U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, holding that the policy term “gainful occupation” is unambiguous, that Caraba was not totally disabled under the policy, and that no breach or bad‑faith liability exists.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a new competency hearing and upheld the supervised‑release condition requiring full‑time employment. The court held that the trial judge’s inquiry satisfied the Dusky standard and that no plain error occurred in imposing the employment condition under the…

The Seventh Circuit affirmed Carrie Musselman's healthcare fraud and wire fraud convictions. First, it held that the district court did not abuse its substantial discretion in concluding that the jury foreperson's outside research (an online article discussing majority verdicts) did not prejudicially affect the…

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Meta's motion to compel arbitration of Metroplex's putative class action alleging that Meta inflated Facebook audience-reach metrics to lure advertisers away from competing platforms.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Exelead on Richard Highbaugh's Title VII and Section 1981 race discrimination claims and his ADEA age claim, which arose from Exelead's decision to fill a Materials Manager vacancy with an external white candidate in his thirties rather than interview Highbaugh, a…

The court reversed the suppression order because the warrant affidavit established probable cause even after excising the agent's descriptions of images he viewed without a warrant.

The court affirmed dismissal of the Foundation’s challenge to Wisconsin’s exemption from the National Voter Registration Act. It held that the exemption does not violate equal-state-sovereignty principles because it relieves states whose registration systems already align with federal policy, and that the…

The court held that Officer Price was not entitled to qualified immunity at summary judgment because, viewing the evidence in Smith’s favor, a jury could find that Price knowingly failed to protect Smith from a substantial risk created by reckless driving while Smith was unrestrained.

The court did not resolve whether Indiana’s One Action statute applies to mortgage guaranties or whether guarantors may waive the statute’s protections. Instead, it certified both outcome-determinative questions to the Indiana Supreme Court because the statute is ambiguous, Indiana authority is sparse, and the issues…

The court affirmed Krezja’s convictions for conspiracy and aiding and abetting embezzlement. It held that the government’s proof remained consistent with the indictment, that sufficient circumstantial evidence supported the jury’s findings of knowing participation and criminal intent, and that the district court did…

The court affirmed dismissal of Soloway’s Illinois defamation claims. It held that the articles’ headlines, byline, and publicly accessible content were reasonably capable of an innocent, non-defamatory construction, defeating the defamation per se claim, and that Soloway failed to plead specific, non-speculative…

The court affirmed a permanent injunction barring Indiana officials from enforcing the aid-or-assist law against Planned Parenthood’s dissemination of information about, and referrals to, lawful out-of-state abortion providers for unemancipated minors.

The court held that summary judgment on exhaustion grounds was improper because Burns's sworn declaration created a genuine dispute over whether the jail's grievance-appeal process was actually available to him.

The court affirmed the denial of the Village’s motion to compel arbitration because the Village waived any arbitration right by filing suit and waiting months to seek arbitration.

The court affirmed the denial of Exploria’s motion to compel arbitration, holding that pre-certification conduct may be considered when deciding whether a defendant waived arbitration rights concerning putative class members.

The court affirmed denial of Fields’s § 2255 motion challenging counsel’s advice about an alleged 37-year plea offer made during jury selection. Assuming both that the offer existed and that counsel’s limited advice was deficient, the court held that Fields failed to show a reasonable probability that he would have…

The court affirmed dismissal of Enloe’s False Claims Act complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) because he did not plead the alleged fraud with the particularity required by Rule 9(b). His theory relied on assumptions drawn from an internal policy and pharmacy hours, without concrete examples showing unlawful dispensing or…

The court affirmed dismissal with prejudice of the proposed securities class action because the complaint did not plead a strong inference of scienter under the heightened requirements applicable to the Exchange Act claims.

The court affirmed the dismissal of Herrera's Federal Tort Claims Act case because it declined to overrule the circuit's recent precedent holding that the Westfall Act's saving provision does not apply to medical-malpractice cases removed under the Public Health Service Act.

The court affirmed certification of the class under Rule 23(b)(2), holding that common evidence could establish commonality and typicality despite variations among the collective bargaining agreements, and that any monetary relief was incidental to the requested injunction.

The court reversed the district court's denial of qualified and absolute immunity. It held that the officers had arguable probable cause to detain Savory, that Savory lacked evidence showing bad-faith destruction of apparently exculpatory evidence or clearly established unlawfulness, and that the interrogation methods…

The court held that Chapman has standing to challenge the constitutionality of Illinois's post-conviction DNA-testing statute because his alleged injury is fairly traceable to the prosecutor's control over and refusal to provide access to the evidence.

The court affirmed dismissal of the professional negligence claim and summary judgment against Plaintiffs on their breach of contract claim. It held that Clarendon was not an intended third-party beneficiary of the agreements between Aon and SCB, and that Aon owed Clarendon no professional duty to notify SCB's…

The court affirmed the denial of Jump Trading's motion to compel arbitration. It held that the court, rather than an arbitrator, must decide whether equitable estoppel permits Jump, a nonsignatory, to enforce the arbitration agreement, and concluded that Jump could not do so because it had not shown the reliance…

The court affirmed the denial of Jiangsu’s motion to compel arbitration. It held that Jiangsu was not bound by the arbitration clause because it was not a party to the joint-venture agreement and had not accepted benefits from that agreement in a manner establishing equitable estoppel.

The court dismissed Putnam's trial-related appellate challenges because she failed to provide complete trial transcripts needed to assess prejudice, and it affirmed the rulings disposing of her claims.

The court affirmed the defendants’ convictions for harboring unauthorized aliens and their sentences. It held that the victims’ testimony, corroborating evidence, and evidence of concealment and financial benefit were sufficient for a rational jury to convict, despite impeachment and credibility challenges.

The court affirmed the defendants’ convictions for harboring and shielding unauthorized aliens and their within- or below-guidelines sentences. It held that the victims’ testimony, corroborating evidence, and evidence of concealment and financial benefit were sufficient to support the verdicts, and that the district…

The court held that the district court did not violate Hinz's due-process right to be sentenced on accurate information because the record showed that it relied on admitted violations and reliable information about his history, not disputed gun-related allegations.

The court affirmed the defendants’ convictions for harboring and shielding unauthorized aliens and their sentences. It held that the victims’ testimony, corroborating evidence, and evidence of concealment and exploitation were sufficient for a rational jury to convict and support the financial-gain enhancement.

The court denied Bonan’s petition for review of FDIC orders prohibiting him from working at FDIC-insured institutions and imposing civil money penalties. It held that the FDIC’s administrative adjudication did not violate the Seventh Amendment because the statutory claims involved public rights, and it rejected…

The court affirmed summary judgment establishing liability for the unlawful protective frisk because the officer identified no individualized facts suggesting that Pfalzgraf was armed or dangerous.

The court held that the generic conspiracy offense incorporated into the Sentencing Guidelines' definition of crime of violence required a bilateral agreement as of 1989, when conspiracies were added to the relevant Guideline.

The court affirmed Betty’s 264-month sentence, rejecting four challenges to the Guidelines calculation and the district court’s sentencing explanation. It held that the grouping increase did not produce reversible double counting, that the victim’s self-touching constituted sexual contact supporting the enhancement…

The Seventh Circuit affirmed Johntavis Matlock's conviction for distributing a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), rejecting his sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge to the jury's finding that his heroin was a but-for cause of Lindsey Wiley's December 11…

A Seventh Circuit panel affirmed the life sentences of four Gangster Disciples members — Frank Smith, Warren Griffin, Sean Clemon, and Dominque Maxwell — convicted after a 23-day jury trial of RICO conspiracy, murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and firearm offenses arising from the 2018 Matthews Park…

The court affirmed the life-sentence convictions of all four defendants, holding that the district court did not commit reversible error in admitting coconspirator statements and that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and life sentences of four Gangster Disciples leaders for RICO conspiracy, murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeering, and firearm offenses arising from two 2018 murders.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and life sentences of four Gangster Disciples members found guilty after a 23-day jury trial of racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and firearm offenses stemming from the 2018 Matthews Park shooting and the murder of Ernest Wilson.

The Seventh Circuit affirmed Ausarian Carney's kidnapping conviction and twenty-four-year sentence following a joint trial with his sister Ademeko Maclin-Carney. Assuming without deciding that admitting Maclin-Carney's jail letters referencing Carney violated his Confrontation Clause rights and that any error was…