DIFTCL: Federal Narrative Summaries

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Ninth Circuit denied the petition for review filed by Milagros del Pilar Aragon Lema de Morales and Miguel Angel Morales-Serrano, natives of Peru, seeking asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court affirmed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision to d...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The ninth-circuit granted the petition for review and remanded the case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for further proceedings. The court held that the Immigration Judge (IJ) abused its discretion by pretermitting the petitioners’ applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against To...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 Docket: 5:25-cv-00860-DOC-DTB The Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s sua sponte order remanding the case to state court, holding that the district court erred in concluding Nissan failed to meet the $75,000 amount-in-controversy requirement for federal diversity jurisdiction. The court applied the standard...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Ninth Circuit denied Lina Maria Gomez Parra’s petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that affirmed an immigration judge’s denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court held that the immigration ju...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 Docket: 2:23-cr-00414-HDV-3 The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a three-level downward sentencing adjustment under U.S.S.G. § 2X1.1(b) for defendant Ivin Kitu Sanford, who was convicted of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. The court applied a clear error standard of review to t...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 Docket: 4:24-cv-06325-YGR The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of Zurich American Insurance Company, holding that the Employment Practices Liability Insurance Policy (EPLIP) entitles the insurer to exercise its right and duty to defend a claim prior to the insu...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Sixth Circuit affirmed Michael Thomas’s 120-month sentence for possessing a stolen firearm, rejecting his claim that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by failing to conduct a more thorough inquiry into his dissatisfaction with appointed counsel. The court applied the rule that whi...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 Docket: 8:25-cv-00720-DOC-DFM The Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s sua sponte order remanding the case to state court, holding that the district court erred in concluding Nissan failed to meet the amount-in-controversy requirement for federal diversity jurisdiction. Under the standard established in *Dart...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in part and dismissed the remainder of Garnell Carter’s appeal. The court held that Carter’s plea agreement contained an enforceable appeal waiver covering challenges to the validity of the agreement, the calculation of his offense level and cri...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of David Hirsch’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition, ruling that the Bureau of Prisons correctly treated his sentences as a single aggregate term and properly denied him First Step Act time credits due to his conviction for possessing a firearm in furtherance o...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The sixth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Ryan Baugh’s lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency for failure to state a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Mandamus Act. The court held that Baugh lacked an adequate remedy in court because he could have pursued i...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district courts’ denial of compassionate release motions for defendants Isaac Loggins and Barton Crandall, holding that nonretroactive changes to sentencing laws, specifically amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) under the First Step Act, cannot constitute “extraordinary and compe...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The seventh-circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of William Clements’ complaint against Gunnar Optiks under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court held that the district court erred in granting dismissal based on the Health Insurance Porta...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the sentences imposed on codefendants Christopher Howes and Salvador Caracena-Zarates following their convictions for federal drug distribution offenses. Regarding Howes, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing a 100-month sentence, which exceeded the a...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The eighth-circuit denied Jose Antonio Molina-Malaga’s petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying him cancellation of removal. The court applied the substantial evidence standard of review, holding that Molina-Malaga failed t...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The sixth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the Gmeiners’ complaint against state official Keri Kent. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to state a valid claim under the First Amendment’s Petition Clause and were barred from pursuing their state-law claim by sovereign immunity. R...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The eighth-circuit dismissed the appeal filed by Lekemia D’Andre Caster, enforcing a valid appeal waiver contained within his written plea agreement. The court held that Caster knowingly and voluntarily entered into the plea agreement and waived his right to appeal the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty p...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s sentencing decision, holding that the court did not commit plain error by declining to expressly order whether the defendant’s federal sentence would run concurrent or consecutive with an anticipated state sentence. The court applied the plain-error standard of...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal regarding the denial of a motion to correct trial transcripts for lack of jurisdiction because the district court’s order was issued after the notice of appeal had already been filed, rendering it unreviewable without a separate notice of appeal. The court affirmed the convict...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Darren Tramaine Jackson for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions, ruling that direct evidence of a knowing agreement is not required for Coun...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Fifth Circuit granted the Federal Public Defender’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after reviewing the Anders brief filed by counsel and the relevant record portions. The court concurred with counsel’s assessment that the appeal presented no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review, applying...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The fifth-circuit affirmed the 210-month sentence imposed on Terrence Taylor, Sr., for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and dismissed his challenge regarding the substantive reasonableness of that sentence. The court applied a clear error standard to review the district court’s drug q...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 Docket: 1:23-cv-24008-FAM The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) on Marion Parnell, Jr.’s retaliation claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)....

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Fifth Circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the criminal appeal. The court applied the standard set forth in *Anders v. California* and *United States v. Flores*, which requires counsel to file a brief demonstrating that the appeal is wholly frivolous after a thorough review...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-10 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s sentence of 140 months for drug conspiracy and 60 consecutive months for firearm possession, rejecting the appellant’s claims that the court erred in granting a § 5K1.1 substantial assistance motion while imposing a within-guidelines sentence and that the court...