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

The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) was created by the Secretary of DHS on December 20, 2018. On June 1, 2021, DHS permanently terminated MPP. The district court subsequently vacated the Termination Decision and ordered DHS to implement the Protocols in good faith or to take a new agency action that complied with the law. DHS chose not to take a new agency action, and instead chose to notice an appeal and defended its Termination Decision, seeking a stay of the district court's injunction while the appeal was pending. The Fifth Circuit denied the motion and the Supreme Court affirmed. On October 29, 2021, DHS issued two additional memoranda to explain the Termination Decision, purporting to "re-terminate" MPP. The Government then informed the Fifth Circuit that, in its view, the October 29 Memoranda had mooted this case.Under Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent, the court concluded that this case is nowhere near moot. In any event, the vacatur DHS requests is an equitable remedy, which is unavailable to parties with unclean hands. The court stated that the Government's litigation tactics disqualify it from such equitable relief. The court addressed and rejected each of the Government's reviewability arguments and determined that DHS has come nowhere close to shouldering its heavy burden to show that it can make law in a vacuum.On the merits, the court concluded that the Termination Decision was arbitrary and capricious under the APA. The court also concluded that the Termination Decision is independently unlawful because it violates 8 U.S.C. 1225, which requires DHS to detain aliens, pending removal proceedings, who unlawfully enter the United States and seek permission to stay. Finally, in regard to the Government's contention that section 1182 allows DHS to parole aliens into the United States on a case-by-case basis, the court concluded that deciding to parole aliens en masse is the opposite of case-by-case decisionmaking. The court denied the Government's motion to vacate the judgment and affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Texas v. Biden" on Justia Law

The en banc court held that the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 does not strip the federal district courts of subject-matter jurisdiction to hear structural constitutional claims. The en banc court stated that 15 U.S.C. 78y does not explicitly or implicitly strip the district court of jurisdiction over plaintiff's claim; the Supreme Court has already rejected the SEC's precise jurisdictional argument under section 78y; and the Thunder Basin factors do not warrant departing from the statutory text or deviating from the Supreme Court's interpretation of section 78y. In this case, plaintiff's removal power claim is wholly collateral to the Exchange Act's statutory-review scheme, is outside the SEC's expertise, and might never receive judicial review if district court jurisdiction were precluded. Therefore, the en banc court concluded that the Thunder Basin inquiry simply reaffirms that Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board, 561 U.S. 477, 489 (2010), controls this case and that plaintiff's removal power claim is within the district court's jurisdiction.The en banc court also held that plaintiff's removal power challenge is ripe where her claim is a pure issue of law that is fit for judicial decision without any additional factfinding. Furthermore, if plaintiff's claim is meritorious, then withholding judicial consideration would injure her by forcing her to litigate before an ALJ who is unconstitutionally insulated from presidential control. Accordingly, the en banc court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Cochran v. Securities and Exchange Commission" on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to reduce his sentence under the First Step Act of 2018 from life to 40 years imprisonment. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in reducing defendant's sentence where the district court noted that a significant prison term was still warranted based on his previous recidivism and the violence that accompanied his past crimes. The court stated that it has never held that courts must consider the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) sentencing factors when assessing a sentence reduction under the Act. Finally, the court rejected defendant's argument that he was entitled to a hearing regarding his post-sentence behavior. Finally, the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to reduce defendant's sentences for Counts One and Three, because the statutory penalties for those counts are not covered under the Act. View "United States v. Abdul-Ali" on Justia Law

The insured's intended beneficiaries filed suit for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Insurance Code and Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act in Texas court after the insurer denied coverage. After removal to federal court, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer.The Fifth Circuit reversed, concluding that the parties' arguments and the record presented to the district court at summary judgment reveal a genuine dispute as to whether the insured's application was amended. In this case, plaintiffs point to more than enough evidence in the record to raise a genuine dispute of fact as to whether there was a meeting of the minds to amend the application. Furthermore, because the district court's grant of summary judgment on plaintiffs' statutory, extracontractual claims was based on the conclusion that the insurer had legitimately denied plaintiffs' claim for benefits, the grant of summary judgment on the statutory, extra-contractual claims must also be reversed. Accordingly, the court remanded for further proceedings. View "Pham v. TransAmerica Premier Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

Texas and Wyoming both regulate the use of indemnity agreements in their oilfields. Wyoming, concerned that indemnification disincentivizes safety, forbids oilfield indemnity agreements. Wyo. Stat. 30-1-131. Texas, concerned that large oil companies will use their leverage to demand indemnity from independent operators, also disfavors the agreements but does not ban them; it allows indemnification in limited situations including when the indemnity is mutual and backed by insurance. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. 127.003, 127.005.Cannon, a Wyoming oil-and-gas exploration company, and Texas-based KLX entered into a “Master Equipment Rental Agreement,” providing that Texas law governs the agreement and that the parties must “protect, defend, [and] indemnify” each other against losses involving injuries sustained by the other’s employees, regardless of who is at fault “to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.” Most of the work performed under the contract occurred in Wyoming with none in Texas. Indemnity was sought for a Wyoming lawsuit filed by a Wyoming resident injured in a Wyoming oilfield operated by a Wyoming business.The Fifth Circuit held that Wyoming law prevails and that the indemnity provision in the Agreement is unenforceable. Wyoming has a more significant relationship to the parties and a materially greater interest in applying its policy; its anti-indemnity policy is “fundamental.” View "Cannon Oil & Gas Well Services, Inc. v. KLX Energy Services, L.L.C." on Justia Law

While on supervised release, Ortega admitted to drug violations. The district court revoked Ortega’s supervised release and sentenced her to an additional two years in prison and one year of supervised release, with a condition requiring Ortega to “reside in [a] Reentry Center and successfully participate in [a] Residential Reentry Program for a period of at least 4 months to be released at the direction of the probation officer” and to “initially participate in [the Reentry Program’s] community corrections component,” but Ortega “may become eligible the last one-third of the term of confinement for placement in [the Program’s] prelease component upon approval of the program review team.” Ortega did not initially object to the condition, but later argued that the condition “impermissibly delegated authority to the probation officer by allowing the probation officer to determine the duration of a residential treatment program.”The Fifth Circuit affirmed. A court errs when it surrenders “‘the final say’ on whether to impose a condition” or leaves to probation the details of a condition involving “a ‘significant deprivation of liberty,’” but does not err when it assigns a probation officer reasonable authority to supervise participation in a treatment program, including the program’s “modality, intensity, and duration.” The district court’s modest delegation of supervisory authority was proper; the special condition is specific and restrictive and directs probation to release Ortega within a particularized eight-month window, subject to its superior knowledge of Ortega’s situation. View "United States v. Ortega" on Justia Law

Med-Cert filed suit against federal officials in charge of administering the Medicare program, alleging that HHS sought to recoup overpaid Medicare funds from Med-Cert before its hearing with an ALJ in violation of Med-Cert's due process rights. The district court enjoined the federal officials from recouping funds until after the hearing. While this case was on appeal, the Fifth Circuit issued Sahara Health Care Inc. v. Azar, 975 F.3d 523 (5th Cir. 2020), which held that a similarly situated health-care provider was not denied due process. Because Sahara is controlling in this case, the court reversed and remanded for the district court to consider Med-Cert's alternative claims. View "Med-Cert Home Care, LLC v. Becerra" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Home Depot, plaintiff's former employer, in an action alleging personal injury claims stemming from a workplace incident. Specifically, plaintiff alleged that Home Depot breached its duty to provide him with proper assistance, equipment, and training to safely execute "flat stacking," a process of rearranging building materials.The court affirmed in part, concluding that there is no genuine dispute of material fact as to plaintiff's claims for inadequate assistance and training. In this case, Home Depot had no duty to provide assistance that was unnecessary to the job's safe performance. However, the court concluded that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to plaintiff's claim for inadequate equipment. The court explained that there are factual disputes over whether Home Depot had a duty to provide a back brace and whether the lack of a back brace was the proximate cause of plaintiff's injury. Accordingly, the court vacated in part and remanded. View "Molina v. Home Depot USA, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed two actions against their landlord, MAA, alleging that it charged unreasonable late fees in violation of the Texas Property Code and seeking to certify a class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court certified in both cases and MAA sought interlocutory review of class certification.The Fifth Circuit concluded that, under section 92.019 of the Texas Property Code, there is no requirement that a landlord engage in a process to arrive at its late fee so long as the fee is a reasonable estimate at the time of contracting of damages that are incapable of precise calculation. Therefore, the district court erred in interpreting section 92.019 and the court remanded to the district court to determine if class certification is appropriate. View "Cleven v. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc." on Justia Law

Dean filed a Chapter 7 voluntary petition. The trustee for the estate did not have sufficient unencumbered funds to retain counsel to pursue claims for the estate. Reticulum, a creditor, agreed to fund the trustee’s litigation in exchange for a share of any of litigation proceeds. The bankruptcy court approved the agreement. The district court affirmed. Dean appealed, contending that the agreement undermined the statutory ranking system for distribution of the estate’s property by allowing Reticulum to move ahead of other creditors.The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of standing. Bankruptcy standing may be addressed even when it was not raised below. The court employed the “person aggrieved” test, a “more exacting standard than traditional constitutional standing.” The appellant must show that he is “directly, adversely, and financially impacted by” the exact order being appealed as opposed to the proceedings more generally. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the debtor-out-of-possession typically has no concrete interest in how the bankruptcy court divides up the estate. A debtor may retain bankruptcy standing by showing that defeat of the order on appeal would affect his bankruptcy discharge. The approval of the litigation funding agreement did not affect whether Dean’s debts will be discharged. View "Dean v. Seidel" on Justia Law