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

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal with prejudice of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against Dallas County. Plaintiff filed suit after he was convicted of sexually abusing his son and the district attorney sought to revoke plaintiff's community supervision and proceed with adjudication. After plaintiff was convicted and sentenced to prison, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered plaintiff released since polygraph results are inadmissible under Texas evidence law.The court concluded that the Dallas County district attorney acted as a state policymaker when he decided or acquiesced to the polygraph policy in this case. Therefore, there is no county policymaker to support plaintiff's Monell claim. The court also concluded that plaintiff failed to plausibly plead his failure-to-train-or-supervise theory against Dallas County under Mowbray v. Cameron County, 274 F.3d 269, 278 (5th Cir. 2001). View "Arnone v. County of Dallas" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of partial summary judgment in an action brought by Vitol against the United States, seeking an $8.8 million tax refund. The court concluded that the plain language of the statute, taken in context, excludes butane from the definition of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) under 26 U.S.C. 6426(d)(2).In this case, the court applied the standard tools of statutory interpretation in their proper order, and the court need not consider legislative history or abstract congressional purpose. The court explained that, although the common meaning of LPG includes butane, section 6426(d)(2) is a subsidiary part of a broader statutory framework that treats a given fuel as either a taxable fuel or an alternative fuel, but not both. Therefore, the statutory context of section 6426 provides sound reason to depart from butane's common meaning. Furthermore, section 4083 defines butane as a taxable fuel for purposes of the excise tax imposed at section 4081. The court reasoned that, if butane is a taxable fuel, it cannot be an alternative fuel and thus it is not an LPG under section 6426(d)(2). View "Vitol, Inc. v. United States" on Justia Law

Q, which operates nine men’s clothing stores, purchased insurance to cover the stores for “direct physical loss of or physical damage to Covered Property at the premises described in the Declarations . . . caused by or resulting from a Covered Cause of Loss.” “Covered Causes of Loss” are defined as “risks of direct physical loss” unless excluded or limited. A Business Income Extension covers loss due to the necessary suspension of operations during a “period of restoration” caused by the direct physical loss of or physical damage to property “caused by or resulting from a Covered Cause of Loss.” A Civil Authority Extension covers “the actual loss of Business Income” sustained when access to the scheduled premises “is specifically prohibited by order of a civil authority as the direct result of a Covered Cause of Loss to property in the immediate area of [the] ‘scheduled premises.’” The policy contains a “Virus Exclusion."Q complied with pandemic shutdown orders, lost business income, and submitted claims, which were denied. The Fifth Circuit affirmed judgment on the pleadings in favor of the insurer. The orders closing nonessential businesses did not qualify as a direct physical loss of or damage to property and no other coverage applied. View "Q Clothier New Orleans, L.L.C. v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that sovereign immunity bars the ratepayers' claims against the Mississippi Public Service Commissioners. The court also agreed that the Johnson Act does not preclude federal jurisdiction over the claims against the utility. However, the court disagreed with the accrual date the district court used in dismissing the case on limitations grounds. The court explained that the ratepayers' claims did not accrue on August 6, 2015, when the Commission approved the refund plan, or on August 16, 2016, when an economist concluded that Mississippi Power shorted them. The court affirmed the dismissal of the claims against the Commissioners but vacated the district court's dismissal of the claims against Mississippi Power on imitations grounds. Given the uncertainties in the record and the possible benefit of limited discovery on the limitations issue, the court remanded to the district court for further proceedings. View "Turnage v. Britton" on Justia Law

In an action stemming from a land transaction dispute, the Fifth Circuit reversed as to federal and state qualified immunity and affirmed the denial of discretionary immunity under Louisiana law. The court held that the sheriff is entitled to qualified immunity barring plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim that the sheriff's improper management of the sheriff's sale of property in which plaintiff claimed an interest violated her protected rights. In this case, plaintiff failed to allege any personal involvement of the sheriff in the purported wrongdoing. However, on the sheriff's claim to discretionary immunity under Louisiana law, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the sheriff failed to timely raise the defense before that court. View "Magnolia Island Plantation, LLC v. Whittington" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's sentence for one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, holding that defendant's prior conviction for aggravated assault with a firearm under Louisiana state law, La. R.S. 14:37.4, is not categorically a crime of violence as defined in the Sentencing Guidelines. The court examined an amendment to La. R.S. 14:37.4 and reviewed Louisiana state court's application of the amended statute, concluding that it is clear that aggravated assault with a firearm can still be committed negligently in Louisiana. Accordingly, the court remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Garner" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiffs' action seeking to force payment on their state court judgment. In this case, plaintiffs succeeded in winning a money judgment against a state governmental entity in state court in Louisiana, but the Louisiana Constitution bars the seizure of public funds or property to satisfy a judgment against the state or its political subdivisions. The court agreed with the district court's application of long-standing precedent that there is no property right to timely payment on a judgment. Because plaintiffs' claims are foreclosed by Folsom v. City of New Orleans, 109 U.S. 285 (1883), the district court properly dismissed the case. Finally, the district court properly declined to hear plaintiffs' standalone claim to declaratory relief, and the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying to grant leave to amend as amendment would be futile. View "Ariyan, Inc. v. Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the HHS Defendants in an action challenging HHS's risk-adjustment program, implemented under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), and repromulgation of the 2017 and 2018 rules. In this case, Vista Health Plan, a health insurance company in Texas, was assessed risk-adjustment fees that exceeded its premium revenue, causing the company to cease operations.After determining that it has jurisdiction over the appeal, the court concluded that the 2017 and 2018 Final Rules adopted by HHS were not impermissibly retroactive under Landgraf v. USI Film Prods., 511 U.S. 244, 268 (1994). The court also concluded that HHS's failure to follow the Administrative Procedure Act's notice-and-comment procedures in its repromulgation of the 2017 Final Rule was at worst harmless error. Rather, the new rule actually maintained the settled expectations of insurers covered by the previous version of the rule. Finally, the court concluded that Vista's other issues on appeal regarding the administrative record before the district court, Chevron deference as to HHS's interpretation of the governing law, and the district court's "sua sponte" summary judgment on Vista's regulatory taking claim lack merit. View "Vista Health Plan, Inc. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing, withdrew its previous opinion, and substituted the following opinion.The court vacated the certificate of appealability (COA) as invalid, as the parties concede, under 28 U.S.C. U.S.C. 2253(c)(2)–(3) because it fails to specify a constitutional issue. In this case, defendant seeks a valid COA under United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019). The court concluded that defendant was not sentenced under the residual clause in 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(3)(B). Rather, he was sentenced under the elements clause in 924(c)(3)(A). The court explained that defendant's indictment, his stipulated factual resume, and his plea agreement all confirm that he was convicted of and sentenced for putting the lives of his victims in jeopardy by using a handgun. The court concluded that this easily satisfies the elements clause and renders section 924(c)'s residual clause and Davis irrelevant. Because defendant has not made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, the court could not grant a COA and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. View "United States v. Castro" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit concluded that sovereign immunity bars plaintiffs' challenges to Texas's system for verifying the signatures on mail-in ballots. The court concluded that the Secretary does not verify mail-in ballots; rather, that is the job of local election officials. Therefore, the district court erred in finding that the Secretary was the proper defendant under Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's order enjoining the Secretary, vacated the injunction, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Flores v. Scott" on Justia Law