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

Plaintiff filed suit against the District, alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-200e-17. The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment regarding plaintiff's retaliation claims relating to actions taken prior to October 2007, holding that the district court correctly found not only that he never responded to this portion of the District's motion for summary judgment but also that there was no evidence in the record that he filed any charge of discrimination that would have rendered the claims timely. The court also affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the District on plaintiff's remaining retaliation claims arising out of events occurring after October 2007, holding that a reasonable jury could not infer from the proffered evidence that the challenged employment actions might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. View "Durant v. District of Columbia Government" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an action alleging that the revocation of plaintiff's security clearance violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution, as well as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C. 1806(c). In regard to the FISA, the court declined to consider plaintiff's two theories of sovereign immunity waiver because he raised them for the first time on appeal. The court also held that plaintiff had no constitutionally protected property interest in his security clearance and he received all the process that was due. In this case, plaintiff's security clearance was revoked because he admitted misconduct in accessing sensitive information for personal reasons. Finally, the court rejected plaintiff's claims that his equal protection rights were violated because he received a harsher penalty for his admitted misconduct than non-Muslim agents who committed similar misconduct, and because the ARC treated his naturalized family members differently than native born U.S. citizens. Plaintiff's claims were barred by Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988). Even if the claims were not barred by Egan, they failed for other reasons. View "Gill v. DOJ" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed suit challenging the Park Service's decision authorizing recreational hunting of elk in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. In regards to plaintiffs' claim under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321, the DC Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Park Service. The court held that all the environmental effects seen during the years after the promulgation of the 2007 Plan and environmental impact study (EIS) had been anticipated and analyzed in the original environmental assessment, and thus the Park Service had no duty to prepare a supplemental or new EIS; plaintiffs failed to show that the Park Service acted arbitrarily or capriciously; and the Park Service has implemented the elk-reduction program in the manner envisioned by the 2007 Plan and analyzed in the 2007 EIS. Finally, the court vacated the district court's judgment in regard to the claim under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 50 C.F.R. pt. 17, based on mootness grounds because the grizzly bear was no longer listed as a threatened species under the ESA. View "Mayo v. Reynolds" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the government in an action seeking information regarding an Assistant United States Attorney. The government withheld a termination letter that it had sent to the Assistant, but turned over most of the approximately 3,600 pages of exhibits supporting the proposed termination letter. The court held that privacy interests sufficiently outweighed the limited public interest in the letter to make its disclosure clearly unwarranted. The court also rejected plaintiff's request for modification of the judgment. View "Bloomgarden v. DOJ" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit reversed the district court's order, pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, directing the government to release health insurance plans to be offered "each year" on the federal exchanges under the Affordable Care Act once their terms are effectively final, or "locked down." As a preliminary matter, the court held that the government's arguments were neither waived or forfeited. The court held that the district court failed to make a finding that the agency was adhering to a policy or practice that it acknowledged as impermissible nor did the district court find the agency was likely to continue on to impair Consumers' Checkbook's lawful access to the information in the future. Furthermore, the district court did not find that the agency invoked Exemption 4 solely for purposes of delay, effectively flaunting the statutory scheme, much less that its invocation was frivolous on its face. View "Center for the Study of Services v. HHS" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit dismissed the petition for review of the EPA's modification, without notice and comment, of prior understandings of how to measure a proposed transportation project’s impact on ambient levels of PM2.5 and PM10. PM2.5 is particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter and PM10 is particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter. In regard to PM2.5, the court held that it lacked standing because petitioners have shown no instance where the change would be likely to have any adverse effect on them or their members. In regard to PM10, the court held that the EPA's new provisions were not binding on the agency or affected parties and therefore did not constitute a final action within the meaning of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1). View "Sierra Club v. EPA" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit denied the petition for review of the FCC's decision regarding the nationwide emergency alert system. Under the FCC's decision, when broadcasters receive emergency alerts from government entities, the broadcasters may, if they choose, broadcast the alerts only in English. The court held that Section 1 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 151, does not obligate the FCC to require broadcasters to translate emergency alerts and broadcast them in languages in addition to English. The court further held that it was not unreasonable for the FCC to gather more information from relevant parties before deciding whether to compel broadcasters to translate emergency alerts and broadcast them in languages in addition to English. View "Multicultural Media v. FCC" on Justia Law

Petitioner challenged the Commission's decision to sustain FINRA's decision to permanently bar him from membership and from working with any of its affiliated members. The DC Circuit held that the Commission reasonably grounded its decision in the record, which extensively evidenced petitioner's acts of misappropriation, his prolonged efforts to cover his tracks through falsehoods, and his repeated and deliberate obstruction of investigators. The court remanded with respect to the permanent bar on petitioner's registration with FINRA and affiliation with its members for the Commission to determine in the first instance whether Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017), has any bearing on his case. View "Saad v. SEC" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against defendants, alleging breach of contract, defamation, and tortious interference with a prospective economic advantage. The district court granted summary judgment for defendants. In this case, plaintiff believed that she had voluntarily withdrawn from her postgraduate clinical research fellowship, but defendants reported to plaintiff's employer, the US Air Force, that she had been terminated for cause. The DC Circuit held that, because there was a genuine factual dispute as to whether defendants gave plaintiff's employer false information, the district court incorrectly granted summary judgment on the defamation claims. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded as to those claims. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on the remaining claims. View "Burns v. Levy" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Appellant Glover and Price's petition to vacate their convictions under 28 U.S.C. 2255. Appellants were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP. The court held that counsel did not perform deficiently for failing to challenge evidence obtained from an electronic surveillance device installed in a vehicle outside of the authorizing court's geographic jurisdiction. In this case, the evidence against appellants was sufficiently strong that counsel's failure to object to specific instances of testimony by a case agent did not prejudice the defense. View "United States v. Glover" on Justia Law