September 18-19, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Smith, Ho), copyright, trademark infringement Affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant, a children’s art teaching company, and against plaintiff artist, holding that fair use doctrine protected defendant’s use of plaintiff’s art works; and holding that district court’s summary judgment on trademark infringement claim where motion for summary judgment … More September 18-19, 2024, opinions

September 9, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Jones, J. (King, Jones, Oldham), criminal, sentencing Affirming district court’s determination that federal sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon would run consecutively with state-court sentence and that defendant would not get 43 months’ credit for time spent serving sentence on state conviction. per curiam (Haynes, Willett, Oldham), Haynes, J., … More September 9, 2024, opinions

September 6, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Ho, Duncan, Oldham), habeas corpus, Equal Protection Clause Affirming denial of habeas relief on claim that life sentence for state conviction of sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct with the petitioner’s intellectually disabled daughter violated the Equal Protection Clause. Wiener, J. (Wiener, Elrod, Wilson), sec. 1983 Affirming judgment on jury … More September 6, 2024, opinions

September 4, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Graves, J. (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), Fair Labor Standards Act Affirming summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs’ FLSA overtime claims on the basis that each employee is a “bona fide executive” exempt from FLSA’s overtime provisions. Elrod, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Elrod), evidence Affirming summary judgment for defendant trustees on claims brought by plaintiff beneficiaries of … More September 4, 2024, opinions

August 23, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Clement, Engelhardt, Wilson), breach of contract, tortious interference Reversing judgment as a matter of law to defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment claim; reversing judgment as a matter of law to co-defendant on plaintiff’s declaratory judgment and tortious interference claims; remanding for jury trial on the reversed claims; affirming denial of … More August 23, 2024, opinions

August 16-21, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Richman, C.J. (Richman, Ho, Engelhardt), Ho, J., dissenting in part; immigration Granting Cameroonian citizen’s petition for review of BIA order dismissing appeal of IJ’s denial of applications for asylum and withholding of removal (denying petition for review of denial of protection under the Convention Against Torture), vacating BIA’s opinion, and remanding for … More August 16-21, 2024, opinions

August 1-15, 2024, opinions

Another quick-blurb catch-up post (the briefing and arguing has been non-stop since mid-July–Take the Fifth may need to take on some more staff!). Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), criminal, Sixth Amendment, sentencing Affirming conviction and sentence on fraud under the Paycheck Protection Program, upholding denial of motion to substitute counsel and district … More August 1-15, 2024, opinions

July 30-31, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Higginbotham, Higginson, Duncan), qualified immunity, municipal liability, Fourth Amendment, § 1983 Dismissing appeal in part for want of appellate jurisdiction over appeals of denial of summary judgment on punitive damages claim, the summary judgment to police officer on Fourth Amendment search claim, and the summary judgment to the City and … More July 30-31, 2024, opinions

July 1-17, 2024, opinions

Take the Fifth’s resident opinion-aggregator was out of the country for the first two and a half weeks of July, so the following are just abbreviated accounts of dispositions without any summary. Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), bankruptcy, contempt Affirming contempt order entered by bankruptcy court against defendant in adversary proceeding. Stewart, … More July 1-17, 2024, opinions

June 25, 2024, opinions

Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Elrod, Ho, Oldham), COVID-19, American Rescue Plan Act, Spending Clause Affirming permanent injunction against enforcement of provision in the American Rescue Plan Act, which allocated $200 billion to the states to assist in economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, holding that provision that states must agree to not use funds … More June 25, 2024, opinions