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Decided: November 14, 2013
Addressing appeals by thirteen individuals involved in conspiracy to traffic khat, a leafy plant containing the controlled substance cathinone, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rulings as to all challenges.…
Date Decided: November 13, 2013
In Miller v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits life imprisonment without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders. Criminal defendant, Jimmy Hunter claimed that Miller similarly …
Decided November 12, 2013
The Fourth Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment and remanded for further proceedings. The Court concluded that language in a disability benefit plan provided by an employer was ambiguous and, therefore, …
Decided: November 5, 2013
The Fourth Circuit held that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia did not abuse its discretion by dismissing Project Management Company’s (PMC) case against DynCorp International …
Decided: November 5, 2013
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment against Mary Johnson (“Mrs. Johnson”) and her husband, Ford Johnson (“Mr. Johnson”), individually, to reduce to judgment the remaining balance …
Decided: November 1, 2013
The Fourth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of § 1997e(d)(2) of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that caps attorneys’ fee award that a successful prisoner litigant may recover from the …
Decided: November 1, 2013
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the defendant’s sentence for drug distribution. The Court held that the district court’s use of multiple hearsay evidence to calculate the defendant’s drug quantity did not render …
Decided: October 21, 2013
The Fourth Circuit held that, because prisoner James G. Blakely (Blakely) previously brought more than three federal lawsuits that were expressly dismissed at summary judgment as frivolous, malicious, or for failure …
Decided: October 30, 2013
The Fourth Circuit found that the district court improperly calculated William McManus’s (“McManus”) applicable Sentencing Guideline range and therefore vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.
Gigatribe is a file-sharing computer …
Decided: October 30, 2013
The Fourth Circuit dismissed a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction finding that, absent a federal tariff, federal courts have no subject matter jurisdiction over a motor carrier’s breach of …
Decided: October 29, 2013
The Fourth Circuit reversed Faisal Hashime’s convictions on multiple counts related to child pornography and remanded the case for further proceedings because law-enforcement agents did not read Hashime his Miranda rights …
Decided: October 29, 2013
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the district court did not err in its application of Listing 1.04A, the Social Security Administration regulation identifying disorders of the …
Decided: October 29, 2013
In a case of first impression, the Fourth Circuit held that the Fleuti doctrine did not survive the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act’s (“IIRIRA”) enactment of 8 U.S.C. § …
Decided: October 28, 2013
The Fourth Circuit held that a Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtor’s estate includes the debtor’s inheritance of property beyond the 180-day time limit under Bankruptcy Code § 541 but before the close, …
Decided: October 23, 2013
The Fourth Circuit held that the bankruptcy court correctly determined that it lacked the authority to “strip off” the debtor’s valueless lien because only the debtor’s interest in the estate was …