Justia U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Petitioner, a citizen of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's order affirming the IJ's denial of his petition for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Petitioner claimed that he feared persecution if he returned to China because his family practiced Falun Gong. The court held that the BIA need not make a credibility determination when it determined that corroborating evidence was reasonably available to petitioner but was not submitted. The court also held that it could not conclude that petitioner exhausted his administrative remedies and the court did not have jurisdiction to consider his argument. Because petitioner failed to seek voluntary departure before the IJ, petitioner failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Because the court denied petitioner's petition for review with respect to his application for asylum, it followed that the court also denied his petition for review with respect to his application for withholding of removal.

In this consolidated case, the court addressed the appeals of five individuals and one corporate defender convicted of conspiracy and substantive offenses for providing material aid and support to a designated terrorist organization. Defendants were charged with aiding Hamas by raising funds through the corporate entity Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Texas-based, pro-Palestinian charity that the Government charged was created for the sole purpose of acting as a financing arm for Hamas. Defendants raised a host of issues challenging both their convictions and their sentences, including numerous errors that they claimed deprived them of a fair trial. The court concluded from its review of the record, briefs, and oral argument, that defendants were fairly convicted. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's judgments of conviction of the individual defendants and dismissed the appeal of the Holy Land Foundation.

Plaintiff sued defendants under Title VII, alleging claims of racial harassment and constructive discharge. Plaintiff subsequently appealed the district court's dismissal of his complaint based on a finding that plaintiff committed perjury and the district court's grant of defendants' motion for sanctions. Plaintiff argued that a less severe sanction was more appropriate and that the district court should have held an evidentiary hearing to allow plaintiff to explain his conflicting testimony. Plaintiff's counsel, who was separately sanctioned, also appealed the denial of his motion for recusal of the magistrate judge. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding to dismiss plaintiff's complaint with prejudice where plaintiff plainly committed perjury; plaintiff's argument that the district court failed to hold a hearing was meritless where he made no effort to explain why he and his attorney failed to show at the hearing held by the district court to address objections to the magistrate judge's report; and the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying counsel's motion for recusal where a reasonable person would not question the magistrate judge's impartiality in this case. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.

Appellant appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Zurich, SRS, and an insurance adjuster on his claim for wrongful denial and delay of workers' compensation benefits under Texas state and common law. At issue on appeal was whether appellees complied with the duty of good faith and fair dealing in resolving appellant's claim. The court affirmed summary judgment and held that appellant failed to raise a material fact issue with respect to his common-law bad faith cause of action.

Plaintiff sued the Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners, claiming its status requirement violated the Constitution when the Board denied her a license solely on account of her immigration status. Plaintiff was an alien who had applied for permanent residence. The district court granted the Board summary judgment on all grounds. The court held that because applicants for permanent resident status did not constitute a suspect class under the Equal Protection Clause, and a rational basis supported the immigration-status requirement, the judgment was affirmed.

The Qureshis were originally granted asylum from Pakistan because of Mr. Qureshi's support for the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), but the USCIS later decided to terminate the Qureshis' asylum based on that same support, applying the "persecutor bar" to Mr. Qureshi. The Qureshis sued USCIS to challenge its application of the bar and the district court granted USCIS's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the ground that the termination was not a final agency action. The court affirmed because it agreed that termination of asylum did not consummate agency action and thus was not final.

Plaintiffs sought to reopen a judgment entered in 2001 after the district judge that entered judgment for defendants in plaintiffs' person injury case was impeached and removed from office. Plaintiffs filed what they termed an independent action in equity on grounds that the judgment was procured by fraud involving the district judge. A new district judge dismissed the suit as barred by the doctrine of res judicata. The court reversed and remanded after applying a five-element analysis of an independent action in equity.

This appeal involved a putative class action brought against several oil and gas companies and several companies that provide labor for offshore oil and gas projects. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants maintained a hiring scheme to employ foreign workers on the Outer Continental Shelf in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961-1968, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. The district court disposed of all plaintiffs' claims and then entered final judgment dismissing all claims. The court held that the Service Defendants did not violate RICO because the law that would make their conduct racketeering activity did not apply in the place where that conduct occurred, namely vessels floating on the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf. The court rejected plaintiffs' contention that the exemptions the Service Defendants possessed to the OCSLA manning requirements did not shield them from RICO liability because those exemptions were fraudulently obtained. The court also held that plaintiffs could not state a claim for a private right of action for damages under the OCSLA and the district court's dismissal was proper. The court further held that the district court did not err in disposing plaintiffs' OCSLA enforcement claim. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court was affirmed.

This appeal arose out of an oil spill on the Neches River. Appellants challenged the National Pollution Funds Center's (NPFC) final claim determination denying reimbursement for costs arising from the spill. The district court rejected appellants' challenge to the agency determination. The court concluded that the NPFC's interpretation of 33 U.S.C. 2703 was entitled to deference and that appellants have not demonstrated that the NPFC's denial of the third-party affirmative defense claim should be overturned under the standard set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 500 et seq.

Amerisure appealed the district court's summary judgment ruling determining that Louisiana law prohibited the consideration of extrinsic evidence to prove mutual mistake; ranking Amerisure as the primary insurer; and allowing another third-party insurer to bring a cross-claim for defense fees. The court held that because the district court erred in refusing to consider extrinsic evidence to prove the theory of mutual mistake, the court reversed and remanded without considering ranking or standing.