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

Petitioner, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, sought a writ of mandamus directing that the Hon. Scott L. Silliman of the United States Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) recuse himself from serving as a judge in petitioner's case on the basis of public statements made by Judge Silliman prior to and during his service on that court. Petitioner also sought to vacate a prior opinion by a panel of the CMCR that included Judge Silliman. Petitioner identified more than a dozen statements that he says indicate Judge Silliman was biased against him. The DC Circuit granted the writ of mandate and held that petitioner satisfied all three conditions for the issuance of the writ. In this case, petitioner had no other adequate means to attain the relief he desired, he satisfied the burden of showing that his right to issuance of the writ was clear and indisputable, and the court was satisfied that the writ was appropriate under the circumstances. View "In re: Khalid Shaikh Mohammad" on Justia Law

This case involves the allocation of production costs among the Entergy Operation Companies. LPSC petitioned for review of FERC's implementation of its decision to delay the effective date of the Bandwidth Remedy. The DC Circuit denied LPSC's petition with respect to FERC's advancement of the effective date to the 2005 period, and denied its petition as to the application of the Bandwidth Remedy to the 2005 period. The court granted FERC's request to remand to FERC for further consideration of the denial of Section 206 refunds for the September 2001-May 2003 effective period. View "Louisiana Public Service Commission v. FERC" on Justia Law

Texas Neighborhood Services received Head Start grant money to provide childcare services to low-income families in Texas. The Department subsequently required Neighborhood Services to repay $1.3 million in federal funds it awarded to staff in the form of performance bonuses. The Department argued that the payments were unreasonable and inadequately documented and the Appeals Board agreed. The DC Circuit affirmed the district court's rejection of Neighborhood Services' challenge under the Administrative Procedures Act. In this case, Neighborhood Services failed to produce documentation sufficient to show that it was awarding performances in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-122, which explains when and how the government will reimburse federal grantees, including organizations receiving Head Start money, for different types of expenses. View "Texas Neighborhood Services v. HHS" on Justia Law

OCC, a clearing agency that facilitates trades in options and other financial instruments, developed a Capital Plan in an attempt to boost its capital reserves and to alter how fees and refunds were calculated. The DC Circuit remanded to the SEC, which approved OCC's proposed change to its rules, for further proceedings. In this case, the change was subject to approval by the SEC, which granted approval without itself making the findings and determinations prescribed by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The court held that, because the SEC effectively abdicated its responsibility to OCC, this did not represent the kind of reasoned decisionmaking required by either the Exchange Act or the Administrative Procedure Act. View "Susquehanna International Group v. SEC" on Justia Law

Petitioners challenged whether EPA had statutory authority to issue a 2015 Rule regulating the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). As statutory authority for the 2015 Rule, EPA relied on Section 612 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7671k, which requires manufacturers to replace ozone-depleting substances with safe substitutes. The DC Circuit held that the fundamental problem for EPA was that HFCs were not ozone-depleting substances. Because EPA's novel reading of Section 612 was inconsistent with the statute as written, the court vacated the 2015 Rule to the extent it required manufacturers to replace HFCs and remanded for further proceedings. View "Mexichem Fluor, Inc. v. EPA" on Justia Law

The DC Circuit reversed defendant's conviction for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The court held that trial counsel's failure to obtain expert mental health testimony was constitutionally deficient and counsel's deficient performance prejudiced defendant. Accordingly, the court remanded for a new trial. View "United States v. Laureys" on Justia Law

USI petitioned for review of the FSIS's determination that the packaging used by USI was misbranded under the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1907 (FMIA), 21 U.S.C. 601 et seq., because its label included the FSIS inspection identification number of its supplier without the latter's permission. The D.C. Circuit denied the petition for review and held that FSIS's determination that USI's labeling was misleading was neither arbitrary nor capricious where the Administrator noted that the FSIS permits a re-boxer to use its supplier's establishment number only if the supplier consents to the practice, and USI had not provided document as requested, showing consent of the official establishment. View "United Source One, Inc. v. US Department of Agriculture" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed several requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after he was convicted of narcotics offenses. The DEA denied two of the requests, saying that software plaintiff identified was not an agency record and that copies of administrative subpoenas he wanted could not be located. The D.C. Circuit vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment to the DEA, holding that the government's declarations were insufficient to support summary judgment in its favor. The court remanded for further proceedings. View "Aguiar v. DEA" on Justia Law

Oberthur sought review of the Board's orders and a certification decision where the Board found that Oberthur violated the National Labor Relations Act before the representation election by restricting employee speech and freezing employee wage benefits. The D.C. Circuit denied the petition for review, holding that substantial evidence supported the Board's finding that Oberthur violated section 8(a)(1) of the Act by imposing a discriminatory restriction on union-related speech. Furthermore, substantial evidence supported the Board's finding that Oberthur violated section 8(a)(1) and (3) by freezing wage benefits it had granted to its employees through two separate wage benefit programs. The court rejected Oberthur's objections to the disposition of the representation case. Finally, the court held that Oberthur violated sections 8(a)(1) and (5) by refusing to bargain with the union and denying its information requests following certification. View "Oberthur Technologies of America Corp. v. NLRB" on Justia Law

The government may not deny a criminal defendant's request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for records related to his case on the ground that he waived his right to seek that information as part of a plea agreement. The D.C. Circuit held that the government failed to identify any legitimate criminal justice interest served by the waiver. In this case, the district court should have declined to enforce defendant's FOIA waiver on public-policy grounds. The court did not address defendant's alternative argument that some of the records he requested fell outside the scope of his waiver. Therefore, the court reversed the district court's order and remanded. View "Price v. U.S. DOJ Attorney Office" on Justia Law