025

Designated for publication Jones, J. (King, Jones, Oldham) (oral argument), bankruptcy, jurisdiction, breach of contract Reversing bankruptcy court’s dismissal of breach of contract action, and remanding to bankruptcy court with instructions to remand to state court. The Fifth Circuit reverses a bankruptcy court’s Rule 12(c) dismissal and a district court affirmance, holding the bankruptcy court … More November 13, 2025, opinions

October 17, 2025, opinions

October 19, 2025

Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Jones, Stewart, Ramirez) (oral argument), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, testimony, jury instruction Affirming conviction of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and making false entries in bank records. A federal jury convicted Ashton J. Ryan, Jr.—former President/CEO of First NBC Bank and Chair of its Board—of conspiracy to commit … More October 17, 2025, opinions

September 22, 2025, opinions

September 23, 2025

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Smith, Higginson, Douglas), Smith, J., dissenting; Clean Air Act, administrative law Denying petition for review of EPA final rule rejecting Texas’s Clean Air Act State Implementation Plan under the “Good Neighbor” rule. The Fifth Circuit denied Texas’s petition challenging EPA’s 2016 disapproval of Texas’s “Good Neighbor” SIP for the 2008 … More September 22, 2025, opinions

September 15, 2025, opinions

September 16, 2025

Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Duncan, Engelhardt), indemnity, maritime law Affirming that contract between plaintiff and defendant was not a “maritime contract,” and that the indemnity provision was therefore invalid. Genesis Energy appealed the dismissal of its crossclaim for defense and indemnification against Danos, LLC, after a Danos employee was injured transferring from an … More September 15, 2025, opinions

September 4-5, 2025, opinions

September 9, 2025

Designated for publication Willett, J. (Richman, Willett, Douglas), Douglas, J., dissenting; international custody, Hague Convention Granting panel rehearing, and entering new panel opinion reversing and remanding to district court with instructions to order the return of child to father in Venezuela. A Venezuelan father, Jose Leonardo Brito Guevara, sought the return of his daughter, A.F., … More September 4-5, 2025, opinions

August 29, 2025, opinions

September 8, 2025

Designated for publication Willett, J. (Wiener, Willett, Ho), Ho, J., dissenting; criminal, search and seizure Affirming grant of motion to suppress evidence, begrudgingly. The exclusionary rule has long provoked controversy, with critics deriding it as a blunt judicial tool that frees the guilty when police make mistakes. The oft-quoted Cardozo line—“the criminal is to go … More August 29, 2025, opinions

July 31, 2025, opinions

August 4, 2025

Unpublished opinions per curiam (Graves, Ho, Douglas), prisoner suit Dismissing as frivolous appeal from denial of petition for mandamus to compel ICE to turn over certain materials from arrest. per curiam (Stewart, Dennis, Haynes), maritime law Affirming district court’s judgment as to damages for certain vessels arising from mooring insufficiencies during Hurricane Ida, but reversing … More July 31, 2025, opinions