Take the Fifth: Nov. 18, 2020 opinions

Unpublished Velazquez v. U.S., 19-10138, appeal from N.D. Tex. per curiam (Barksdale, Elrod, Ho), Federal Tort Claims Act, prisoner suit, jurisdiction Affirming 12(b)(1) dismissal of federal prisoner’s FTCA claim for injuries received responding to a fellow inmate’s calls for assistance, as the Inmate Accident Compensation Act provided the exclusive remedy. Jones v. Lubbock County Hospital … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 18, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Nov. 9 and 10, 2020 opinions

Designated for publication U.S. v. Cooper, 19-50119, appeal from W.D. Tex. Elrod, J. (Elrod, Duncan, Wilson), criminal, guilty plea Affirming conviction on use or possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, where defendant had pled guilty, finding sufficient factual bases to support plea; but remanding to correct that plea was to … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 9 and 10, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Nov. 2-6, 2020 opinions

Designated for publication Pizza Inn, Inc. v. Clairday, 19-11302, appeal from N.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Smith, Clement, Oldham), breach of contract, equitable intervention doctrine Reversing district court’s upholding of jury verdict in favor of franchisee, applying equitable intervention doctrine and awarding damages and attorneys’ fees to franchisee for pizza franchise’s refusal to renew contract when … More Take the Fifth: Nov. 2-6, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 22, 2020 opinions

Designated for publication Whole Woman’s Health v. Paxton, 17-51060, appeal from W.D. Tex., designated for publication Dennis, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Willett), Willett, J., dissenting; abortion law; Opinion originally released on October 13, 2020; released in “MODIFIED” form on Oct. 22 in order to append Judge Willett’s dissent; Take the Fifth‘s original summary of the majority … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 22, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 20, 2020 opinions

Designated for publication U.S. v. Sila, 17-11212, appeal from N.D. Tex. Elrod, J. (Higginbotham, Elrod, Haynes), criminal, sentencing, sufficiency of evidence Affirming two counts of indictment regarding theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft, vacating one count of indictment regarding theft of government funds for insufficiency of evidence, and remanding for resentencing. Defendant had … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 20, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 19, 2020 opinions

Designated for publication Richardson v. Hughs, 20-50774, appeal from W.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Oldham), Higginbotham, J., concurring; election law, sovereign immunity Staying, pending appeal, the district court’s injunction of Texas’s procedures regarding mail-in ballot signature verification and voter-notification procedures. Texas’s absentee mail-in balloting procedures–a system that, as confirmed by 5th Circuit’s October 14th … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 19, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 15, 2020 opinions

Designated for Publication Taylor v. McDonald, 18-11572, appeal from N.D. Tex. Smith, J. (Smith, Clement, Oldham), prisoner suit, § 1983, qualified immunity Affirming qualified-immunity-based dismissal of prisoner’s § 1983 suit for deprivation of due process by keeping him confined to a psychiatric unit without an involuntary commitment proceeding. Prisoner had initially consented to transfer to … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 15, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 14, 2020 opinions

To create a little efficiency for the writers of this blog, Take the Fifth will take a different tack beginning today. We will continue to include full summaries of those opinions designated for publication, but for unpublished opinions will only continue to provide links to the opinions and basic statistical information regarding basic outcome, district … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 14, 2020 opinions

Take the Fifth: Oct. 13, 2020 opinions

Whole Woman’s Health v. Paxton, 17-51060, appeal from W.D. Tex., designated for publication Dennis, J. (Stewart, Dennis, Willett), Willett, J., dissenting; abortion law Affirming district court’s judgment permanent injunction against the enforcement of Texas Senate Bill 8 (“SB8”) and its requirement that “a woman to undergo an additional and medically unnecessary procedure to cause fetal … More Take the Fifth: Oct. 13, 2020 opinions