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

Washtech, a union representing workers throughout the country in the STEM labor market, challenged DHS's regulations allowing nonimmigrant aliens temporarily admitted to the country as students to remain in the country for up to three years after finishing a STEM degree to pursue work related to their degree. The DC Circuit held that Washtech had standing to bring challenges to the 2016 Rule under the doctrine of competitor standing; affirmed the dismissal of Washtech's challenge to the 1992 Rule as time-barred; reversed the dismissal of Washtech's challenge in Count II (challenging DHS's statutory authority) because the district court abused its discretion in dismissing a plausible claim of relief based on Washtech's inadequate opposition to DHS's motion to dismiss; remanded as to Count II; and affirmed the district court's dismissal of Counts III (alleging procedural deficiencies) and IV (alleging rule was arbitrary and capricious) under Federal Rule of Civil procedure 12(b)(6) because neither stated a plausible claim for relief. View "Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. DHS" on Justia Law

At issue in this case are the ramifications of a utility filing more than one rate with FERC during the time in which the utility negotiates an agreement with a prospective customer. The DC Circuit denied the petition for review and upheld FERC's determination that the governing rate was the rate in effect at the time the agreement was completed. Because the court found that FERC properly considered the court's findings on remand, adequately explained its decision, and properly considered the evidence, FERC did not act arbitrarily and capriciously in interpreting the new rate. View "ESI Energy, LLC v. FERC" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for twenty-one counts of bank fraud and other offenses. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence of a judgment in a related civil case, evidence of uncharged acts under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), and evidence of the financial damage that defendant's scheme inflicted on his would-be customers. The court also denied defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim where counsel's errors, if any, were not so serious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. View "United States v. Grey" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit granted the Company's petition for review challenging the Board's decision holding that the relationship between the Union and the Company was governed by Section 9(a), rather than Section 8(f), of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 159(a), 158(f). The court held that the record lacked evidence either confirming or controverting majority support. The court explained that the Board must identify something more than truth-challenged form language before it can confer exclusive bargaining rights on a union under Section 9(a). The court also held that the Board's decision was arbitrary and capricious because it made demonstrably untrustworthy contractual language the be-all and end-all of Section 9(a) status. View "Colorado Fire Sprinkler, Inc. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit denied petitions for review challenging the Amendments to Regional Consistency Regulations adopted by the EPA pursuant to section 7601 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7601. The Amended Regulations were issued in response to the court's decision in National Environmental Development Association's Clean Air Project v. EPA (NEDACAP I), 752 F.3d 999 (D.C. Cir. 2014). The court held that the Amended Regulations reflect permissible and sensible solutions to issues emanating from intercircuit conflicts and agency nonacquiescence. Accordingly, the court deferred to the EPA's reasonable construction of the statute. View "National Environmental Development Association's Clean Air Project v. EPA" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit alleging that the denial of full compensation for the land allegedly seized from her family during the Cold War (the Estate) violated the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany (FCN Treaty). The DC Circuit held, in light of de Csepel v. Republic of Hungary, that a foreign state was immune to claims for the expropriation of property not present in the United States. In this case, plaintiff did not dispute that the Estate was located abroad or that Germany was the foreign state itself. Therefore, the court held that the district court properly concluded that U.S. courts could not exercise subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiff's claims against Germany under the expropriation exception of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). However, the court left for the district court to consider in the first instance whether BVVG was properly considered an "agency or instrumentality" of Germany rather than the state itself. View "Schubarth v. Federal Republic of Germany" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants in a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging violation of plaintiff's rights to freedom of speech and freedom of unreasonable seizures. In this case, plaintiff was escorted by officers out of an event at George Washington University where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was delivering a speech. Plaintiff stood during the speech, facing the audience and blocking the view of audience members, wearing a shirt proclaiming "Veterans for Peace." He did not respond or react to officers' repeated requests to come with them. The court held that the officers had probable cause to arrest plaintiff because they had issued a sufficient demand for plaintiff to leave and he refused their demand. The court also held that the use of force was not so excessive that no reasonable officer could have believed in the lawfulness of his action. View "McGovern v. Brown" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants in a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action alleging violation of plaintiff's rights to freedom of speech and freedom of unreasonable seizures. In this case, plaintiff was escorted by officers out of an event at George Washington University where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was delivering a speech. Plaintiff stood during the speech, facing the audience and blocking the view of audience members, wearing a shirt proclaiming "Veterans for Peace." He did not respond or react to officers' repeated requests to come with them. The court held that the officers had probable cause to arrest plaintiff because they had issued a sufficient demand for plaintiff to leave and he refused their demand. The court also held that the use of force was not so excessive that no reasonable officer could have believed in the lawfulness of his action. View "McGovern v. Brown" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit denied the Arkansas Commission's petition for review of a final FERC order. The FERC order held that an operating company withdrawing from a multi-state energy system must continue to share the proceeds of a pre-departure settlement with the other member companies. The court held that FERC had a lawful basis to order the sharing of the benefits of the settlement and was reasoned in its allocation methodology. Therefore, FERC's order for Entergy Arkansas to share the Union Pacific Settlement benefits and its method for allocating the settlement was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law. View "Arkansas Public Service Comm. v. FERC" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit held that two Federal Trade Commission attorneys were immune from suit for their conduct during an enforcement action against a medical-records company after the company's CEO publicly criticized the FTC about their investigation, where the company's data-security practices made patient records available over public file-sharing. The court held that qualified immunity protected all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law and, even if the attorneys sought to retaliate for the public criticism, their actions did not violate any clearly established right absent plausible allegations that their motive was the but-for cause of the Commission's enforcement action. Therefore, the court reversed the district court's denial of qualified immunity to the attorneys. View "Daugherty v. Sheer" on Justia Law