Fourth Circuit Surveys

Decided: May 21, 2015

The Fourth Circuit reversed in part the district court’s ruling to grant the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (“the University”) summary judgment on Foster’s retaliation claim because a reasonable jury could conclude …

Decided: May 21, 2015

The Fourth Circuit held that Blake reasonably believed that he had exhausted his administrative remedies as required under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), and reversed and remanded for further proceedings. …

Decided: May 20, 2015  

The Fourth Circuit held that a defendant’s prior drug convictions increased the extent to which a defendant’s marijuana offenses during supervised release were punishable under 21 U.S.C. § 844(a).  

This appeal …

Decided: May 19, 2015

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a North Carolina district court’s denial of summary judgment to correctional officers implicated in a Section 1983 excessive force claim.

The 1983 claim arose from Ussery’s forcible …

Decided: May 19, 2015

The Fourth Circuit held that The Radiance Foundation (“Radiance”) neither infringed upon, nor diluted through tarnishment, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (“NAACP”) trademarks when Radiance authored an …

Decided: May 14, 2015

The Fourth Circuit held that the statutory maximum term of imprisonment set by Congress, not the top sentence in the Sentencing Guidelines range, is determinative of whether a defendant committed a …

Decided: May 11, 2015

The Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the district court’s ruling because it abused its discretion in excluding evidence that was reasonably necessary for the government to make its case regarding the …

Decided: May 11, 2015

The Fourth Circuit vacated a South Carolina district court’s decertification order of a class of black steel workers who allege endemic racial discrimination at a South Carolina plant owned by Nucor …

Decided: May 5, 2015

The Fourth Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment to the Underwriters and remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the answers Dr. Cohen supplied on the policy …

Decided: April 30, 2015

The Fourth Circuit vacated a final order of removal entered by the Board of Immigration Appeals and remanded the case for further proceedings.

The appeal arose out of Hernandez’s and her …

Decided: April 30, 2015

The Fourth Circuit held that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Norfolk Southern Railway Company (“Norfolk”) was the cause of Harris’s injuries, and on that …

Decided: April 29, 2015

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to grant the Defendant summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity and to deny Plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief.

This appeal stemmed …

Decided: April 27, 2015

The Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the district court’s decision to deny dismissal of a trustee’s complaint because the trustee’s complaint was filed sixty-nine days after the creditors’ meeting, as opposed …

Decided On: April 27, 2015

The Fourth Circuit held that defendant’s collateral appeal, based on §2225 allegations, did not state a claim of error that sufficiently fulfilled the high standards required in §2225, and affirmed …

Decided: April 23, 2015  

The Fourth Circuit held that the imposition of all expenses in an ex parte proceeding, regardless of whether a plaintiff wins or loses, does not involve “fee shifting” that would implicate …