382 results for 'court:"7th Circuit"'.
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court improperly found for the school in a Title IX sex discrimination suit filed by a male medical student who was found to have physically abused a female student off-campus. The medical student was not expelled until he applied to the university's business school and described his mere suspension as an "exoneration," which the dean of the medical school found to be a falsification. The male student should have been given notice and an opportunity to defend himself before summary expulsion. However, in order to continue with this suit, the male student must disclose his full name, as he is neither a minor nor at risk of improper retaliation. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-1576, Categories: Civil Rights, Education
J. Jackson-Akiwumi finds that the lower court finds that the landlord's successor in interest is entitled to collect damages for unpaid rent from Saks, which guaranteed it would pay rent on a department store retail space if the tenant did not pay. Saks waived the right to present affirmative defenses to liability in the guaranty it signed. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Jackson-Akiwumi, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-1489, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Contract
J. Sykes finds that the lower court properly found for the insurer, ruling that its policy with a dialysis provider contains a bacteria exclusion that precludes coverage of a $2 million judgment against the provider stemming from a patient's sepsis diagnosis after suffering repeated infections resulting from his dialysis treatment. The bacteria exclusion plainly applies, and the insurer was not required to conduct any further investigation into the man's claims before denying coverage. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Sykes, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1983, Categories: Insurance, Indemnification, Contract
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 96 months in prison for stealing 25 firearms, of which police only recovered eight. The court's speculation that the missing firearms were "likely in the hands of other felons" does not amount to impermissible speculation requiring the court to vacate his sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-1564, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
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J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly revoked defendant's probation, finding that he possessed a firearm in violation of the terms of his supervised release. While the trial judge should not have allowed defendant's probation officer to narrate a police surveillance video showing defendant with the gun without permitting defendant to cross-examine the officer, the error was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-3282, Categories: Firearms, Probation, Witnesses
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. Buth finds that the lower court improperly dismissed all the employees' ERISA claims against the company. To the extent the employees seek recovery for conduct taking place after November 2012, the claims are timely. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1073, Categories: Civil Procedure, Erisa
J. Lee finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant to 150 months in prison after applying two sentencing enhancements. The record does not support a finding that defendant used his home for the primary purpose of making meth, so this enhancement was improperly applied. The enhancement for his role as a supervisor of the conspiracy is supported by the evidence. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 22-3015, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court improperly upheld the Illinois Department of Corrections' policy prohibiting phone contact between a parent conviction of a sex offense and their minor child while the parent is on supervised release. The department may readily monitor calls as an alternative to an outright ban on phone contact, which denies parents the right to communicate with their children. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 22-2791, Categories: Communications, Due Process, Prisoners' Rights
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly found for the county in a family's suit following a man's suicide in jail. The deceased gave jail staff no indication that he was a threat to himself. The staff's delay in waiting for 20 minutes to tell the man to take down a bedsheet obscuring the view of his bed was not unreasonable given that many inmates put sheets up just for privacy and the jail had never had a suicide before. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-2141, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death
J. Jackson-Akiwumi finds that the lower court properly found for the college, ruling it did not discriminate against the employee when it fired her after nearly 20 decades of employment. The employee fails to show a causal link between her filing of a petition with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and her termination, as the record supports the college's claim that it fired her after becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her performance. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Jackson-Akiwumi, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 22-2516, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination
J. Scudder finds that the lower court properly found for DISH and DirecTV Network in a race discrimination suit alleging the broadcasters declined to pay for rights to carry two Indianapolis-based TV stations because the majority owner is Black. The broadcasters presented clear, race-neutral reasons for their decisions, and the company falls shorts of demonstrating pretext in these proffered explanations for their business decision. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 23-1787, Categories: Civil Rights, Communications, Business Practices
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison for possession of a firearm as a felon after rejecting a binding plea agreement providing for a 96-month sentence. Defendant was fully aware that the acceptance of defendant's guilty plea did not ensure the acceptance of the binding plea agreement, and there is no merit to the claim that the court improperly inserted itself into the plea negotiation process. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-2364, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Plea
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly found for the city and police detectives in a civil rights suit filed by two suspects who claim the detectives deliberately misled judges and a grand jury to secure a probable cause determination to detain them on charges of first-degree murder, of which they were acquitted. The suspects cannot show that the detectives' alleged false statements were necessary to the judge's probable cause decision, especially as the state's attorney's office conducted its own independent investigation before deciding to file charges. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2467, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
[Consolidated.] J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court improperly denied an investor's motion to intervene in a dismissed securities class action. The investor seeks to challenge $300,000 in mootness fees paid by the corporation to counsel in a suit mooted after the company agreed to make supplemental disclosures about its proposed merger. He claims that the only purpose of the suit was not needlessly increase the cost of litigation to induce the company to pay fees to counsel, while not providing any real benefit to investors. While the court has already ordered the fees returned in this particular case, counsel are entitled to be heard, and the court may consider sanctions. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 18-2220, Categories: Securities, Attorney Fees, Class Action
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a search of his motel room found bullets that went along with a gun he dropped while fleeing from police. Defendant was on parole at the time he was found in possession of a weapon, and so he did not have an expectation of privacy in his motel room, so the bullets were properly admitted into evidence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-2097, Categories: Firearms, Parole, Search
J. Scudder finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim in connection with his unsuccessful motion to suppress evidence of possession of child pornography. It was reasonable for defendant's attorney not to pursue a claim that the agent signing the search warrant acted in bad faith by omitting the state court's suppression ruling from his federal search warrant affidavit because it would have faced a high bar to prove materiality to the charges. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 22-1179, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Search, Child Pornography
[Consolidated.] J. St. Eve finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant for conspiracy to distribute meth based on a finding that the conspiracy involved 737 grams of "ice" meth. The state only tested a small amount of the drug for purity, and cannot simply rely on co-conspirators' statements to calculate the total drug weight. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 22-2994, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
Per curiam, the Seventh Circuit finds that the lower court properly ordered the business owners to pay more than $300,000 in back taxes to the IRS, but improperly denied the IRS an injunction that would require the business owners to pay their taxes ahead of private creditors. The lower court's decision relies on the fact that the U.S. government will not face insolvency if the business owners do not pay their taxes, but this would render the law permitting the entry of an injunction totally ineffectual. The IRS may show irreparable harm because it will be unable to collect on the money judgment if the business owners persist in their refusal to pay. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1864, Categories: Tax
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of drug trafficking after denying his motion to suppress evidence recovered in a search of his garbage, which found cocaine residue on a pair of gloves and supported a full search of his house. Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the garbage found in cans on the street awaiting trash pickup. Further, he had no right to confront the state's confidential source whose voice is heard during the controlled buy video. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 23-1615, Categories: Confrontation, Drug Offender, Search
J. Wood finds the lower court properly found in favor of the Secretary of Transportation in this matter concerning the building of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) in Jackson Park in Chicago. This is the fourth in a series of complaints from the group about the construction of the center on city parkland. The lower court found the project, which is under construction and slated for completion in 2025, does not violate any laws or ordinances. The instant court finds the current case mirrors that of its previous complaint, and brings forth no new information or argument, making it a matter that has already been decided in prior litigation. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 22-3190, Categories: Construction, Municipal Law, Zoning
J. Wood finds that the lower court properly denied the non-profit group's request to enjoin ongoing construction on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park. The group cannot bring a taxpayer derivative action on behalf of the city when the city is a defendant to this suit and opposes the group's claims. Further, this court already rejected the same legal arguments alleging violations of federal environmental laws in prior opinions. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 22-3190, Categories: Environment, Tax, Restraining Order
J. Scudder finds that the administrative judge properly denied a woman's application for disability benefits based on her back pain. The judge was not required to review hyper-detailed physician accounts of the woman's surgeries rather than relying on summaries of the medical evidence in making her decision. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-1632, Categories: Evidence, Social Security
J. Eastbrook finds the lower court properly denied Smith and Wesson’s notice of removal in this matter involving the aftermath of a mass-shooting. A shooter opened fire into a crowd during an Independence Day parade, killing seven people and wounding 48 others. The shooter used a Smith and Wesson AR-15 style assault weapon, and the victims and their estates seek damages from the rifle manufacturer for its role in the sale and marketing of the weapon. Smith and Wesson argues the matter should be removed and heard in federal court because it involves multiple claims against them, some of which fall under federal law, but the instant court disagrees. What Smith and Wesson sees as multiple claims - the sale and advertising the sale of the weapon - the court sees as legal theory, and finds there is only one claim in the matter, that of the shooter firing into a crowd of people, and that Smith and Wesson is merely a party that may bear secondary liability. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Eastbrook, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-2992, Categories: Tort, Damages, Firearms
J. Scudder finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of transporting child pornography for sending hundreds of videos depicting sexual assaults of children to an undercover FBI agent. Defendant was convicted of transporting child pornography and received an enhanced mandatory sentence of 15 years imprisonment due to a prior conviction in Wisconsin of possession of child pornography. Defendant argues that his prior conviction doesn’t qualify him to receive an enhanced sentence as a repeat sex offender, arguing there is a distinction in definition of possession between the state and federal law. The instant court finds no distinction and finds defendant’s prior conviction qualifies him for the enhanced sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 21-3225, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
En banc, J. Scudder finds that the lower court properly imposed an enhanced mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for transporting child pornography. Defendant's prior conviction seven years prior for possession of child pornography in violation of Wisconsin law qualifies as a predicate conviction under federal law, which prescribes enhanced penalties for recidivist child sex offenders. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 21-3225, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
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. Sykes finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of running a heroin-distribution ring inside an Indiana prison and sentenced him as a career offender based on two prior convictions for cocaine distribution. The sentencing commission has the authority to interpret the career offender guidelines to include conspiracy under the definition of "controlled substance offense." Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Sykes, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 22-2014, Categories: Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly dismissed a consumer class action against an infant formula maker for selling formula made at a facility later deemed unsanitary. At the time of purchase, there was no known risk of contamination of the product, and therefore the consumers suffered no economic loss at the time of purchase. Consumers claim there was a "potential risk" the products were contaminated, but they were not subject to that risk in a personal and individual way. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 23-2525, Categories: Consumer Law, Class Action