DIFTCL: Federal Narrative Summaries

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The ninth-circuit partially denied and partially granted Enilda Maricela Guzman Lopez’s petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) order affirming an immigration judge’s denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). R...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The ninth-circuit affirmed the district court’s orders denying a motion to extend the time to appeal, dismissing re-filed actions on res judicata grounds, denying relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), and awarding costs and attorney’s fees under Rule 41(d). The court hel...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 3:24-cv-00051-SLG The ninth-circuit dismissed the appeal as moot, vacated the district court’s decision, and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss. The court applied the Article III case-or-controversy requirement, holding that a federal court lacks jurisdiction when an event during the pendency of...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 3:24-cv-00051-SLG The ninth-circuit dismissed the appeal as moot, vacated the district court’s decision, and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss. The court held that the appeal was moot because, while the appeal was pending, the Department of the Interior issued a new Record of Decision and subse...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s orders dismissing the appeals of former St. Charles Health System employees who were terminated after seeking religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in d...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 3:24-cv-00065-MMD-CSD The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Jane Doe’s claims against three Nevada counties for lack of Article III standing. The court applied de novo review to the standing analysis, focusing specifically on the element of causation required to show that the pl...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rulings denying four motions brought by former St. Charles Health System employees who were terminated after seeking religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements. The appellate panel reviewed orders regarding the denial of a mot...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The sixth-circuit affirmed the district court’s revocation of Freddie Johnson’s supervised release and the imposition of an 18-month consecutive sentence for the violation. The court held that Johnson failed to demonstrate plain error regarding his claim that he did not receive a proper revocation hearing or...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The Ninth Circuit affirmed four district court orders regarding former St. Charles Health System employees who sought religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements and were subsequently terminated. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the pl...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s orders denying the plaintiffs’ motions to extend the time to appeal, dismissing their re-filed actions on res judicata grounds, denying relief from judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), and awarding costs and attorney&#82...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 Docket: 6:23-cv-01488-MC The Ninth Circuit affirmed four district court orders regarding former St. Charles Health System employees who sought religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements and were subsequently terminated. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying a bela...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in this consolidated appeal involving a conviction for receipt of child pornography and a subsequent supervised release revocation resulting in a 224-month prison sentence. The court addressed an Anders brief filed by appointed counsel, who argued that the...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The eighth-circuit granted counsel’s motion to withdraw under *Anders v. California* and dismissed the appeal because the defendant’s valid and enforceable plea agreement contained an appeal waiver that barred review of the sentencing enhancement and substantive reasonableness challenges raised. The court ap...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The eighth-circuit affirmed the sentence imposed on Hazim Kapic following his guilty plea to a child pornography offense, concluding that the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence under an abuse-of-discretion standard of review. The court applied the legal principles established in *United...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment dismissing Christopher VanHorn’s civil action against various defendants, including individuals and government entities. The court conducted a review of the record and the parties’ arguments but found no basis for reversal, issuing an unpublishe...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The eighth-circuit granted counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after conducting an independent review of the record pursuant to *Penson v. Ohio*. The court held that the defendant’s valid and enforceable appeal waiver, contained within a written plea agreement, barred challenges to the reas...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Sixth Circuit affirmed Emre Nathaniel Baluken’s 240-month sentence for enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). The court held that the district court did not commit improper “double counting” by applying a two-level Sentencing Guidelines enhancement for...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the sentences imposed on Ronnie Gideon following his guilty pleas to receipt and distribution of child pornography in two consolidated cases. The court applied an abuse of discretion standard to review the substantive reasonableness of the below-Guidelines prison terms, concluding that the di...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Fifth Circuit granted the Government’s motion for summary affirmance and affirmed the judgment of the district court. The court held that the defendant’s argument challenging the constitutionality of the sentencing enhancement under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) is foreclosed by binding circuit precedent and Supreme...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The fifth-circuit granted the Federal Public Defender’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal. The court applied the standard set forth in *Anders v. California* and Fifth Circuit Rule 42.2, reviewing the appointed counsel’s brief and the relevant record portions to concur with the assessment that the c...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Acting Secretary of Labor against Kelly Sills, a plan fiduciary, for breaches of duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The court held that Sills was liable for withholding employee contributions and...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The fifth-circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after finding that the record was not sufficiently developed to allow a fair evaluation of the defendant’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The court applied the standard established in *Anders v. Califo...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Fifth Circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal. The court relied on the *Anders* procedure, finding that counsel filed a brief asserting no nonfrivolous issues existed for appellate review and that the defendant did not file a response. While the court concurred with...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court held that under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), specifically 42 U.S.C. § 6306(b)(1), the United States Courts of Appeals possess exclusive jurisdiction to revi...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-06 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing Silvia Canales’s premises liability claim for a slip-and-fall accident at a Walmart. Applying Texas law under a de novo standard of review, the court held that Canales failed to meet her burden of proving Walmart had actual o...