Designated for publication Duncan, J. (Haynes, Duncan, Wilson), foreign official immunity, Torture Victim Protection Act Affirming dismissal of TVPA claims against former Nigerian governor under foreign official immunity. In this case, the widows of men killed by Nigerian military forces during rallies in 2020 sued former Nigerian governor Willie Obiano in a Texas federal court … More May 29-30, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Oldham, J. (Richman, Oldham, Ramirez, JJ.; Judges Richman and Ramirez did not concur in footnote 5); Fourth Amendment, state-law immunity, state constitutional claims, qualified immunity On claims arising from alleged conspiracy to steal documents from a cloud-based file storage system against various Texas agencies and in official- and individual-capacity against officials of … More May 28, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Elrod, Dennis, Higginson), First Amendment, sovereign immunity Affirming in part and vacating in part preliminary injunction against state entities to enjoin Texas law limiting information provided under managed vision plans, as an impingement on commercial speech, and affirming in part and vacating in part motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity … More May 23, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Elrod, Higginbotham, Southwick), maritime law Vacating and remanding for further proceedings the district court’s summary judgment on the question of the existence of a valid maritime lien on barges that shipyard and performed substantial changes to; and dismissing appeal in part. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court erred … More May 22, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. West, 22-11001, appeal from N.D. Tex. (denying panel reh’g but substituting new op.) per curiam (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), Willett, J., concurring; Duncan, J., concurring; criminal, sentencing, restitution, appeal waiver Vacating $6,000 restitution order as part of sentence for production of child pornography, and remanding for further proceedings; also, on Court’s … More May 21, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Ho, Wilson, Ramirez), Ho, J., concurring; appellate jurisdiction On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court with an order for the Fifth Circuit to hear the appeal expeditiously, ordering the case to be set on the next available oral argument panel. Judge Ho concurred, noting that the Court had to comply … More May 20, 2025, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Wiener, Stewart, Southwick), supervised release, criminal Affirming revocation of supervised release based on failure to report to federal parole officer and on state crimes while on release, even though arrest for revocation of supervised release did not occur until after term of supervised release was over, upholding invocation of jurisdiction … More May 15, 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 Clement, J. (Clement, Engelhardt, Wilson), Title VII, employment discrimination, labor law, jury instructions, pleadings amendment Reversing the denial of Southwest’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on employee’s belief-based Title VII claim and RLA retaliation claim and remanding with instructions for the district court to enter judgment for Southwest; affirming … More May 8-9, 2025, opinions
Unpublished opinions per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing Affirming 20-month sentence on revocation of supervised release. per curiam (King, Southwick, Engelhardt), criminal, sentencing Affirming conviction and 52-month sentence for conspiracy to possess heroin with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, maintaining a drug-involved premises, possession of methamphetamine … More May 7, 2025, opinions
