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

The Fifth Circuit concluded that plaintiffs' action challenging the constitutionality of various provisions of the Texas Election Code regulating mail-in balloting is barred by sovereign immunity. The court concluded that the Secretary does not enforce the challenged provisions and thus the district court erred in finding the Secretary was a proper defendant under Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). The court reversed the district court's judgment and remanded with instructions to dismiss plaintiffs' claims. View "Lewis v. Hughs" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit concluded that plaintiffs' constitutional claims challenging Texas's elimination of straight-ticket voting are barred by sovereign immunity because the Secretary of State does not enforce the law that ended straight-ticket voting. The court agreed with the Secretary that he lacks the necessary connection to enforcing House Bill 25's repeal of straight-ticket voting and therefore is not a proper defendant under Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 155–56 (1908). Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's order enjoining the Secretary of State, vacated the injunction, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Texas Alliance for Retired Americans v. Scott" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court's judgment and held that, under the particular circumstances presented here, Ultra Resources is not subject to a separate public-law obligation to continue performance of its rejected contract, and that 11 U.S.C. 1129(a)(6) did not require the bankruptcy court to seek FERC's approval before it confirmed Ultra Resource's reorganization plan.Applying In re Mirant Corp., 378 F.3d 511 (5th Cir. 2004), the court concluded that the power of the bankruptcy court to authorize rejection of a filed-rate contract does not conflict with the authority given to FERC to regulate rates; rejection is not a collateral attack upon the contract's filed rate because that rate is given full effect when determining the breach of contract damages resulting from the rejection; and in ruling on a rejection motion, bankruptcy courts must consider whether rejection harms the public interest or disrupts the supply of energy, and must weigh those effects against the contract's burden on the bankrupt estate. Because Mirant clearly holds that rejection of a contract is not a collateral attack on the filed rate, the court concluded that FERC does not have the authority to compel continued performance and continued payment of the filed rate after a valid rejection. The court rejected any further arguments to the contrary. View "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Ultra Resources" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit denied petitions for review challenging the BIA's orders denying petitioner's motion to reopen. The court concluded that petitioner's arguments regarding the deficiency of his notice to appear are foreclosed by precedent. The court also concluded that petitioner failed to show that the BIA abused its discretion in denying his motion to reopen where the evidence petitioner submitted failed to demonstrate the kind of materially changed country conditions that would warrant an exception to the time limit for motions to reopen. In this case, although petitioner submitted numerous articles and reports, he did not show how any of them, alone or taken together, draw a meaningful comparison between the conditions in Mexico for his asserted social groups at the time of his motion to reopen and those at the time of his removal hearing. Furthermore, a change in personal conditions, petitioner's HIV diagnosis here, cannot alone, without further support from other changed conditions, qualify as changed country conditions. Accordingly, the court did not reach petitioner's claims concerning his eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. View "Garcia v. Garland" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims against law enforcement officers and other city employees based on qualified immunity. Plaintiff's claims arose from the officer's actions handcuffing, detaining, and involuntarily committing him after a welfare check. Plaintiff alleges that he experienced pain in his shoulder from tight handcuffing that occurred over a matter of minutes. The court concluded that plaintiff failed to state a claim that the officers violated his clearly established rights where tight handcuffing alone, even where a detainee sustains minor injuries, does not present an excessive force claim. View "Templeton v. Jarmillo" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claims for sexual harassment and retaliation against the City of Houston. Plaintiff's claims stemmed from the repeated viewing of a private, intimate video of plaintiff by two senior firefighters. While the court agreed that there is no genuine dispute of material fact as to plaintiff's retaliation claim, the court disagreed with the district court's conclusion that no genuine issue exists as to her sexual harassment claim and that summary judgment for the City was appropriate.In this case, it is undisputed that plaintiff, a woman, is a member of a protected class and that she experienced unwelcome harassment; the harassment was based on sex and thus based on plaintiff's status as a member of a protected class; plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the harassment was severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive and hostile work environment; and the conduct was objectively offensive to plaintiff and affected a term or condition of her employment. The court also concluded that plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute as to whether the City knew or should have known about the harassment, and thus can be held liable. View "Abbt v. City of Houston" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction seeking to prohibit the Harris County District Attorney (DA) from enforcing a Texas anti-barratry law. The court concluded that plaintiff has not shown that his First Amendment claim is likely to succeed on the merits where the anti-barratry law is likely narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest in preventing confusion that damages relationships between appointed counsel and indigent defendants. The court declined plaintiff's request to assign the case to a different district judge on remand, concluding that this case does not merit reassignment under either of the two relevant tests. View "Willey v. Harris County District Attorney" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part a petition challenging petitioner's removability based on an aggravated felony conviction under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for attempting to launder money in violation of Tennessee law. The court concluded that only two of petitioner's five claims in his petition for review have been exhausted. The court also concluded that Tennessee Code section 39- 14- 903(b)(1) was divisible by subsection in light of Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243, 2248–49 (2016). Finally, the court concluded that the BIA did not err in concluding that Subsection (b) was a categorical match with the generic crime of money laundering. View "Fakhuri v. Garland" on Justia Law

After assignors and assignees of membership interests in Dongtai Investment Group filed suit against Dongtai's managing member, the district court granted injunctive and declaratory relief, ordering the managing member to turn over his remaining Dongtai membership units partially to satisfy the judgment.The Fifth Circuit affirmed and first concluded that it has jurisdiction to address the rulings challenged by the managing member in this case. In regard to the managing member's motion to dismiss, the court concluded that at least one group, if not both, have sufficient membership interest in Dongtai to confer standing to bring a derivative proceeding; the district court did not err in declining to dismiss plaintiffs' securities fraud claims; the district court properly denied the managing member's argument that plaintiffs did not satisfy the requisite heightened pleading standard; the district court properly overruled the managing member's contention that plaintiffs' securities fraud claims should be dismissed; the complaint lacks evidence that the membership units were purchased in the United States; and the managing member's contention that none of the securities fraud allegations specifically implicate LCL Company are simply untrue. The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction where plaintiffs have established a substantial threat they would suffer irreparable injury if an injunction was not granted. Finally, the court discerned no error in the declaratory relief fashioned by the district court and the district court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the managing member to turn over his remaining membership interest in Dongtai. View "Xiongen Jiao v. Ningbo Xu" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the city in an action brought by a former city employee, alleging that he had been unlawfully terminated from his job because of his age. The court agreed with the district court that no genuine dispute of material fact existed as to whether plaintiff had been fired because of his age. In this case, plaintiff was largely unqualified for the burgeoning responsibilities of his position, and plaintiff's contention -- that a fact finder would infer this to mean that defendants thought he was old and slow -- was pure speculation. View "Harris v. City of Schertz" on Justia Law