J. Lange denies a Department of the Interior motion to dismiss an amended complaint involving self-determination contracts under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 under which the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe received federal funds to operate tribal schools that otherwise would have been operated by the federal government. The government collected a deficit of funds that the school would have otherwise received after the Tribe used some of the money to fund tribal government operations other than schools. The Tribe also claimed that the government collected more than the total unearned-revenue balance. The alleged overcollection claim in the amended complaint remains but all the claims from the original complaint remain foreclosed.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Lange, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv3018, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Education, Native Americans
J. Mooney finds the trial court did not deprive defendant of his “right to procedural due process.” Defendant, who was sleeping in a post office branch, “does not have a protected liberty interest that entitles him to enter and remain on the premises of that post office branch under those circumstances.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A178272, Categories: Trespass, Due Process
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J. Joyce finds the trial court erred by admitting arresting officer testimony about field sobriety tests. The “state was required to prove that she had been impaired to a perceptible degree while driving.” Reversed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A179615, Categories: Evidence, Dui
J. Joyce finds the trial court properly continued a FAPA restraining order against respondent after finding him to be a continuing credible threat to petitioner’s physical safety. “Respondent’s immigration issue continued after the parties separated, and there was a volatile incident between the parties after they separated, the evidence was sufficient.”
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A180897, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
J. Mooney finds the trial court properly declined to acquit defendant of second-degree animal neglect involving a mare and her foal. The “state presented evidence that the very young, injured foal was found attempting to nurse from a mare with no milk supply.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A178592, Categories: Animal Cruelty
J. Choudhury tosses a class action brought by a self-representing litigant claiming several entities orchestrated a scheme to bankrupt and ultimately close an all-girls Catholic high school in Long Island, as well as other schools throughout the country. His claims do not concern federal law or establish diversity jurisdiction. Most notably, the court rules a pro se litigant cannot serve as class representative and class counsel at the same time, as that would unfairly prejudice the class members.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Choudhury, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv2636, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Jurisdiction, Class Action
J. Moss partially grants the FDA's motion for summary judgment and the tobacco vaporizer maker's cross-motion for summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by the vape maker seeking information on its denied premarket tobacco applications. The FDA's withholding of records under an exemption for "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" was proper because those documents were part of the deliberative process, regardless of the vape maker's various arguments that they were produced after the agency's decisions were made, because they were nevertheless produced before those decisions were finalized and published. Memos summarizing scientific data also are not privilege-free scientific reports in this case, since they were compiled for deliberative purposes. The agency has also established that the release of withheld memos would cause foreseeable harm and would chill the ongoing supervisory review process.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2853, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Government, Public Record
J. Cooper grants the employer's motion for partial summary judgment and denies the employee's motion for summary judgment in a suit alleging that the employee reneged on an obligation to return a bonus when she left her role as the employer's subsidiary's president. The pay schedule provisions of the employee's bonus contract is enforceable, and the employee breached them by failing to return an accelerated payment. The doctrine of unclean hands also does not apply in this case. The employer's request for fees incurred in summary judgment briefing as a sanction for the employee's litigation conduct is denied.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Cooper, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2574, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Employment, Choice Of Law, Contract
J. Moss denies the state of Florida's motion seeking a stay of an injunction entered in a suit brought under the Endangered Species Act pending appeal. Staying the decision would, in effect, deny the environmental groups the preliminary injunctive relief they sought, so the public interest and risk of injury to those groups weigh against a stay. Florida, meanwhile, has not demonstrated that it is likely to suffer an irreparable injury absent a stay, nor that it is likely to prevail on appeal.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv119, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Environment
J. Tigar allows negligence and race discrimination claims to proceed from a single plaintiff against the California Department of Corrections stemming from an incident at CTF Soledad in July 2020 where more than 50 Black inmates were awakened in the middle of the night to be interrogated in the dining hall, leading to an outbreak of Covid-19 at the facility. Of the initial class of over 50 people who were allegedly targeted by the event or got Covid from it, years of proceedings narrowed the class down to six. Today it is trimmed down further to just one. The rest lack standing for not exhausting all of their administrative options.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Tigar, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv582, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Prisoners' Rights
J. Phillips dismisses an appeal from a podcast and its host that sought to challenge a ruling that refused to toss defamation claims leveled against them from a doctor after the podcast spread false claims about the doctor being a member of "Antifa" and trying to rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. The lower court denied their motion to toss the claims after finding that the doctor was likely to prevail on the merits of his claims. Their appeal falls outside the collateral-order doctrine, leaving it dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1109, Categories: Defamation
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly found for the prison radiologists who misread a prisoner's x-rays that showed the surgically implanted rods in his back were broken, leaving him in pain for over a year. The radiologists' error was negligent, but did not rise to the level of deliberate indifference, nor did the actions of the prison doctor who found the mistake and put the prisoner on the path to corrective surgery. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1220, Categories: Constitution, Prisoners' Rights
J. Stabile finds that the trial court improperly granted defendant’s motion to decertify this case charging him with attempting to murder two police officers when he was 16 years old. The decertification order is defective due to the trial court’s failure to consider multiple criteria that it was required to take into account before granting decertification. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Stabile, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: J-A24009-23, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Civil Rights
J. Robie finds that the trial court properly rejected a civil service employee's claim that her due process rights were violated when she was denied a Skelly hearing. Skelly hearings are only available upon notice of an adverse employment action, and she chose a voluntary demotion rather than face what she was told would be possible termination. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Robie, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: C097235, Categories: Employment, Due Process