DIFTCL: Federal Narrative Summaries

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The Federal Circuit affirmed the Merit Systems Protection Board’s final decision denying Dr. Ana Maria Abreu Velez’s request for corrective action under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). The court held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s conclusion that Dr. Abreu Velez failed to prov...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of a motion to dismiss with prejudice, holding that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 9,639,150 are directed to patent-ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court applied the two-step *Alice* framework, concluding at step one that Claim 1...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fifth-circuit vacated the district court’s judgment and remanded the case for a new trial. The court held that the district court abused its discretion in denying the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a)(1). The primary basis for this decision was the district cou...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The federal-circuit dismissed the appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b) based on the agreement of the parties. The court ordered that each side shall bear its own costs. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 2:25-cv-04499-HDV-PD The ninth-circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc regarding the preliminary injunction standard applied in a civil rights case involving an employee with disabilities. The full court failed to receive a majority of votes from non-recused active judges in favor of rehearing the matter,...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The sixth-circuit granted the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) motion for a stay pending appeal of the district court’s summary judgment, which had vacated TVA’s Record of Decision and Environmental Impact Statement regarding the construction of a new gas-fired plant in Tennessee. The court held that...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The federal-circuit dismissed the appeals in this civil intellectual property case pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 42(b) based on the mutual agreement of the parties. The court ordered that each side bear its own costs. As a result, the appeals are terminated without a decision on the merits, and the mandate was issued on...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The federal-circuit dismissed the appeal pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b) based on the parties’ agreement. The court ordered that each side shall bear its own costs. This dismissal terminates the appellate proceeding without a decision on the merits, leaving the district court’s judgmen...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of a writ of error coram nobis to Mara Morillo, vacating her federal conviction for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The court held that Morillo satisfied all requirements for this extraordinary remedy: she provided sound reasons for her delay in...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fifth-circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to State Farm in a homeowners’ insurance dispute, ruling that the exclusion of the plaintiffs’ expert testimony was not an abuse of discretion and that no admissible evidence remained to support their claims. The court held that u...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fifth-circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a class action alleging fraudulent fish substitution and vacated the denial of leave to amend the complaint. The court held that the plaintiff, Todd McCain, plausibly alleged an Article III injury in fact sufficient to establish standing under Federal Rul...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fifth-circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after reviewing the Anders brief filed in accordance with *Anders v. California* and *United States v. Flores*. The court concurred with counsel’s assessment that the appeal presented no nonfrivolous issues for appe...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The Fourth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Marcus Kantrell Jennings for possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Jennings challenged his 120-month prison sentence, arguing that the district court erred in calculating his Sentencing Guidelines range by applying a cross-ref...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fifth-circuit denied Eric Ellis’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed his appeal in part for lack of jurisdiction and in part as frivolous. The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the magistrate judge’s orders striking Ellis’s second amended complaints because Ellis failed...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fourth-circuit affirmed the defendant’s 33-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The court held that the district court correctly applied the sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B) for possessing a semiautomatic firearm capable of...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 2:25-cv-01382-AMM The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of Carlos DeRomano’s consolidated civil rights complaints. The court held that DeRomano forfeited any argument challenging the dismissal because his appellate briefs failed to address the district court&#8...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order dismissing Anthony Glenn James, Jr.’s pro se complaint brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 without prejudice. The court limited its review to the issues raised in James’s informal brief and found no reversible error in the district court’s accepta...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 The fourth-circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment against Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on claims brought by John Doe under Title VII and the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act (MFEPA), while dismissing the appeal regarding the Equal Pay Act (EPA) as moot. The court held that Title VII’s exempti...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 2:26-cv-01209-SPC-NPM The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s order granting Sarunas Pletkus’s petition for the return of his five-year-old daughter, E.P., to Lithuania under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and its implementing legislation, the...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 4:25-CV-00389-CVE-SH) The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of four consolidated civil actions filed by pro se appellant August Wakat. In case no. 25-5127, the court upheld the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the complaint failed to allege valid claims under 42...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 4:25-CV-00389-CVE-SH) The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of four civil cases filed by pro se appellant August Wakat. In case no. 25-5127, the court upheld the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the complaint failed to state valid claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 o...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 2:25-cv-01382-AMM The eleventh-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of Carlos DeRomano’s consolidated civil rights complaints. The court held that DeRomano forfeited any argument challenging the dismissal because his appellate briefs failed to address the district court&#8...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 4:24-cr-00029-CDL-AGH-1 The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Eric Person for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The court rejected Person’s facial Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), holding that it is bound by its prior precedent in *United States v. Rozi...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 4:25-CV-00389-CVE-SH) The tenth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of four civil actions filed by pro se appellant August Wakat. In case no. 25-5127, the court upheld the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the complaint failed to state a valid claim under 42 U.S.C. §§ 198...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-16 Docket: 4:25-CV-00389-CVE-SH) The tenth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of four consolidated civil cases filed by pro se appellant August Wakat. In case no. 25-5127, the court upheld the dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction after finding the complaint failed to state viable claims under...