J. Durrant finds the district court properly granted summary judgment to the acquisitions firm after Utah Stream Access Coalition members were cited for trespass, wading in the Provo River on its property. Facts presented by the USAC were unaccompanied by applicable legal authority supporting the creation or existence of a recreational public easement at the time of Utah statehood. Arguments made for the easement do not establish any 19th-century basis for its existence. Cited caselaw is inapplicable, and the customs and practices of early Utahns are immaterial. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Supreme Court, Judge: Durrant, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 20210748, Categories: Constitution, Property
J. Bernal finds in favor of the school district on the farm owner’s claim that the district violated his First Amendment rights when it stopped using the farm for student field trips in 2018 after the farm owner posted on Facebook that “black supremacy” was more concerning than “white supremacy.” The school board affirmed that there is not a district policy barring or discouraging field trips to the farm. Although the farm owner argues that there have been no field trips to his farm since 2018, he is unable to present evidence that this is so because of a district policy.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Bernal, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 5:18cv2185, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, First Amendment
Per curiam, the Louisiana Supreme Court suspends attorney Henry Klein for one year and one day. Klein made unsubstantiated, disparaging remarks about a trial judge and opposing counsel, engaged in ex parte communications with the trial court’s law clerk, and continued to file duplicative pleadings into the record related to a civil matter.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 2023-B-0066, Categories: Evidence, Attorney Discipline
J. Clark finds that the workers' compensation board improperly denied a police detective benefits after his personal vehicle was rear-ended by a garbage truck. The injuries met the "special errand" exception to the general rule denying claims related to work commutes because the detective was en route to the precinct to get a police vehicle to assume a command role at a crime scene. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Clark, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 534726, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Coulson partially grants a tree services firm’s former groundsman his motion for partial summary judgment in his suit alleging FLSA violations. There is a genuine dispute as to whether the grounds man worked overtime hours. However, although the firm argues other parties named do not have the same administrative powers as itself, some of them do and will be considered to have joint employer status as to making decisions about tallying staff hours, wages and overtime.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Coulson, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv32, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Corporations, Employment, Labor
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Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a third-party claim for common-law indemnity in this insurance dispute related to a worker's injury. The university, which was found liable for the injury under New York labor law, adequately pleaded a claim against the tool company for indemnity. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 02738, Categories: Tort, Indemnification
J. Troutman finds that the appellate division improperly upheld defendant's conviction for criminal contempt and aggravated family offense stemming from a confrontation with a former girlfriend at her apartment. The family offense count must be dismissed as jurisdictionally defective because the charge did not specify which of dozens of possible misdemeanors may have been committed. Reversed in part.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Troutman, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 38, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Contempt
J. Lynch finds that a state trooper was properly denied accidental disability retirement benefits for post-traumatic stress injuries incurred after he shot a suspect who had been driving a car toward him at high speeds, which caused the suspect to crash and die. The incident did not constitute an accident since use of deadly force is inherent to a trooper's duties. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 534966, Categories: Employment, Social Security
J. Durrant finds that the district court properly rejected a community group's argument that the public has a right to wade in public waters on private land. The group failed to show a historical basis for a public easement to the streambed of the Provo River where it runs through private property. And neither facts or law support its claim that the 2010 Public Waters Access Act, which allows only floating on public waters that cross private land, is unconstitutional. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Supreme Court, Judge: Durrant, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 20210748, Categories: Property, Water
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly granted the employer's motion for judgment on the pleadings in an action brought by the employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employee claimed that the employer reduced his regular hourly rate to an artificially low rate to avoid paying him overtime compensation. The employee plausibly alleged that the employer cut his non-overtime rate to avoid paying him an overtime rate which would have been equal to one-and-a-half times his established hourly rate. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-10954, Categories: Labor
J. Newsom partially grants the immigrant's petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision denying her request for cancellation of removal. The board applied an incorrect standard in finding that the immigrant is ineligible for relief under a battered spouse provision of a statute whose language was originally adopted as part of the Violence Against Women Act. The board interpreted the phrase "extreme cruelty" in the provision to require proof of physical abuse, but the phrase is instead best understood to include mental and emotional abuse. Therefore, proof of mental or emotional abuse is sufficient to satisfy the provision.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Newsom, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 22-10445, Categories: Immigration
J. Bredar partially denies a lender its motion for default judgment against a group of companies whose owner defrauded eight commercial loans for over $9 million. The lender will be awarded part of its request of prejudgment interest. However, because it did not present specific dates of when it demanded payment in full after discovering the owner’s fraud, it cannot demand those payments immediately nor the entirety of its interest request.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Bredar, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv705, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Harris finds that a sheriff's office is not immune to a wrongful death action over the suicide of a pretrial detainee. The tort immunity waiver for injuries due to the negligent operation of a jail applies to the death. The exception to the waiver for detainees who have been convicted does not apply because the decedent was incarcerated for violating a protection order but had not yet been convicted of the violation. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21CA0370, Categories: Tort, Immunity, Wrongful Death
J. Sheehan finds that while the victim admitted her memory was spotty because she drank alcohol on the day of the rape, her version of events, including that defendant drugged and raped her, was bolstered by text messages from defendant asking about pills taken on the day of the assault. Furthermore, defendant was properly sentenced for each count of rape because the victim's testimony clearly indicated separate instances of rape occurred after she fell asleep or passed out several times throughout the night. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Sheehan, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-1670, Categories: Evidence, Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Jordan finds that the district court properly dismissed breach of contract claims brought by a company against a data center operator arising after 1,380 memory cards belonging to the company were stolen from the data center. The company failed to plausibly allege facts to support claims for breach of contract implied in law and breach of contract implied in fact. However, the district court improperly dismissed the implied bailment claim because the company plausibly alleged that the operator possessed the memory cards at the time of the theft. Affirmed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Jordan, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-13719, Categories: Contract
J. Readler finds evidence that indicates the employee could perform some work functions, including the lack of pain after several physical therapy sessions, supports the lower court's decision to uphold the denial of long-term disability benefits. The employee failed to meet the standard required by her insurance plan, which includes proof of a continuous, 180-day inability to perform the duties of her job. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Readler, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 22-3369, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Insurance
J. Cabell denies, in part, a mayor's motion for summary judgment on an individual's claims related to a city's refusal to grant him certain permits to develop a subdivision. Genuine issues of fact remain concerning the individual's claim for interference with contractual or economic relations.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Cabell, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 1:16cv11575, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Real Estate, Zoning, Contract
J. Wynn finds the lower court properly decided to conduct a new trial in this case regarding an American businessman who worked with Turkish officials to allegedly defame a wanted Turkish political activist living in the U.S. following a failed coup attempt. The court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the evidence weighed heavily against the verdict such that a new trial was warranted. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 22-4252, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Conspiracy
J. Hester finds that defendant was properly convicted and sentenced on counts including aggravated flight from an officer, resisting an officer and attempted battery of a police officer. Defendant's objection to the admission into evidence of a letter he wrote to his sister lacks merit since the letter was relevant to the charged offenses and "not unduly prejudicial." Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Hester, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 2022KA1114, Categories: Sentencing, Resisting Arrest, Battery
J. Sotomayor finds that the court of appeal ruled properly in this copyright infringement dispute over photographs of musical artist Prince, which were copied by famous artist Andy Warhol. The fair use doctrine does not apply as both the original work and the copied work were used in a commercial nature. Affirmed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Sotomayor, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-869, Categories: Copyright
J. Gorsuch finds that the court of appeal ruled properly in this patent dispute over a cholesterol medication. The pharmaceutical company failed to prove a detailed description on how to recreate its claimed innovation. Affirmed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Gorsuch, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-757, Categories: Health Care, Patent
Per curiam, the United States Supreme Court finds that the court of appeal properly dismissed this negligence complaint brought by a terrorism victim’s family against social media platform, Google. The family failed to sufficiently plead their claims that the social media platform aided and abetted the terrorist organization ISIS. Affirmed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-1333, Categories: Terrorism, Negligence
J. Thomas finds that the court of appeal improperly ruled in this negligence claim brought by the family of the victim of a terrorist attack victim who claims social media is liable for allowing ISIS to use their platforms because the family failed to show a "concrete nexus" between the attack and the social media platforms. Reversed.
Court: US Supreme Court, Judge: Thomas, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-1496, Categories: Terrorism, Negligence