U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s determinations that Leascend Technology is the alter ego of OnlineNIC, that personal jurisdiction over Leascend was proper, that terminating sanctions, an asset freeze, and an attorney‑fee award were justified.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal for lack of Article III standing, reversed the dismissal without leave to amend, and vacated the anti‑SLAPP motion and attorney‑fees award.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for Bonneville International. It held that California Labor Code §§ 1101 and 1102 do not protect the plaintiff’s social‑media political speech made in his capacity as a public‑figure radio host, and therefore his retaliation and…

The Ninth Circuit denied the petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order denying the petitioners asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture.

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of Corona Clay’s motion for a new trial and affirmed the denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of subject‑matter jurisdiction, holding that whether Temescal Creek is a “water of the United States” is a merits issue, not a jurisdictional one, and that the…

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment for Courthouse News Service, holding that Idaho’s “process‑first” e‑filing policy violates the First Amendment because it fails the strict‑scrutiny Press‑Enterprise test, and that the district court was correct in refusing to abstain under O’Shea.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Roblox’s motion to compel arbitration, holding that Roblox waived its right to arbitrate by knowingly and intentionally litigating the merits of the case.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the United States Postal Service on all of Plaintiff Colestock’s Title VII claims—retaliation, disparate treatment/wrongful termination, and hostile work environment—finding no error in the lower court’s rulings.

The Ninth Circuit reversed Eduardo Valencia’s Hobbs Act robbery and firearm‑brandishing convictions and remanded for a new trial, holding that the district court’s requirement that he testify to display his hand tattoos violated his Fifth Amendment privilege and that the error was not harmless.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed Su Suel’s wire‑fraud, tax‑related convictions, the jury instructions, and the application of a two‑level leadership sentencing enhancement, finding the evidence sufficient and the district court’s rulings not plain error or an abuse of discretion.

The Ninth Circuit granted the petition for review, holding that the petitioner demonstrated good cause for failing to complete the biometrics requirement on time and therefore reversed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ abandonment finding.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Thunderfoot’s complaint for failure to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8 and likewise affirmed the dismissal of the related state law claims under 28 U.S.C.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's finding that Dr. Penberthy acted recklessly, but vacated the noneconomic damages awards to the child and parents as excessive and vacated the district court's discount rate for future economic damages, remanding for recalculation consistent with Alaska law.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Mills’s claims, holding that the teacher was entitled to qualified immunity, that his actions were discretionary, that the intentional infliction claim failed because Mills was not present and the conduct was not extreme, that the wrongful‑injury claim under…

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment on exhaustion for Diaz’s first grievance, finding a genuine dispute over the availability of the grievance process, and held that the continuing‑violations doctrine does not excuse exhaustion for his claims against Officers Loya and Spelman…

The Ninth Circuit held that the Board of Immigration Appeals abused its discretion by affirming an immigration judge’s denial of a motion to amend a pleading without allowing the petitioner to present evidence that his attorney’s factual admission was untrue.

The Ninth Circuit held that a district court may not exercise in rem jurisdiction over foreign assets in a civil forfeiture action without first establishing actual or constructive control over the property, as required by the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause, and vacated and remanded the district court’s order.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of certain affirmative statements but reversed the dismissal of risk‑factor disclosures about inventory management and information‑technology systems, finding the plaintiffs plausibly alleged falsity and scienter, and also reversed the dismissal of the §20(a)…

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment on the plaintiff’s §1983 claim of deliberate indifference and upheld the court’s discretionary rulings denying the plaintiff’s motions to compel discovery, to reconsider, and for a preliminary injunction, finding no genuine factual dispute and proper…

The court affirmed the grant of partial summary judgment for McLane, holding that Plaintiffs’ transportation of goods fell within the Motor Carrier Act exemption to the FLSA overtime requirements.

The panel affirmed the denial of Morgovsky's motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, holding that counsel was not ineffective for failing to challenge the State Department's authority to criminalize conspiracies to export defense articles because the Arms Export Control Act authorizes that regulation.

The panel reversed the dismissal of Liu’s ERISA claim seeking her deceased sister’s pension benefits. It held that the doctrine of substantial compliance may apply to benefit elections under ERISA and that the complaint plausibly alleged substantial compliance under California law.

The court held that the government did not breach the plea agreement by recommending a 36-month sentence. The agreement described the 15-to-21-month range as anticipated and made the court responsible for calculating and adopting the applicable guideline range; it therefore did not limit the government's…

The court affirmed dismissal of the Estate’s claims in both appeals. It held that any error in dismissing the individual defendants for untimely service was harmless because the jury’s finding that the employer was not negligent foreclosed liability under section 1983, and it held that the later complaint was untimely…

The court denied the petition in part and granted it in part. It upheld the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief for Rodas-Urias and Cruz-Perez, and it held that Cruz-Perez and Zavala-Cruz had not exhausted their withholding claims.

The court affirmed summary judgment for the Agency in Payne's Title VII retaliation action. It held that Payne could not establish causation because the challenged performance review occurred years after his protected activity and his remaining theories were speculative, and it further held that he failed to rebut the…

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rulings in Miesen’s shareholder derivative action, holding that his pre-suit demands were inadequate, that no exception excused demand, and that he had not pleaded direct shareholder claims.

The court affirmed dismissal of the claim against Mitchell because his challenged conduct consisted of traditional prosecutorial functions protected by absolute immunity. It also affirmed summary judgment for Clark County because the Estate presented no pattern of similar constitutional violations or evidence that the…

The panel affirmed dismissal of Sauk-Suiattle’s claim to usual and accustomed fishing grounds on the Skagit River because the claim was precluded by prior litigation. It reversed dismissal of the Baker River and marine-waters claims, holding that Judge Boldt had not specifically determined the full extent of those…

The court granted the petition for review and remanded because the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule unlawfully conditioned asylum eligibility on how a noncitizen entered the United States, contrary to the asylum statute.

The court held that Plaintiffs did not form arbitration agreements through the hardware-purchase webpage or the first two alarm-monitoring trial webforms because the notices were not reasonably conspicuous and did not clearly identify the assent-producing action.

The court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant in the prisoner's First Amendment retaliation action because the plaintiff failed to present specific evidence creating a genuine dispute that the rules violation report was motivated by retaliation.

The court affirmed dismissal of the plaintiffs' civil-rights and related claims because they failed to comply with an order requiring a brief addressing whether further leave to amend should be granted.

The court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant in the prisoner’s § 1983 deliberate-indifference action. Applying de novo review, it concluded that the plaintiff failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact concerning whether the defendant acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Dukes’s Federal Tort Claims Act action as untimely. It held that Dukes did not allege facts showing that she presented her claim to the Department of Veterans Affairs within two years after accrual or that equitable tolling applied.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against California's Unflavored Tobacco List statute as applied to premium cigars. The panel held Rocky Patel was unlikely to succeed on its express-preemption claim because the UTLS falls within the TCA's Savings Clause as a requirement relating to…

The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a facial challenge to California Penal Code section 26806, which requires federally licensed firearms dealers to maintain 24/7 digital video and audio surveillance systems on their business premises.

The Ninth Circuit dismissed the creditors' appeal for lack of jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(d)(1), holding that the district court's order affirming the bankruptcy court's ruling that § 523(a)(7) does not except part of a PAGA judgment from discharge was not final because it remanded for trial on the § 523(a)(6)…

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendants in a prisoner's § 1983 deliberate-indifference action concerning treatment for gallstones. Applying de novo review, the court held that the plaintiff failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact concerning either a serious medical need or deliberate…

The court affirmed dismissal of Terry’s federal employment-related claims against Tabar. It held that the Fifth Amendment damages claim presented a new context with an alternative Title VII remedy, the FTCA claims named an improper defendant, the Tucker Act claim belonged exclusively in the Court of Federal Claims…