382 results for 'court:"7th Circuit"'.
J. Wood finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for dealing meth, sentencing him to a below-guidelines term of 240 months in prison. The sentencing judge took defendant's mitigating arguments into account, including his assault in jail. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 23-1426, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Scudder finds that the lower court improperly found for the restaurant in a slip and fall suit that left a patron with a dislocated hip. The patron testified that she slipped after stepping in some liquid, which left a wet spot on her dress. This is enough to create a disputed issue of fact as to whether a wet floor caused her fall. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Scudder, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-2213, Categories: Tort
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly found for the state agency in a suit filed by a businessowner alleging it violated her occupational liberty by telling a potential customer that her company engaged in a kickback scheme that violated the law. Government entities ceased doing business with the company as a result, but the company stayed afloat and the businessowner remained as CEO after being acquitted on bribery charges. The company always had private clients, even before the state's investigation began, and the businessowner has no constitutional right to work for a particular customer. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 22-3108, Categories: Civil Rights, Business Practices
Per curiam, the Seventh Circuit finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant for trafficking meth without accounting for whether the drugs in question were actual, pure methamphetamine or a mixture containing methamphetamine. Had the court done so, defendant's guidelines range would have been lower, so the error prejudiced defendant. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 22-2174, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Easterbrook properly dismissed the debtor's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit against a collector for attempting to collect a $5,200 debt without announcing the bank had not verified the balance. The debtor claimed her injury was that the collection calls "interrupted my self-employment" to search her records for the asserted debt. While the interruption of self-employment may qualify as an injury-in-fact to establish standing, the debtor failed to produce any evidence about her self-employment income to support her claim. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 23-1308, Categories: Civil Procedure, Debt Collection
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J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sex trafficking by force for compelling nine women to engage in prostitution and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. This sentence is correctly based on a straightforward reading of the law, and is not absurd even if it penalizes him more harshly than someone who trafficks a minor without force. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 21-3372, Categories: Sentencing, Prostitution
J. Wood finds that the lower court improperly found for the employer in a suit accusing the hospital of violating an employee's rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employer granted the employee an approved absence for 20% of full-time work, but insisted she still complete 100% of the workload, and fired her when she did not meet those expectations. A reasonable jury could find that the Act requires the employer to adjust its performance expectations to reflect the employee's reduced hours while she was on FMLA leave. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1541, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Employment Retaliation
J. St. Eve finds that the immigration board erred by reinstating an El Salvadoran citizen's removal order after he re-entered the U.S. because he feared he would be killed by gangs in his home country. The board "actively ignored" the evidence relied upon by the immigration judge who granted him asylum, and inappropriately reweighed the evidence rather than showing deference to the immigration judge's factual findings. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 21-2284, Categories: Immigration
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly discharged a businessman's $499,000 judgment against his former partner in bankruptcy proceedings. The court reasonably rejected the businessman's claim the judgment reflected fraud, and did not challenge his partner's valuation of his membership interest in a cargo company. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2947, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court properly vacated a $7.8 million jury award and ruled for the employer on the veteran's ADA retaliation claim. The veteran claimed her former employer discriminated against her based on her PTSD and won a "monstrously excessive" judgment that was the result of passion and prejudice. After the verdict, the court correctly ruled that the veteran did not have a valid ADA claim because showing up to work on time was an essential part of her job. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 23-1165, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Veterans, Employment Retaliation
J. Flaum finds that a woman cannot sue the employer of the man who sexually assaulted her under the guise of hiring her to do modeling work. No one at the company had any knowledge that of the man's promises to hire her as an independent contractor, and she was never entered into the payroll system. Therefore, she cannot hold the employer liable for its employee's actions. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 23-1320, Categories: Employment, Tort
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly rejected defendant's habeas petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant has proven that his counsel was ineffective for failing to consult a toxicologist, who would have revealed that the government could not prove that the heroin defendant supplied was the cause of the drug user's death. However, defendant was not prejudiced by this failure because he would have faced a mandatory life term based on his prior felony drug conviction and the fact that two individuals suffered serious bodily injuries when they overdosed on heroin that he supplied. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-2666, Categories: Drug Offender, Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly rejected defendant's claim he was denied a speedy trial due to the general order that suspended criminal jury trials from March 2020 through April 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Social and epidemiological considerations permitted the delay of criminal jury trials during the pandemic and district judges may rely on institutional findings such as the general order without making defendant-specific findings in such circumstances. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-2470, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Jury, Speedy Trial
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly awarded the business venture $15,000 after excluding most of its theories and evidence for lost-profits damages based on the city's opposition to its plans to open an adult entertainment business. The owner's calculations of estimated lost profits were based on another adult entertainment venue's profits, but significant differences between the two businesses make the comparison legally insufficient to support this method. Further, the court correctly sanctioned the business for discovery disclosure failures. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-3194, Categories: Damages, Business Expectancy, Discovery
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm after his car was searched because his friend was standing next to the sedan drinking from a red solo cup. His friend willingly told police that the drink contained alcohol, and officers legitimately searched the car after noticing an open bottle of alcohol in the back seat. The search was valid because the initial encounter with the officers was consensual, and defendant's incriminating statements were attenuated from the allegedly unlawful seizure. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 23-1001, Categories: Firearms, Search
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly found for the insurer in a dispute over its responsibility to pay to replace a furnace refractory at a cost of $400,000 after the furnace failed. The insurer's investigation found that the refractory failed because of faulty welding, and the policy only covers damage to the refractory if it is damages by fire, wind, hail or explosion. Further, the insurer is not required to pay for damages due to the destructive testing on the damages refractory because the smelter agreed to the testing. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 22-2556, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Kirsch finds that the lower court properly found for the mayor in an ADA discrimination suit filed by a fire chief who's contract required him to enroll in college courses. The chief's request to waive the education condition was not a request for a reasonable accommodation for his heart condition, and he has not shown that the mayor's reason for denying him a raise was pretextual. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Kirsch, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 22-2945, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Retaliation
J. Rovner finds that the defendant's appeal must be dismissed as moot because he has completed his 70-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm and has suffered no injury that can be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 23-2196, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Parole
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly rejected defendant's habeas petition alleging his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to witness testimony that violated an Indiana evidentiary ruling. Counsel's failure was knowing and strategic, so it did not rise to the level of constitutionally deficient performance. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 22-2073, Categories: Habeas
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court properly dismissed the real estate owners' attempt to move their appeal of a state court decision in the banks' favor to federal court. Illinois law forbids sequential litigation about the same claim even when the plaintiff offers new arguments in the second case. The state litigation is over, and the state court trial judge is entitled to immunity for his role in the case based on judicial immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 22-3265, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction, Foreclosure
J. Wood finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's motion seeking a reduction in his sentence for crack-cocaine offenses just one day after receiving an updated motion in an order identical to its first order. None of the revisions in the order give any indication that the judge considered defendant's new arguments. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 23-2313, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly denied the prisoner's habeas petition alleging actual innocence and prosecutorial misconduct. Evidence that an interrogating detective coerced confessions in other cases is not enough to show the prisoner's actual innocence, because it is possible for the detective to be abusive and a liar and for the prisoner to still be guilty of murder. Further, the prisoner cannot show that the prosecutors had any reason, at the time, to disbelieve a witness's lineup identification despite the witness's later denial that he ever identified anyone in a lineup. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 21-1375, Categories: Constitution, Habeas, Prisoners' Rights
J. Wood finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of drug trafficking after police had a K9 search around his car during a traffic stop. The police officer did not unconstitutionally prolong the stop to conduct the dog sniff as he did not have to wait for a colleague to show up with the dog and already had a drug-sniffing dog with him. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2932, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found that the children of guardians who activated DNA test kits on their behalf are not bound by the arbitration agreement signed by the guardians who signed up for the genetic testing service. Therefore, the children may sue Ancestry for violating their privacy rights by disclosing their confidential genetic information when another business acquired Ancestry.com. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2813, Categories: Arbitration, Privacy, Contract
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. When considered as a whole, the jury instructions accurately summarized the law. Further, even if there were an error, the evidence against defendant was so overwhelming that it did not prejudice his case. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 23-1542, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, Jury Instructions
Per curiam, the Seventh Circuit finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of wire fraud and and sentenced him to 18 months in prison. The court correctly calculated the victim's loss at the time of the detection of the fraud, not her loss at the time of sentencing. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 23-1204, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing
[Consolidated.] J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly found for the lead paint manufacturers in a series of toxic tort cases brought by 170 plaintiffs who allege injuries from exposure to white lead carbonate, a paint pigment. After plaintiffs in the first two waves of litigation met with defeat, the court correctly extended those rulings to the remaining plaintiffs on issue preclusion grounds. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-2636, Categories: Environment, Tort, Class Action
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. Rovner finds that the lower court properly imposed a sentencing enhancement based on defendant's knowledge that he was selling a weapon to a felon. The plea agreement is ambiguous as to the timing of defendant's knowledge, so defendant cannot rely upon that plea agreement to establish a timeline. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 22-2538, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Plea
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly found for the volleyball club owners in a class action accusing them of hiding previous claims of sexual abuse, but also imposed sanctions on them for communicating with class members in a manner "potentially coercive." The $20,000 attorneys fees award was properly calibrated to compensate the players for time spent dealing with this misconduct, and the $5,000 civil penalty aligns with precedent. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 22-2944, Categories: Sanctions, Tort, Class Action