Justia U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Defendant argued that the lag between his January 2017 arrest and his December 2017 revocation hearing violated both due process and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.1(a)(1). The DC Circuit agreed with the government and held that defendant forfeited his right to appeal the district court's decision rejecting these claims by failing to object to the magistrate judge's adverse recommendation. Furthermore, because Rule 59(b)(2) was not cast in jurisdictional terms, the courts have discretion to excuse a waiver under the rule. In this case, the district court did not excuse his waiver and defendant's due process argument was without merit. Alternatively, the court declined to remand for an evidentiary hearing on two claims alleging ineffective assistance of counsel during the revocation proceedings. View "United States v. Islam" on Justia Law

ACLA filed suit alleging that the Secretary's final ruling implementing the Protecting Access to Medicare Act's (PAMA) definition of "applicable laboratory" unlawfully excluded most hospital laboratories from PAMA's reporting requirements. The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. As a preliminary matter, the DC Circuit held that ACLA had standing.In view of PAMA's text, its structure, and the distinct nature of the processes of data collection and establishment of payment rates, the court could not conclude that the bar against reviewing the "establishment of payment amounts" also prevents its review of the rule setting up a new and detailed process for collecting data on market rates that private insurers pay to laboratories. Because the statute is "reasonably susceptible" to this interpretation, the court held that it does not bar judicial review of the Secretary's rule establishing the parameters of data collection under 42 U.S.C. 1395m-1(a). Finally, the court rejected ACLA's claim that the Secretary's rule was ultra vires. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's holding on subject matter jurisdiction and remanded for further proceedings. View "American Clinical Laboratory Assoc. v. Azar" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit alleging that DHS engaged in discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district court granted summary judgment for DHS and denied plaintiff's motion to stay proceedings to allow for discovery.The DC Circuit held that the district court erroneously concluded that the evidence sought by plaintiff could not create a dispute of material fact as to whether DHS's proffered reasons for taking adverse action were pretextual. The court also held that summary judgment was inappropriate with respect to plaintiff's claim that her reassignment to the Resource Management Branch was retaliatory. However, summary judgment was appropriate with respect to DHS's initial decision to extend her detail, because plaintiff did not create a genuine dispute of material fact. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Cruz v. McAleenan" on Justia Law

Appellant asked to proceed anonymously before the tax court when challenging the IRS's denial of his application for a whistleblower award, but the tax court denied the request.Determining that it had jurisdiction to hear this interlocutory appeal under the collateral order doctrine, the DC Circuit held that the tax court abused its discretion because identifying the appellant was not necessary to enable the public to gauge the extent to which serial filers affect the work of the tax court or whether any particular petitioner was a serial filer. Accordingly, the court remanded for the tax court to reconsider whether appellant has otherwise made out a fact-specific basis for protecting his identity under Tax Court Rule 345(a). View "In re: Sealed Case" on Justia Law

After defendant filed an unopposed motion asking the district court to direct the probation officer to disclose the sentencing recommendation in his case, the district court denied the request pursuant to its policy of always treating the recommendations as confidential.The DC Circuit vacated defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(e)(3) requires a district court to exercise discretion in deciding whether to withhold the recommendation. In this case, the discretion must be based on case-specific reasoning rather than on a uniform policy. On remand, the district court must disclose the probation officer's sentencing recommendation unless it finds that case-specific reasons justify nondisclosure. View "United States v. McIlwain" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit denied a petition for review challenging the EPA's February 2018 decision not to issue financial responsibility requirements for the hardrock mining industry. The court deferred to the EPA's interpretation that it should set financial responsibility regulations based on financial risks, not risks to health and the environment, because the use of "risk" in section 9608(b) in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), in the general mandate and amount clauses, was ambiguous and the EPA's interpretation was reasonable. Furthermore, nothing in section 9608(b) mandates the EPA to promulgate financial responsibility requirements for the hardrock mining industry, authorizing the EPA to decline to do so.The court also held that the EPA's financial risk analysis and economic analysis were neither arbitrary nor capricious. Finally, under Circuit and Supreme Court precedent, the court held that the EPA's Final Action not to adopt financial responsibility requirements for the hardrock mining industry constitutes a logical outgrowth of the Proposed Rule. View "Idaho Conservation League v. Wheeler" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit denied a petition for review of the Board's findings, including the finding that Ingredion violated the National Labor Relations Act by dealing directly with employees and denigrating a union in the eyes of employees. The court held that substantial evidence supported the Board's factual finding that Ingredion engaged in direct dealing with employees; Ingredion misrepresented the union's position in a way that tended to cause employees to lose faith in the union; although the format of the new contract was a major issue, it did not create an overall impasse; Ingredion's delay in providing requested information was unreasonable; and Ingredion violated the Act when one of its managers made threats of job loss to employees. The court also held that Ingredion's contentions that the Board violated its due process rights and improperly imposed a notice-reading remedy lacked merit. In regard to the Board's remedial order, the court held that Ingredion was on notice and was therefore not denied due process. Furthermore, the Board had broad discretion in fashioning remedies for violations of the Act. View "NLRB v. Ingredion Inc." on Justia Law

The DC Circuit held that the district court wrongly denied a stay-put injunction because it placed the burden of proof on the student rather than the local educational agency. Furthermore, the error had continuing adverse consequences for the student's claim for compensatory education. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.In this case, by holding that M.K. was not entitled to a stay-put injunction, the court held that the district court's order had the dual effect of both (i) empowering the school to continue excluding M.K. from its educational services, and (ii) limiting M.K.'s claim to compensatory educational relief for the time of that extended exclusion. The court reasoned that M.K.'s compensatory education request was not merely a "collateral consequence" of the underlying stay-put dispute, but it was part and parcel of it. View "Olu-Cole v. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for violating a federal law prohibiting the possession of firearms on the grounds of the United States Capitol. Defendant had pleaded guilty to violating this law after parking a car containing three guns on a street near the Capitol.The court held that the Second Amendment does not give defendant the right to bear arms in the Maryland Avenue parking lot because it was set aside for the use of government employees, was in close proximity to the Capitol building, and was on land owned by the government. Therefore, the court considered the lot as a single unit with the Capitol building, and concluded that the lot was a "sensitive" place where firearms prohibitions were presumptively lawful. Defendant's arguments to the contrary were unavailing. The court also held that defendant's conviction did not violate the Due Process Clause where the text of the Capitol Grounds ban was quite clear, and an ordinary citizen would readily understand from the text of the statute that he may not carry a firearm on the Capitol Grounds or inside the Capitol. View "United States v. Class" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's restitution award to the victim of defendant's child pornography offenses. In Paroline v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 1710, 1727 (2014), the Supreme Court held that every perpetrator's viewing of a child's image inflicts distinct harm on that child in that it effects "a repetition of the victim's abuse." The court held that the district court followed Paroline in calculating a restitution amount that was reasonably tailored to defendant's causal role. View "United States v. Monzel" on Justia Law