U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ §1983 claims, holding that exposure to lead‑contaminated water and false statements about water safety do not constitute cognizable substantive due‑process rights.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the NLRB's finding that Starbucks unlawfully threatened an employee's benefits for union activity, but reversed (denied enforcement of) the Board's findings on threats related to store hours, hiring portal closures, and the impression of surveillance.

The Fifth Circuit vacated a district‑court order entered while the appeal was pending because the court lacked jurisdiction, and then dismissed the appeal as moot after the district court stayed the case pending arbitration.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order granting Whitestone REIT Operating Partnership statutory subrogation and held that the partnership has standing to appeal. The court also denied the debtor’s motion to reconsider the clerk’s order allowing supplemental bankruptcy records.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that the appeal waiver was enforceable and that the district court did not err in denying Nyandoro's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The court found that Nyandoro's constitutional challenges to 18 U.S.C.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment, holding that Texas's prohibition on automobile manufacturers selling directly to consumers withstands rational basis review under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process Clauses.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that the expedited removal order was valid, the admission of exhibits was harmless, the trial judge’s questioning of witnesses was permissible, and the sentencing consideration of the defendant’s decision to go to trial was proper.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration against the domestic insurers and affirmed the order compelling arbitration against the foreign insurers, but vacated the order lifting the stay of litigation against the domestic insurers and remanded for the district court to…

The Fifth Circuit affirmed Juvenile's conviction, holding that the district court possessed proper jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 5032, that the Second Amendment challenge fails under the Bruen two‑step analysis as applied by United States v.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Mullen’s claims, remanding the suspension and revocation claims for dismissal without prejudice and affirming the dismissal of his raise‑of‑grade claims with prejudice.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, modifying it to dismiss Konan’s FTCA claims without prejudice while leaving her equal‑protection claims under §§ 1981 and 1985 dismissed.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the magistrate judge’s rulings, holding that the plaintiffs were paid on a salary basis, that criminal‑justice lieutenants qualified for the administrative exemption, that the jury charge was proper, and that the denial of Rule 50(b) and Rule 59 motions was correct.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's sentence for Hikmat Deeb, finding that the government did not breach the plea agreement, that the leadership enhancement under USSG §3B1.1(a) was properly applied, that the criminal‑history calculation was correct, and that the within‑guidelines sentence of 244 months…

The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of qualified‑immunity for the bystander officers, holding that clearly established law did not require them to intervene during the canine‑assisted arrest.

The Fifth Circuit denied Richard Tado Tazo's petition for review, affirming the Board of Immigration Appeals' adverse credibility finding and its denial of both withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture relief.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Jennings's petition to vacate an arbitration award for lack of subject‑matter jurisdiction and reversed the district court's order taxing Vandergriff Honda's costs against Jennings.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Schlumberger, the decertification of the FLSA collective action, and the denial of equitable tolling for opt‑in plaintiffs.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal for insufficient service of process, finding that the plaintiff failed to serve the civil‑process clerk as required and showed no good cause, despite multiple offers of alternative service.

The court affirmed the restitution order because Padilla forfeited his challenge to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act and could not satisfy the fourth prong of plain-error review.

The court affirmed the denial of Gipson’s compassionate-release motion. It held that the nonretroactive sentencing change to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) cannot, alone or with other factors, establish extraordinary and compelling reasons, and that his challenge to the validity of a § 924(c) conviction must be brought under 28…

The court affirmed summary judgment for GAF because GAF did not assume a duty to protect the nursing home from installation defects caused by One Source. GAF's involvement was limited to a warranty inspection, it lacked authority to remediate installation errors, and its inspection was intended only to determine…

The court denied the petition for review insofar as Marroquin Calderon challenged the BIA’s refusal to equitably toll the deadline for her motion to reopen, holding that she had not shown due diligence during the 17 years before filing.

The court affirmed the denial of Link’s motion to revoke his pretrial detention and his alternative request for temporary release to prepare for trial. Applying deferential abuse-of-discretion review, it held that the evidence supported finding that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure…

The court dismissed the appeal because the defendant's motion for a new trial remained pending, making his notice of appeal ineffective, and because he had not appealed the magistrate judge's judgment to the district court.

The court affirmed summary judgment for the FDA and Eli Lilly concerning the FDA’s removal of tirzepatide products from the drug shortage list. Assuming without deciding that the FDA should have used notice-and-comment procedures, the court held that any procedural error was harmless because the compounders had actual…

The court affirmed summary judgment for the FDA and Novo Nordisk, holding that any failure to use APA notice-and-comment procedures was harmless because the compounders had actual notice and ample opportunities to submit information but could not show prejudice.

The court held that Zuniga-Sagrero abandoned any challenge to the order denying expedited removal because her brief did not address that order. It also held that it lacked jurisdiction to review an earlier order because she did not file a notice of appeal from it.

A per curiam order carried the government's opposed motion to dismiss Kyle Lamar West's appeal with the case and granted the government's alternative motion for a thirty-day extension to file its brief, deferring any ruling on the plea agreement's appeal waiver until full adversary briefing.

The court affirmed the district court’s affirmance of the bankruptcy court’s denial of Smith’s motion to set aside orders based on alleged fraud upon the court. It held that most of Smith’s appellate arguments were forfeited because they were inadequately briefed, while his challenges to the gatekeeper order had…

The Fifth Circuit, on a 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) interlocutory appeal, addressed two certified questions of law arising from Emmerich Newspapers' copyright claims against the NewsBreak news aggregator.

The court affirmed Membreno-Lainez's conviction under the illegal-reentry statute. Because he raised his challenge to the aggravated-felony enhancement for the first time on appeal, the court applied plain-error review and held that the absence of binding authority supporting his argument prevented a showing of clear…

The court affirmed dismissal of the indictment because the Government forfeited its challenge to the district court’s refusal to consider newly submitted records describing Luna’s underlying conduct.

The court affirmed Leal’s convictions and concurrent 120-month sentence. It held that the second superseding indictment reset the Speedy Trial Act clock, that qualifying scheduling orders excluded the relevant periods, and that fewer than 70 non-excludable days elapsed.

The court held that Hill was legally ineligible for a sentence reduction under Amendment 821 because he lacked status points, had one criminal-history point, and his offense involved a death.

The court affirmed dismissal with prejudice of Ohendalski’s tax-refund action because res judicata barred his claims concerning tax liability for the 2002, 2003, and 2004 tax years.

The court denied the prisoners’ motions to proceed in forma pauperis because they did not show that their appeal presented a nonfrivolous issue. Their failure to meaningfully challenge the dismissal of their complaint meant that the appeal lacked arguable merit and was dismissed as frivolous.

A Fifth Circuit per curiam affirmed dismissal of Tara Fogleman-Laxey's § 1983 and state-law claims arising from her arrest while barbecuing in protest on the public street outside Lafayette's mayor-president's home.

The court held that qualified immunity required dismissal of Cutshall’s excessive-force claims because the officers’ use of force was objectively reasonable under the circumstances, and his bystander-liability claims failed because no underlying excessive-force violation was plausibly pleaded.

The court denied Benamon leave to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed his appeal as frivolous because he failed to identify a nonfrivolous appellate issue. It concluded that the district court properly presumed to have conducted de novo review and correctly treated Benamon's challenge to his conviction and…

The court denied Risby leave to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed his appeal as frivolous because he did not meaningfully challenge the district court’s reasons for denying his jurisdictional dismissal motion. The court also denied his motions to disqualify the judges and for bond pending appeal.