A major credit reporting agency will not face a class action suit by Virginia residents with potentially inaccurate Virginia court judgments on their credit reports. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an order certifying a class in a suit that had the U.S. Chamber of Commerce squaring off against the Virginia Trial Lawyers [...]
No class claim against Equifax, appeals court says
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Dry Cleaners’ Robbery Is Hobbs Act Offense
Although defendant contends his robbery of less than $100 from a dry cleaning store could not have had a “minimal effect” on interstate commerce sufficient to support his conviction of a Hobbs Act robbery, the 4th Circuit says the dry cleaning chain’s purchase of supplies from a variety of interstate and international sources met the [...]
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No Aid for Private-School Student with ADHD
Although a student with ADHD qualifies for help under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Baltimore city school system does not have to extend that assistance to the student because he is enrolled in a private school, not a public school; the 4th Circuit affirms judgment for the school system. Because we [...]
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Bare-Chested TSA Protest May Be Protected
A young man who protested TSA screening at Richmond International Airport by stripping down to running shorts to reveal the text of the Fourth Amendment across his bare chest may sue TSA officials for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights by calling airport security to arrest him; the 4th Circuit upholds a district court decision [...]
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Alien Can’t Qualify for Prison Programs
A federal inmate who is a permanent resident alien in the U.S. cannot sue for a declaration that he is a U.S. national based his application for citizenship, Selective Service registration and declaration of permanent allegiance to the U.S., in order to qualify for certain prison programs, and the 4th Circuit affirms dismissal of his [...]
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No Access to Order for Twitter Disclosure
In a government criminal investigation of PFC Bradley Manning’s alleged release of classified documents to WikiLeaks.org, there is no public right to access court orders issued under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) during the pre-grand jury phased of the investigation, and the 4th Circuit denies a request for disclosure filed by plaintiff Twitter Subscribers. The Stored [...]
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Detention Illegal for Gas-Station Group
Even assuming the initial encounter between a group of uniformed police officers and a group of five men congregated at a gas station was consensual, the officers’ increasing show of authority, immediate seizure of one man’s gun and frisk of the men in the group and seizure of defendant’s ID, quickly changed the encounter to [...]
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No Consent to Tax on Flood Insurance Premiums
In this dispute between insurance companies that offer flood insurance under a federal program in South Carolina, and a group of South Carolina municipalities that want to assess a business license tax on the carriers based on the flood insurance premiums collected in the municipalities under an arrangement with FEMA, the district court erred in [...]
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No FCA Claim for Quality Control Complaint
An engineer for a government contractor that produces explosive devices does not qualify for protection under the False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision for his termination after he reported alleged fraudulent conduct to the government, as his allegations about quality control did not affect the government customer’s acceptance of the product; the 4th Circuit upholds summary [...]
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Sentence Enhancement for Duplicates of Child Porn Image
A defendant who sent duplicates of a limited number of images of child pornography is eligible for a five-level enhancement of his sentence under Section 2G2.2(b)(7)(D) of the federal sentencing guidelines; the 4th Circuit rejects the notion that duplicate images only count as one image and affirms defendant’s sentence. At sentencing, the district court calculated [...]
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Doctor Convicted for Unnecessary Stent Procedures
Although proof of defendant doctor’s failure to meet medical standards for performing stent procedures, standing alone, could not sustain defendant’s conviction for health care fraud, additional direct evidence that defendant overstated blockage in numerous cases, misled patients and recorded nonexistent symptoms and attempted to shred subpoenaed patient files, all support his conviction, the 4th Circuit [...]
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No Mandatory Minimum for Crack Defendant
The 4th Circuit says a defendant who got a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for participation in a crack cocaine distribution conspiracy must be resentenced, given that the threshold amount for the mandatory minimum to apply was raised to 280 grams by the Fair Sentencing Act, prior to defendant’s sentencing. Defendant also challenges the sufficiency of [...]
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Pakistani Forum Not Convenient for Hotel Explosion Suit
The family of a former naval commander who worked as a private security contractor and who was killed in a 2008 terrorist bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, is entitled to heightened deference to their decision to sue Marriott in a Maryland federal court instead of a Pakistani court, and because the district [...]
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No Enhancement for ‘Consolidated’ Sentence
A consolidated sentence under North Carolina law is a single sentence for purposes of the career offender enhancement under the federal sentencing guidelines, and the 4th Circuit vacates the 276-month sentence for a defendant convicted of robbing a fast-food restaurant. Under the guidelines, the existence of two prior felony convictions alone is not dispositive; the [...]
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Ch. 13 Plan Should Consider Social Security
The 4th Circuit says the Bankruptcy Code excludes Social Security income from the calculation of “projected disposable income” in a debtor’s proposed Chapter 13 plan, but such income nevertheless must be considered in evaluating the plan’s feasibility, and this case will go back to the bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy court determined that if debtor’s monthly [...]
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Discount Store Managers May Replead Sex Bias Case
In this Title VII sex discrimination and equal pay action filed by a putative class of female managers of Family Dollar Stores, the 4th Circuit says a district court erred in refusing to allow plaintiffs to amend their complaint in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes. The ...
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Reports of Forced Abortion Not Consistent
Immigration officials did not err in denying asylum to a Chinese citizen who failed to mention an alleged forced abortion during her initial border patrol interview at the airport and who continued to present inconsistent accounts of her marriage and possible forced abortion; even accounting for concerns about the reliability of airport interviews of immigrants ...
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Bus Shelter Search ‘Consent’ Not Valid
A man at a city bus shelter who was searched by a police officer responding to a report of a foot chase in the area involving a gun, did not give his valid consent to the search but merely obeyed the police officer’s order, and the 4th Circuit reverses denial of his motion to suppress ...
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New Counsel Needed for Ineffective Assistance Claim
If a federal habeas petitioner, such as this one convicted of four counts of capital murder, is represented by the same counsel as in state habeas proceedings, and the petitioner requests independent counsel in order to investigate and pursue certain ineffective assistance claims in a state, such as Virginia, where the petitioner may only raise ...
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‘Speed Camera’ Law Upheld in Driver Challenge
Civil penalties imposed against Maryland drivers through use of “speed cameras” are upheld by the 4th Circuit; the use of first-class mail to provide notice to appellant drivers and the use of electronically signed affidavits as evidence at trial do not violate appellants’ due process rights. Appellants maintain the automated citations violated both procedural and ...
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