17 results for 'judge:"Ripple"'.
J. Ripple finds the district court properly assessed costs against the inmate. The court granted summary judgment in favor of the care providers on the purportedly indigent inmate's claims alleging medical mistreatment. The providers then submitted a $5,000 bill of costs for deposition transcripts. Though the inmate says he does not have the funds and was granted in forma pauperis status to file his claims, documentation showing amounts he has spent at the prison commissary from his prisoner fund reveals funds sufficient to cover the bill of costs. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 21, 2024, Case #: 23-1859, Categories: Health Care, Attorney Fees, Prisoners' Rights
J. Ripple finds the district court improperly convicted and sentenced defendant for firearm possession by a convicted felon. With three previous convictions for robbery "on occasions different from one-another," defendant pleaded guilty to firearm possession, but contended he did not qualify for an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. He says he committed two of the robberies on the same occasion, rather than on different occasions. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments grant defendant the opportunity to have a jury decide the question of when the offenses were committed for the purposes of the Act. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 20, 2024, Case #: 23-2338, Categories: Constitution, Jury, Sentencing
J. Ripple finds the district court properly found for Indiana's Secretary of State. Indiana's requirements for candidates seeking to be on its general election ballot do not severely burden the challengers' First and 14th Amendment rights. The signature requirement is only 2% of votes cast in a mid-term election, which is reasonable. Indiana allows candidates ample time to collect signatures, and the county-level submission requirement is no greater than those upheld in other balloting schemes. Furthermore, the restrictions are in line with Supreme Court and 7th Circuit precedent.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 19, 2024, Case #: 23-2756, Categories: Constitution, Elections, First Amendment
[Consolidated.] J. Ripple finds the district court properly concluded family members of individuals killed in the Boeing airliner crash in the Java Sea can only proceed under the Death on the High Seas Act and that they are not entitled to a jury trial. Though Boeing admits a manufacturing defect caused the crash, its ordinary reading of the Act supports its interpretation it applies to all cases of death on the high seas. The Act also preempts non-Act-related claims. The Act is generally the exclusive remedy where it applies. All state-law-based claims for pre-death pain and suffering, emotional distress, and lost property are dismissed. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 6, 2024, Case #: 23-2358, Categories: Admiralty, Wrongful Death
J. Ripple finds the district court properly granted the Salvation Army's motion to dismiss. Participants in the charity's rehabilitation program filed this suit contending its work therapy program, requiring them to work 40 hours per week in exchange for food, clothing, and housing, is actually forced labor. Allegations do not indicate the Salvation Army in any way prevented the participants from leaving the program. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 6, 2024, Case #: 23-1218, Categories: Civil Rights, Labor
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J. Ripple finds the district court properly convicted defendant for possession of firearms, sexual exploitation of a minor and plot to murder the minor and her mother based on sufficient evidence. Though defendant's attorney moved to withdraw after finding a controlled substance concealed in documents he was asked to deliver to defendant, defendant opposed the motion, later reaching a plea agreement while represented by that same attorney. Defendant now contends the attorney had a conflict of interest due to the court's failing to inform him of the reason for his attorney's motion to withdraw. He says his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary. Though defendant's Sixth Amendment claim is not foreclosed by the appellate waiver, defendant cannot establish that he was adversely affected by the alleged conflict of interest. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple , Filed On: August 5, 2024, Case #: 23-1148, Categories: Constitution, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the employer on claims it retaliated against an employee for filing a race discrimination grievance. In doing so, the court relied on a contradictory declaration submitted by the employer, but did not consider the employee's declaration. Nevertheless, the court made a clear and reasoned decision which accounted for the contradiction, and correctly found the employee's new claims in his declaration to be self-serving. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 16, 2024, Case #: 23-1821, Categories: Employment Retaliation
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiracy to distribute meth after denying his request for substitute counsel and sentenced him to 324 months in prison. Defendant made his request for substitute counsel on the day before sentencing, which was untimely, and though he disagreed with his counsel's strategy, there was no breakdown in communication between the two. Further, defendant's below-guidelines sentence was not unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 11, 2024, Case #: 23-2472, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Ripple finds that the lower court improperly granted the mortgage lender's motion to dismiss a government enforcement action alleging the lender discouraged black prospective applicants from applying for loans. The protections of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act do not apply solely to bona fide applicants, but extend to prospective applications as well. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: July 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1654, Categories: Civil Rights, Banking / Lending
J. Ripple finds properly dismissed the mortgage originator's Section 207 claims stemming from fraud related to two wire transfers that resulted in the unauthorized withdrawal of over $500,000. The law only permits a sender to seek a refund from the bank which received its payment. However, the mortgage originator may pursue a negligence claim based on the bank's issuance of the cashier's checks after it credited funds to the suspicious account. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: June 28, 2024, Case #: 22-3163, Categories: Fraud, Negligence, Banking / Lending
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the employer on 40 black employees' race discrimination claims, and awarded damages to just one employee of seven who went to trial. Residents' repeated use of the N-word was "troubling" but was usually verbalized by patients suffering mental impairments and were not statements made by management or coworkers. These racist comments cannot be the basis to find employees were subjected to a hostile work environment or pervasive harassment. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 22-2806, Categories: Agency, Employment Discrimination
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendants of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. The government is not required to proceed to trial on all charges of the conspiracy named in the indictment, but may elect to proceed on a subset of the allegations in the indictment and prove a conspiracy smaller than the one originally alleged. Further, the court properly sentenced defendants to a substantial, though below-guidelines sentence, including firearms enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 22-2060, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the officer on false arrest claims stemming from a man's arrest on charges of being a hit-and-run driver. Three witnesses asserted that the man was the aggressor in the underlying incident, and the officer therefore had probable cause to arrest him based on that information. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 23-2574, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly upheld the SSA's determination that the disability applicant was not disabled before June 2009. The gaps in the applicant's treatment history, and intermitted independent-contractor work he performed during this time support the agency's decision. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 22-2694, Categories: Social Security
J. Ripple finds that the lower court improperly rejected the trade group's tortious interference claims alleging the unlawful manipulation of the price of ethanol because the Nebraska Supreme Court has not explicitly adopted the trade group's theory of damages. A district court is not required to choose the most restrictive interpretation of state law, even if the evidence indicates the state court would choose a less restrictive alternative. If the trade group amends its complaint, the lower court should reexamine its determination of the content of Nebraska law. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 23-1185, Categories: Tort, Choice Of Law, Business Practices
J. Ripple finds that the immigration board properly denied the Indian immigrant's application for asylum based on his alleged persecution due to his support of a minority political party that is predominantly Sikh. The medical reports following the immigrant's alleged attack by opposition party members do not support his claim that he suffered broken teeth and needed stitches due to the severity of the beating. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 23-1192, Categories: Immigration, Agency
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Evidence supports the finding that he acted as a middleman in a scheme to use fake online dating accounts to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars from unwitting elderly people and send the money to co-conspirators in Nigeria. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 22-2573, Categories: Fraud, Money Laundering