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

A mother, Samantha Estefania Francisco Castro, removed her daughter, A.F., from Venezuela, where the father, Jose Leonardo Brito Guevara, had lawful custody. Castro and A.F. illegally immigrated to the United States. Brito petitioned for A.F.'s return under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied Brito's petition, finding that although Brito had established a prima facie case of wrongful removal, A.F. was now well-settled in Texas. Brito appealed the decision.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case and concluded that the district court erred in its application of the well-settled exception. The appellate court found that A.F.'s young age, the instability of her residence and her mother's employment, and the uncertain immigration status of both A.F. and her mother weighed against a finding that A.F. was well-settled in the United States. The court emphasized that the Hague Convention's primary objective is to restore the pre-abduction status quo and deter parents from seeking more favorable courts across borders. The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's decision and remanded the case with instructions to order A.F.'s return to Venezuela. View "Guevara v. Castro" on Justia Law

Sanchez Energy Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019 due to a downturn in the oil and gas industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bankruptcy court approved a reorganization plan in April 2020, which aimed to compensate creditors with equity in a new entity. Disputes arose between secured and unsecured creditors over the allocation of this equity. The bankruptcy court sided with the unsecured creditors, awarding them a dominant stake in the new entity after hypothetically valuing various avoidance actions preserved by the reconstituted debtor.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas initially reviewed the case. The bankruptcy court held that the secured creditors' pre-petition liens on valuable oil and gas interests were avoidable preferential transfers. The court then proceeded to value the avoidance actions and allocated the equity shares in the new entity, Mesquite Energy, Inc., based on this valuation. The secured creditors appealed the decision, arguing that the bankruptcy court's valuation and allocation contravened the Bankruptcy Code.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that the bankruptcy court's equity allocation violated the Bankruptcy Code, specifically 11 U.S.C. §§ 550(a) and (d), because it incorrectly approved more than a "single satisfaction" as a remedy for the avoided secured creditors' liens. The Fifth Circuit vacated the bankruptcy court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. The court emphasized that the Plan did not permit a hypothetical valuation process that disregarded the proper application of Sections 550(a) and (d) and that the secured creditors were entitled to a single satisfaction for their liens. View "Sr Secured Noteholders v. DE Trust Co" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, the widows of five men killed during peaceful rallies in Nigeria, sued Willie Obiano, the former Governor of Anambra State, under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA). They alleged that Obiano ordered Nigerian military forces to shoot and kill their husbands at the rallies. Obiano, who now resides in Texas, served as Governor from March 17, 2014, to March 17, 2022. The plaintiffs sought compensatory and punitive damages, claiming the killings were extrajudicial and occurred under Obiano's command.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed the suit, citing the common-law principle of foreign official immunity. The court agreed with the magistrate judge's recommendation, concluding that Obiano was entitled to conduct-based immunity for actions taken in his official capacity as a Nigerian official. The court also rejected the plaintiffs' argument for a ius cogens exception to foreign official immunity, which would have allowed for immunity to be forfeited for heinous acts such as torture or extrajudicial killings.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case de novo and affirmed the district court's decision. The appellate court held that the TVPA does not implicitly abrogate foreign official immunity. The court reasoned that the TVPA's language does not clearly indicate Congress's intent to eliminate existing common-law immunities. The court also noted that the TVPA covers a field previously governed by common law, and thus, it should be interpreted with the presumption that Congress intended to retain the substance of the common law. Consequently, the court concluded that Obiano was protected by conduct-based immunity for his official actions as a Nigerian governor. View "Jane Does 1-5 v. Obiano" on Justia Law

The Heidi Group, Inc. alleged that several Texas officials violated the Fourth Amendment and Texas law by conspiring with a private citizen to steal documents from a cloud-based file storage system. The officials moved for judgment on the pleadings and asserted various immunity defenses. The district court denied the motions in relevant part.The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas reviewed the case and denied the defendants' motions for judgment on the pleadings. The defendants then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appeal involved four distinct groups of orders: the denial of qualified immunity for individual capacity defendants on the Fourth Amendment claim, the denial of judgment on the pleadings for the official capacity Fourth Amendment claim, the denial of state law immunity for the individual capacity defendants on the unlawful-access claim, and the denial of judgment on the pleadings for the state law religious-discrimination claim.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal regarding the religious-discrimination claim and declined to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction over the official capacity Fourth Amendment claim. The court held that only Gaylon Dacus engaged in state action and was not entitled to qualified immunity for the Fourth Amendment claim. The court found that Dacus used a former employee to access Heidi's documents without proper authorization, violating clearly established Fourth Amendment rights. The court also affirmed the denial of state law immunity for the individual capacity defendants on the unlawful-access claim, as their actions were not in good faith. The court reversed the denial of judgment on the pleadings for Johnson and Kaufman on the individual capacity Fourth Amendment claim and remanded for further proceedings. View "Heidi Group v. Texas Health and Human Services Commission" on Justia Law

AllService Plumbing and Maintenance, Inc. is a small, family-owned plumbing company in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2009, a union organizer named Charles LeBlanc began efforts to unionize AllService’s workforce. An employee, Joe Lungrin, opposed the unionization and informed the company’s Vice President, Luke Hall, about LeBlanc’s activities. The union filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election among AllService’s employees. After agreeing on an election date, AllService laid off three employees. The union lost the election, and subsequently filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging that AllService violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by surveilling, threatening, and interrogating employees, and by laying off employees due to their union activities.An NLRB administrative law judge (ALJ) found in 2011 that AllService violated the NLRA and ordered the reinstatement of the laid-off employees with backpay. AllService did not file timely exceptions, and the NLRB adopted the ALJ’s findings in 2012. A second ALJ calculated damages in 2013, and the NLRB ordered AllService to pay over $100,000. However, the Supreme Court’s decision in NLRB v. Noel Canning in 2014 invalidated the NLRB’s quorum, leading the Board to set aside its decision and dismiss its enforcement petition.In 2022, the NLRB issued a notice to show cause for re-adopting the 2013 ALJ decision, blaming administrative oversight for the delay. AllService objected, citing significant business losses due to floods in 2016 and 2021. The NLRB ignored these objections and adopted the 2013 decision. The NLRB then applied to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for summary enforcement of its 2022 order.The Fifth Circuit denied the NLRB’s request for summary enforcement, finding that the Board failed to prove that enforcement would be equitable. The court held that the Board’s delay and administrative neglect were extraordinary circumstances excusing AllService’s failure to exhaust specific objections. The court also granted AllService’s petition for review, finding that the Board lacked substantial evidence to attribute Lungrin’s activities to AllService and to find that the pre-election layoffs were related to union activity. View "National Labor Relations Board v. Allservice Plumbing" on Justia Law

A group of businesses and individuals in the vision care industry challenged Texas House Bill 1696, which regulates managed vision care plans by limiting the information these plans can provide to their enrollees. The plaintiffs argued that the bill imposed unconstitutional burdens on their rights of commercial speech, associational freedom, and equal protection under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. They sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the bill's enforcement and the defendants, Texas officials, moved to dismiss the case, claiming sovereign immunity.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied the defendants' motion to dismiss and granted the preliminary injunction. The court found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their commercial speech claims and that the equities favored a preliminary injunction. The defendants appealed both the denial of their sovereign immunity defense and the grant of the preliminary injunction.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court's decision to deny the motion to dismiss as it related to Texas Insurance Commissioner Cassie Brown, finding that she had a specific duty to enforce the statute. However, the court vacated the denial of the motion to dismiss as it related to Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, determining that they did not have a sufficient connection to the enforcement of the statute. The court also affirmed the preliminary injunction against Commissioner Brown, concluding that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their commercial speech claim and that the balance of equities favored the injunction. The court vacated the preliminary injunction as it applied to Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton and remanded the case for modification of the orders. View "Healthy Vision Association v. Abbott" on Justia Law

Houston police officers Manual Salazar and Nestor Garcia, members of the Gang Division Crime Reduction Unit, fatally shot David Anthony Salinas on July 14, 2021, following a pursuit in a sting operation. His widow, Brittany Salinas, filed a lawsuit against Officers Salazar and Garcia and the City of Houston, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Texas Tort Claims Act, and the state-created danger theory of constitutional liability.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted the defendants' motion to dismiss in full. The court found that Brittany Salinas had standing to bring her claims but concluded that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity and that the claims against the City of Houston were meritless. Brittany Salinas timely appealed the decision.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case de novo. The court found that the officers had reasonable suspicion to detain Salinas based on the identifying information on his vehicle and his refusal to stop when the officers engaged their lights. The court also found that the officers did not violate Salinas' Fourth Amendment rights, as they reasonably believed he posed an immediate threat when he continuously reached within his vehicle despite their commands to show his hands. The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the § 1983 claims against the officers, finding that they were entitled to qualified immunity.Regarding the claims against the City of Houston, the court found no constitutional injury and affirmed the dismissal of the § 1983 claims. The court also affirmed the dismissal of the Texas Tort Claims Act claims, as they were foreclosed by the ruling on qualified immunity and barred by case law. The court concluded that the City of Houston's sovereign immunity had not been waived. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of all claims. View "Salinas v. City of Houston" on Justia Law

John Bludworth Shipyard, L.L.C. (JBS) performed nearly $3 million in services to combine three vessels into a single dredging unit for a project along the Gulf Coast. The vessels involved were the Captain Frank Bechtolt, the CIT-103, and the Idler Barge. T.W. LaQuay Marine, L.L.C., which owned the Idler Barge and leased the other two vessels, requested the work without the knowledge or consent of the owners, Manson Construction Company and Caillou Island Towing Company, Inc. JBS asserted maritime liens on each vessel for the services provided.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied JBS’s motion for interlocutory sale of the three-vessel unit and JBS’s motion for summary judgment to confirm the validity of its maritime liens. The court granted Caillou’s motion to vacate the arrest of the CIT-103, finding that JBS did not provide necessaries to the CIT-103 and that there were fact issues regarding the Bechtolt and the Idler Barge. The district court focused on the CIT-103’s old function, disregarding any new function that JBS’s work might have equipped it to perform.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that the district court erred by considering only the CIT-103’s former function and not its new function after the alterations. The appellate court vacated the district court’s grant of Caillou’s motion to vacate the arrest of the CIT-103 and remanded for further proceedings to determine whether JBS’s work constituted necessaries for the CIT-103’s new function. The court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction the remainder of JBS’s appeal challenging the denial of its motions for summary judgment and interlocutory sale. View "Bludworth v. Manson Construction" on Justia Law

In this case, Donovan and Orlando Bourrage were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. The investigation began in January 2020, involving controlled purchases from Donovan and a wiretap authorized in May 2020. The wiretap captured conversations between the Bourrage cousins and their co-conspirators discussing drug prices and transactions. Evidence included intercepted calls, testimony from a co-conspirator, and a subsequent wiretap in July 2020 that recorded Donovan's dealings with another supplier. Orlando was also found in possession of marijuana and a firearm in September 2020.The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi denied the defendants' motion to suppress evidence obtained via wiretaps, ruling the motion untimely and the defendants lacked standing. The court also denied a request for a Franks hearing and found the wiretap orders were facially sufficient. The jury found both defendants guilty on all counts, and the district court sentenced them, including enhancements for managing or supervising the conspiracy and, for Orlando, possessing a firearm.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court's rulings, finding the defendants had standing to challenge the wiretaps but the motion to suppress was untimely. The court held that the district court did not err in denying a Franks hearing or in finding the wiretap orders sufficient. The court also upheld the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury's verdict and the sentencing enhancements, concluding that the evidence showed the defendants' involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and that the enhancements were appropriate based on their roles and conduct. The court affirmed the judgments of the district court. View "United States v. Bourrage" on Justia Law

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted the State of Louisiana primary enforcement authority over a class of underground carbon sequestration wells. Three environmental organizations, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Healthy Gulf, and Alliance for Affordable Energy, petitioned for review of the final rule granting that authorization, arguing that the rule would harm their interests.The petitioners claimed that the EPA's approval would force them to reallocate resources from their usual activities to oppose the Class VI well program. They also argued that the program would lead to increased energy costs, health risks, and environmental damage. The organizations asserted both organizational and associational standing, with Deep South claiming direct injury to its operations and Healthy Gulf and Alliance for Affordable Energy claiming injury on behalf of their members.The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the case and dismissed the petition, finding that all three organizations lacked standing. The court held that Deep South's claimed injuries were not cognizable under Article III because they were self-inflicted and amounted to a setback to abstract social interests. The court also found that Healthy Gulf and Alliance for Affordable Energy's alleged injuries were too speculative and attenuated to meet the requirements of imminence and traceability. The court emphasized that the petitioners' theories of injury relied on a chain of speculative events that were not certainly impending.Ultimately, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the petitioners failed to demonstrate a concrete and particularized injury that was fairly traceable to the EPA's action and likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision. Therefore, the petitions for review were dismissed. View "Deep South Center for Environmental Justice v. Environmental Protection Agency" on Justia Law