September 1, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication per curiam (King, Smith, Ramirez) (oral argument), criminal, restitution Affirming restitution award on misdemeanor depravation of rights conviction. Luis Enrique Padilla, the former chief of the Sunset Police Department in Sunset, Louisiana, used excessive force against a handcuffed individual, R.A., during a hit-and-run investigation in December 2023. Padilla “warned ‘let me show … More September 1, 2026, opinions

August 26, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (King, Higginson, Duncan) (oral argument), Duncan, J., dissenting; criminal, sentencing Vacating 46-month sentence on conviction of illegal reentry, and remanding for resentencing. Alexander Palencia-Berrum pled guilty to illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326. His criminal history included three DWI convictions, an obstruction/minor-in-possession conviction, a domestic battery guilty plea, a … More August 26, 2026, opinions

August 17-18, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Higginson, J. (Richman, Higginson, Douglas) (oral argument), criminal, sufficiency of evidence, witness testimony, evidence, sentencing, Second Amendment, Commerce Clause Affirming conviction and sentence on drug and firearms charges. Travis Enclade and Terence Wilson, relatives suspected of narcotics trafficking in New Orleans, were the subjects of a two-month DEA surveillance operation using pole … More August 17-18, 2026, opinions

August 14, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Clement, Oldham) (oral argument withdrawn), immigration Denying Salvadoran citizen’s petition for review of BIA’s denial of his request for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Jose Mauricio Lopez-Barrera, a Salvadoran national, petitioned for review of the BIA’s denial of his request for deferral of removal under the … More August 14, 2026, opinions

August 10, 2026, opinions

Unpublished decisions per curiam (Jones, Ho, Wilson) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing Affirming 136-month sentence following a guilty plea for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The defendant challenged the quantity of drugs attributed to him for calculating his base offense level. He argued that statements from multiple confidential sources were unreliable and that the … More August 10, 2026, opinions

July 24, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Douglas, J. (Higginbotham, Ho, Douglas), Ho, J., dissenting in part (oral argument); standing, preemption, First Amendment Affirming preliminary injunction of Texas social media regulation statute as to monitoring and filtering requirements as preempted by federal law; vacating injunction as sought by certain plaintiffs for lack of standing; and remanding for further proceedings. … More July 24, 2026, opinions

July 21, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication per curiam (en banc), immigration, die process, en banc In relation to the en banc rehearing of the July 2 opinion affirming that immigrants’ due process rights were violated by detention more than 90 days without bond hearings, which rehearing was ordered quickly on the heels of the panel opinion, on July … More July 21, 2026, opinions

July 17, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Higginbotham, Stewart, Haynes) (no oral argument), judicial estoppel, personal tort On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, from prior Fifth Circuit affirmance of dismissal of plaintiff’s suit, remanding back to district court to assess judicial estoppel from plaintiff’s failure to disclose claim on bankruptcy schedules. Thomas Keathley brought a personal … More July 17, 2026, opinions

July 16, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Elrod, C.J. (Elrod, Smith, Wilson) (oral argument), bankruptcy Affirming bankruptcy court’s finding of willful violation of bankruptcy automatic stay by aggressive arbitration against debtor’s founder. With Purpose, Inc. (formerly doing business as GloriFi), a financial technology start-up co-founded by Toby Neugebauer, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 2023. Prior to the … More July 16, 2026, opinions

July 10, 2026, opinions

Designated for publication Clement, J. (Jones, Clement, Richman) (oral argument), criminal, sentencing Affirming 180-month sentence on conviction of selling methamphetamine that was based on a criminal history score that included an expunged state conviction. Juan Payne pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine (461.9 grams in two transactions) under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). While his … More July 10, 2026, opinions