16 results for 'judge:"Rushing "'.
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant to 28 months in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release. The defendant argued the court consulted the wrong policy statement range in fashioning his revocation sentence because South Carolina attempted armed robbery is not a crime of violence under the version of the U.S. sentencing guidelines in effect at the time of his revocation hearing. South Carolina attempted armed robbery is a crime of violence under the residual clause of the guidelines definition in effect at the time of his revocation hearing. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 16-4489, Categories: Firearms, Robbery, Sentencing
J. Rushing finds the lower properly increased the mandatory minimum sentence for numerous federal drug and firearm offenses. The defendant argued that the judicial factfinding the judge participated in violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. The judge could find out the defendant had a prior conviction without a jury necessary. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 21-4299, Categories: Drug Offender, Fair Trial, Judiciary
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly dismissed the consolidated appeals for lack of jurisdiction. A party to litigation may not immediately appeal a civil contempt order. Instead, the sanctioned party must wait until the final judgment to appeal. The same rule applies in bankruptcy, except the relevant final judgment may be a decree ending the entire case or a decree ending a discrete proceeding within the bankruptcy case. In the two orders underlying the appeals, the bankruptcy court held the asbestos claimants in contempt and sanctioned them for defying a discovery order. Because the contempt and sanctions orders do not terminate a procedural unit separate from the remaining bankruptcy case, they are not final appealable orders. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing , Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 22-1981, Categories: Bankruptcy, Jurisdiction, Asbestos
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly denied the requested preliminary injunction. The pair of voters argued the state senate districts drawn in 2023 violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, claiming it effectively disenfranchised Black voters. The voters sought an injunction erasing the current districts and allowing them to draw the lines before the 2024 election cycle. The proximity to the election and not showing the extraordinary circumstances necessary to justify disrupting the status quo before trial makes the injunction not feasible. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1095, Categories: Elections, Government
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly found the internet service provider liable for vicarious infringement. Top music companies sued the provider for its lack of action to prevent its subscribers from using its service to download music illegally. The provider did not profit from its subscribers��� acts of infringement, a legal prerequisite for vicarious liability. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 21-1168, Categories: Communications, Copyright, Jury
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J. Rushing finds the board properly dismissed the petition for asylum. The native Honduran, who admittedly killed a man with a machete before entering the U.S., alleged that his home government would torture or kill him upon his return. He did not file his petition within 30 days of any final order of removal, and precedent dictates that the statutory filing deadline is jurisdictional.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 22-1221, Categories: Immigration, Jurisdiction
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the Adidas on racketeering claims. The once highly touted basketball player failed to show how the bribery scheme initiated to get the prospect to play for Louisville personally injured him or his business. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing , Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 21-1764, Categories: Racketeering
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly enhanced the defendant's sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. The defendant argued that his previous conviction for aggravated assault is not a violent felony within the meaning of the Act, but even the least culpable version of aggravated assault satisfies the Act's force clause because it has the threatened use of force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 21-4043, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Rushing found that the board improperly held that the immigration judge provided the Mexican immigrant with legally adequate notice of the conditions applicable to his voluntary departure. The relevant regulation unequivocally requires the judge to inform the alien of the bond amount and deadline for the bond before granting voluntary departure. Vacated in part.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1147, Categories: Immigration, Theft
J. Rushing finds the board properly denied the former MS-13 gang member's petition for deferral of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The former gang member fears retaliation if removed to Honduras for refusing to participate in a gang-ordered stabbing while incarcerated for other gang-related charges. In light of recent efforts to eliminate police corruption in Honduras, the gang member failed to adequately allege that the government would turn a blind eye to the risk of him being killed. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 21-2377, Categories: Immigration, Gangs
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence from an allegedly unlawful seizure leading to his conviction for possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user. A postal inspector called his friend from the police department after he saw a man he found suspicious walking through an alleyway near an unoccupied home with an "Oh, no, I���m caught��� look on his face. The postal inspector spotted him. The police searched the defendant despite not having any evidence of him committing any wrongdoing, leading to them finding a gun and prescription drugs. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-4063, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of two crimes arising out of an elaborate ploy to intimidate an Internal Revenue Service agent into halting her efforts to collect his delinquent tax debt. The defendant filed a lien against a federal tax agent to intimidate but mistakenly filed the suit against the agent's pseudonym instead of her real name. The defendant incorrectly argues that the statute does not apply to fictitious persons and that his mistake precludes criminal liability. The argument misses the mark because he attempted to file the lien against the property of a real federal employee, regardless of her name. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 22-4258, Categories: Government, Tax
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly excluded testimony about the defendant's belief that he was on his family���s property when he set a bush fire that spread and damaged a federally owned forest in North Carolina. The government is tasked with proving the defendant willfully set the fire. Evidence that on the day of the fire, the defendant believed he was on his property when he set the fire would support a defense to the general willfulness element and should not have been excluded. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing , Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 22-4307, Categories: Evidence, Arson
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly concluded that general constitutional principles establish the IT employee's right to be free from suspicionless drug testing. The Department of Corrections staff acted reasonably when they asked an IT employee to participate in a minimally invasive drug test, considering he has contact with inmates and could be sneaking drugs in and out of prisons. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing , Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 21-1932, Categories: Employment, Government, Immunity
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly convicted the immigrant of illegally reentering the United States after an aggravated felony conviction. The immigrant failed to show vindictive prosecution by the government. The government sought harsher charges than the original charge of being an illegal immigrant with a firearm after stopping him at a traffic stop when they found out he had been removed from the country before and illegally reentered while trying to strengthen their case. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 20-4297, Categories: Immigration, Malicious Prosecution, Firearms
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly dismissed the professor's First Amendment claims. The university disciplined the psychology professor after allegedly creating a hostile environment that led to four female students reporting him for sexual harassment after he told them explicit stories about his personal sexual experiences, made explicit remarks, and asked intimate questions about their sex lives. His sanctioned speech primarily involved casual, interpersonal interactions with students about private sexual matters that the professor does not plausibly connect to a larger public discourse or matter of public concern. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 20-1509, Categories: Education, Due Process, First Amendment