U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that Lamonte Johnson's ineffective‑assistance claim failed because his counsel's decision not to object to the three‑courtroom system was within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance, and the court did not need to reach the prejudice…

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that the supervised‑release conditions imposed on Ronald Horton were properly adopted and did not constitute an abuse of discretion.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, upholding the admission of tax‑return evidence, rejecting the recusal claim, finding no abuse in the appointment of new counsel, and concluding that the 216‑month sentence was not substantively unreasonable.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Smith's claims under the ADA and the New York State Human Rights Law, finding that she failed to plausibly allege a disability discrimination, termination, or retaliation claim.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's order enforcing an oral settlement agreement between Duane Smith and Home Depot and third‑party defendants. The court held that Smith's former attorney possessed actual authority to bind him to the settlement and that the oral agreement was enforceable under the Winston…

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Liu's challenge to New York's winner‑take‑all elector allocation, holding that the appeal was not moot but that Liu failed to state a viable equal‑protection, First‑Amendment, or due‑process claim.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment granting summary judgment to U.S. Bank on its foreclosure counterclaim and dismissing the Derniers’ claims challenging the assignment.

The Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of Rapaport’s copyright infringement suit, holding that the merger doctrine was improperly applied on a motion to dismiss and that the case must be remanded for further proceedings, including consideration of alternative dismissal grounds.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's award of $4,815,033.25 in attorneys' fees under the TVPA, finding that the court correctly applied the governing standards and did not abuse its discretion.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Jimenez’s Monell claim against the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office, his malicious prosecution claims, his fair‑trial claims against Detectives Serrano and Horn, and his failure‑to‑intervene claims, but vacated the dismissals of his fair‑trial claim…

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the appellants' appeal as equitably moot. The court held that the appellants failed to satisfy the required five factors to overcome the presumption of mootness, particularly the feasibility of relief and diligence in pursuing remedies.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's imposition of a special supervised‑release condition authorizing the Probation Office to notify third parties of Jessica Stuart's criminal history.

The Second Circuit affirmed Miguel Rivera's conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), holding that the indictment was not impermissibly duplicitous and that a jury need only unanimously find possession of a firearm or ammunition, not which specific item, and that the government presented sufficient evidence of…

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's revocation of supervised release and the 18‑month imprisonment sentence, finding no plain error in considering retributive factors and deeming the sentence substantively reasonable.

The Second Circuit denied Walter Dumaguala-Ortuno's petition for review, holding that the BIA correctly waived his challenges to the withholding of removal nexus and CAT claim, and properly denied remand for cancellation of removal because the required application was not filed and the hardship claim was insufficient.

The Second Circuit affirmed the Board of Immigration Appeals' adverse credibility determination, holding that substantial evidence supported the finding. Because the credibility finding was dispositive, Singh's claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture were denied.

The Second Circuit affirmed the Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief for Ervis Biba, holding that the Immigration Judge's adverse credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence.

The court affirmed the defendant's conviction for possessing unregistered short-barreled rifles and a suppressor and his twelve-month-and-one-day sentence. It held that he lacked standing to challenge a post-offense statutory amendment because the amendment was not retroactive and could not affect his conviction.

The court granted the employer's petition for review, denied enforcement of the Board's dress-code violations, and held that the Board's uniform-policy test improperly presumed restrictions unlawful and imposed a strict-tailoring burden without adequately balancing employee and employer interests.

The court held that the plaintiffs’ disclaimers could not defeat federal-officer removal jurisdiction because the challenged rebate negotiations and resulting opioid-related harms were plausibly indivisible across federal and nonfederal clients.

The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of Trireme's breach-of-contract action because res judicata barred it after Trireme unsuccessfully sought to add the same claim in an earlier action.

The court affirmed judgments holding the defendants liable for defrauding Denmark’s tax authority through fabricated dividend-tax refund claims. It concluded that the common-law revenue rule did not apply because the defendants never owed or paid Danish taxes and the suit sought recovery of fraudulently disbursed…

The court denied Dziedziach’s petition for review, holding that conspiracy to retaliate against a witness under 18 U.S.C. § 1513(b) and (f) categorically constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude under the INA.

The court affirmed dismissal of teachers' claims arising from a school district's order that they remove pride flags and stickers from their classroom walls and doors. It held that the displays were speech made pursuant to the teachers' official duties, that the complaint did not plausibly allege impermissible…

The court vacated the preliminary injunction against Genius Group and remanded because that injunction had been stayed pending appeal and the arbitrator had since issued a merits award. The remand permits the district court to determine whether further relief is needed to maintain the status quo.

The court affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ ADA and NYSHRL claims concerning Lyft’s failure to provide wheelchair-accessible vehicle service in Westchester. It held that plaintiffs bear the burden of persuasion to show that proposed modifications would effectively accommodate their disabilities, while they…

The court held that the omission of the jurisdictional predicate from the jury instructions on the statutory terrorism-related drug offenses was error, but did not warrant relief because the record established jurisdiction and there was no reasonable probability of a different outcome.

The court denied the petition for review because the petitioners abandoned the dispositive nexus challenge to their asylum and withholding claims and challenged only a nondispositive aspect of their CAT claim. The court therefore did not reach the remaining asylum, withholding, or CAT issues.

The court denied the petition for review because the petitioners did not challenge the BIA's dispositive finding that they had waived review of the IJ's denial of relief. The court held that the petitioners had abandoned any challenge to that waiver finding, and therefore did not reach their unexhausted arguments…

The court affirmed dismissal of Steel River’s UCC claim and denial of its preliminary-injunction motion. It held that Steel River did not plausibly allege that the contingent Additional Preferred Return, valued as of contracting, could reasonably be determined to produce an interest rate exceeding New York’s…

The Second Circuit affirmed the eight-year term of supervised release imposed when the district court resentenced VanHoesen under § 404(b) of the First Step Act, holding that a resentencing court lacks authority to reduce a congressionally mandated supervised release minimum by invoking § 401(a)'s nonretroactive…

The Second Circuit vacated Stefan Bagley, Jr.'s 84-month above-Guidelines sentence for firearm trafficking conspiracy, concluding the district court plainly erred by varying upward in substantial part because Bagley failed to help law enforcement recover the guns he sold—an impermissible punishment of his silence—and…

The court denied the petition for review of the agency's denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. It held that substantial evidence supported the agency's findings that the petitioners failed to establish a protected-ground nexus for their persecution claims and failed to show that torture was…

The court held that the referred issue concerning how Sanchez would pay a monetary sanction was moot because the full sanction had been paid and opposing counsel confirmed payment.

The court vacated the district court’s summary judgment for Amazon because mandatory security-screening time is compensable hours worked under Connecticut wage law, regardless of how brief the screening was.

The court affirmed Martin’s convictions on all counts, holding that the murder-for-hire statute requires reciprocal inducement but does not require a formal employment relationship or arm’s-length bargaining.

The court affirmed the order quashing two grand jury subpoenas because John A. Sarcone III lacked lawful authority to obtain them. It held that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act permits automatic succession only by the First Assistant serving when the vacancy arises, and that the Attorney General could not circumvent…

The court affirmed the denial of Howard Rubin's application for pretrial release under the Bail Reform Act. It held that the district court applied the correct reasonable-assurance standard and did not clearly err in finding that Rubin posed both a danger to the community and a risk of flight.

The court affirmed Diaz's 204-month sentence despite concluding that the district court failed to make the specific factual findings required to support the managerial enhancement.

The court denied the petition for review and upheld NYSDEC’s conditional Water Quality Certification for Transco’s pipeline project. It concluded that NYSDEC adequately explained its changed position, lawfully relied on post-certification compliance plans, and did not violate federal or state public-notice and comment…