DIFTCL: Federal Narrative Summaries

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 2:22-cr-00108- The Ninth Circuit affirmed Hyoung Nam “Brian” So’s conviction for conspiracy to commit federal funds bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, holding that the district court correctly denied his motion to dismiss the indictment as untimely. The panel determined that the statute of...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 3:20-cv-03754- The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Align Technology, Inc., and remanded the antitrust class actions brought under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2. The panel held that Plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to create genuine disputes of m...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The sixth-circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, holding that the statute of limitations was tolled during the pendency of a related class action and remanding for a determination on whether the defendant county received sufficient not...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s award of over $35,000 in costs to the prevailing defendants following a summary judgment dismissal of Sophia Wilansky’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 lawsuit. The court applied an abuse of discretion standard of review, enforcing the rule that costs must be specifically au...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment revoking Lucian Celestine’s supervised release and imposing a sentence of nine months in prison followed by one year of supervised release. The court rejected Celestine’s argument that his term of supervised release had expired prior to the alle...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The eighth-circuit affirmed Patel’s conviction and sentence following a jury trial for human smuggling offenses. The court held that sufficient evidence supported the verdict and found no plain error in the district court’s application of sentencing enhancements for creating a substantial risk of death or fo...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees to Defendant-Appellant McDonnel Group, L.L.C. The court held that under the joint venture agreement’s fee-shifting provision, a party is only entitled to recover legal expenses if there is an adjudicated judicial determination tha...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The eighth-circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court, rejecting defendant Lynell Noble’s appeal challenging the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) under both facial and as-applied theories. The court held that these arguments are foreclosed by binding circuit precedent, specifically citing *Unite...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Derek Anthony Davis’s § 1983 claim against police officers for failure to enforce a restraining order and arrest his former partner. The court held that Davis failed to state a plausible claim because, under *Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales*, he lac...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the 30-month, above-guidelines sentence imposed on Rolando Jimenez-Solorio for illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(1). The court applied a plain error standard of review to address the defendant’s claims that the sentence was procedurally unreasonable due to an inadequ...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fourth Circuit affirmed Frederick Bishop Brown’s conviction and sentence for distribution of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The court applied the plain error standard to review Brown’s challenges to his guilty plea, as he failed to contest the plea in the district court...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The fifth-circuit affirmed the defendant’s conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and his sentence of twelve months and one day. The court held that any error regarding the application of the sophisticated-means sentencing enhancement was harmless because the district court explicitly stated in its statemen...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision upholding the Commissioner of Social Security Administration’s denial of Tykita Clark’s claim for Social Security benefits. The court applied the standard of review requiring it to determine whether the Commissioner’s final decision was supp...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment imposing a 72-month prison sentence on Francisco Nova-Carrillo for illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b). The court applied an abuse of discretion standard to review the defendant’s claim that the sentence was substantively unreason...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The fifth-circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer and its denial of the plaintiff’s motion to alter or amend the judgment. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to provide prompt notice of loss as required by their insurance policies, a breach that voids cov...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 1:26-cv-20786-WPD The eleventh circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Ramon Blanco’s unauthorized successive motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The court held that because Blanco failed to obtain prior authorization from this Court before filing a second or successive...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 The Fourth Circuit denied Troy J. Green’s petitions for a writ of mandamus seeking the recusal of District Judge Gina M. Groh from his pending lawsuits. The court applied the standard that mandamus is a drastic remedy available only in extraordinary circumstances where the petitioner demonstrates a clear and indis...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 4:19-cv-00316-RSB-CLR The eleventh-circuit dismissed the appeal sua sponte for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was untimely. The court held that under 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a) and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the 30-day deadline to file a notice of appeal expired on December 28, 2020,...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 1:25-cr-00071-TFM-B-6 The eleventh-circuit dismissed the defendant’s appeal from his 108-month sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The court held that the defendant’s challenges to his sentence, including claims regarding a minor-role reduction and substantive unreasonableness, were barr...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 9:24-cv-81599-AMC The eleventh-circuit affirmed the district court’s order dismissing Colleen McGuigan’s complaint with prejudice. The court held that all of McGuigan’s claims—including federal RICO violations, Florida statutory claims for civil theft and criminal practices, conversion, and d...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 6:26-CV-01105-HLT-BGS) The tenth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Adam Dean Laham’s civil rights claims. The court held that Laham waived his right to appellate review because he failed to file specific written objections to the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation with...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 2:20-CV-00897-RJS) The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a suit challenging the termination of an alien’s refugee status, holding that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not strip federal courts of subject-matter jurisdiction over USCIS’s determination that an individual di...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 5:20-CV-01279-JD) The tenth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Johnny Lee Sanders, Jr.’s claims alleging breach of contract and violation of public policy based on unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court held that the Oklahoma statute at issue, Okla. Stat. tit...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-05 Docket: 5:25-CR-00091-SLP-1) The tenth-circuit granted the government’s motion to enforce an appeal waiver and dismissed the defendant’s appeal. The court applied the three-part standard from *United States v. Hahn*, requiring that the disputed appeal falls within the waiver’s scope, the defendant knowi...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The dc-circuit denied Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s petitions for review of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders concluding that Northwest Rural Public Power District’s withdrawal from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association did not breach the long-term wholesale el...