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

Defendant, the former policy director of the House Transportation Committee, appealed his convictions on three counts relating to his receipt of illegal gratuities from Jack Abramoff's lobbying group. The court concluded that, because the indictment alleged that defendant accepted the World Series trip for or because of his official assistance in influencing the language of the federal highway bill, the charge on Count 2 contained the required element, and the district court correctly denied defendant's motion to dismiss. Further, the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant on all counts. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Verrusio" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, employed as an attorney advisor for the BVA, filed suit against the Secretary of the VA, claiming that the BVA had violated her rights under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq., by failing to accommodate her disability. Plaintiff also claimed that she was constructively discharged because the failure to accommodate her disability left her no choice but to resign. In regards to the failure to accommodate claim, no reasonable jury could find that plaintiff's accommodation request was denied in light of the BVA's continuing good-faith dialogue with plaintiff to determine an appropriate accommodation, which dialogue was cut short by plaintiff's sudden resignation. Consequently, plaintiff's constructive discharge claim also failed. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Secretary on both claims. View "Ward v. McDonald" on Justia Law

Defendant, convicted of multiple counts of defrauding the Washington Teachers Union, appealed the denial of his motion to vacate his convictions under 28 U.S.C. 2255. The court concluded that defendant has not stated a Brady claim that "jurists of reason" would find debatable and, therefore, the court denied his request for a certificate of appealability (COA) on this issue; although the court granted a COA on defendant's Skilling claim, he cannot overcome the procedural default that bars the court from considering his claim on the merits; and the court granted a COA on defendant's Adefehinti claim but concluded that he failed to carry his burden of showing the actual innocence required to overcome his untimely filing. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Baxter, II" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against the United States, contending that he wants to renounce his United States citizenship. The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The court concluded, however, that plaintiff's complaint is not moot because the relief he seeks - an exception to the government's in-person interview requirement for renunciation, and official acknowledgement of his renunciation - has not been granted. Further, plaintiff has standing because he remains a citizen against his wishes and allegedly in violation of his constitutional rights. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded. View "Schnitzler v. United States, et al." on Justia Law

The Federal Election Campaign Act, 2 U.S.C. 441b, sets forth ground rules for the participation of corporations in the electoral process. The Act permits limited corporate participation through separate segregated funds, a type of political action committee. Stop this Insanity and others (collectively, "plaintiffs") filed suit alleging that the restrictions on the segregated funds were unconstitutional. The court concluded that plaintiffs would like to use its segregated fund to solicit the entire public while concealing its expenses for such solicitation. Even assuming plaintiffs' constitutional analysis is correct under Citizens United v. FEC, it is far from a foregone conclusion that the Act is severable in a way that would eliminate the restrictions but leave intact the partial waiver on disclosure. The court concluded that it need not make this determination because plaintiffs' arguments failed on the merits. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. View "Stop This Insanity, Inc., et al. v. Federal Election Commission" on Justia Law

Petitioner challenged the conditions of his confinement at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama. The district court concluded that venue in the District of Columbia was improper and ordered the action transferred to the Northern District of Alabama. Petitioner and four fellow prisoners filed a mandamus petition seeking to vacate the transfer order and also compelling the district court clerk to accept certain rejected filings. The court denied petitioner's motion to proceed in forma pauperis because petitioner has run afoul of the Prison Litigation Reform Act's, 28 U.S.C. 1915(g), three strikes provision and has failed to demonstrate that he qualifies for the imminent danger exception; held that the remaining petitioners lacked standing to challenge either the transfer order or the clerk's rejection of the filings; and denied the motion to stay the collection of filing fees pending the payment of fees in other cases. View "Pinson, et al. v. Lappin, et al." on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's order of summary judgment rejecting her claim of workplace racial discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. The court concluded that plaintiff failed to identify evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that her non-promotion was racially discriminatory. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Mulrain v. Castro" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, Guantanamo detainees, filed suit challenging two new policies that they claimed place an undue burden on their ability to meet with their lawyers. The first challenged policy concerns where the detainees may meet with their lawyers. The second challenged policy involves the search the detainees must undergo when meeting with their lawyers. The court concluded that administering a more thorough search in connection with attorney visits as well as with any other detainee movements or meetings is a reasonable response to a serious threat to security at Guantanamo. The court also concluded that it is reasonable to require that all meetings between detainees and their visitors, including counsel, take place in Camp Echo, which requires fewer guards than the housing camps. Further, the new policies are reasonable under the remaining factors of the Turner v. Safley test. The tenuous evidence of an improper motive to obstruct access to counsel in this case cannot overcome the legitimate, rational connection between the security needs of Guantanamo Bay and thorough searches of detainees. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment of the district court. View "Hatim, et al. v. Obama, et al." on Justia Law

Eight African-American Secret Service agents were certified by the district court to sue the Secretary on behalf of a class comprising of all similarly situated agents who were denied promotions to the GS-14 and GS-15 level. The government sought interlocutory review of the class certification order under Rule 23(f). The court concluded that none of the district court's rulings in support of its order certifying the plaintiff class is foreclosed by controlling precedent and the unsettled questions are not likely to evade end-of-the-case review. Accordingly, the court declined to review the district court's order. View "In re: Jeh Johnson" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed a securities class action contending that AIG and its board of directors wrongfully reduced the value of certain securities issued by AIG. The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (SLUSA), 15 U.S.C. 77p(d) and 78bb(f)(3), does not confer federal jurisdiction over plaintiff's state-law claims. View "Campbell v. AIG, et al." on Justia Law