DIFTCL: Federal Narrative Summaries

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...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 2:23-cv-00066-BMM The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff Johnathan Talbot’s defamation and tortious interference claims against Defendant Manoah Ainuu and The North Face, while also affirming the denial of Defendants’ motions to strike under Washington’s Uni...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 2:20-cv-02202-RFB-BNW The ninth-circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Home Depot USA, Inc., affirmed the denial of the appellant’s motion for spoliation of evidence, and affirmed the denial of his objection to the magistrate’s order denying sanctions against...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 2:23-cv-00066-BMM The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Johnathan Talbot’s defamation and tortious interference claims against Manoah Ainuu and The North Face, while also affirming the denial of Defendants’ motions for relief under Washington’s Uniform Public Express...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 3:22-cv-01942-IM The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s First Amendment Free Exercise claim against individual defendants on qualified immunity grounds and affirmed the summary judgment for Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on the plaintiff’s Title...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 2:23-cv-00066-BMM The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff Johnathan Talbot’s defamation and tortious interference claims against Defendant Manoah Ainuu and The North Face, while also affirming the denial of Defendants’ motions to strike under Washington’s Uni...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Sixth Circuit affirmed Brandon Farley’s 720-month (60-year) sentence for producing child pornography, rejecting his claims that the sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. The court applied the abuse-of-discretion standard of review to evaluate the reasonableness of the sentence under 18 U.S.C...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 Docket: 2:04-cv- The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment denying William Castillo’s second amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, which challenged his Nevada murder conviction and death sentence. The panel held that Castillo’s f...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Eighth Circuit affirmed the defendant’s conviction and sentence following a bench trial on drug charges. The court held that the district court correctly denied suppression motions because law enforcement possessed reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop and probable cause to search the defendant’s veh...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The eighth-circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Quinn Ngiendo’s civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Ngiendo’s motion for leave to file a third amended complaint, noting that leave is inappropria...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and the denial of leave to amend the complaint in a retaliation suit brought by Paulette Wedding against her former employer, Madisonville Health and Rehabilitation, LLC. The plaintiff alleged...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The eighth-circuit affirmed the defendant’s sentence following a guilty plea to a child pornography offense after conducting an independent review of the record under *Penson v. Ohio* and finding no non-frivolous issues for appeal. The court applied plain error review to Stroud’s constitutional challenge reg...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s sua sponte denial of Jose Juan Montelongo’s motion for compassionate release filed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The court held that Montelongo failed to demonstrate an abuse of discretion in the district court’s assessment of the sentencing facto...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The fifth-circuit denied the petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) order dismissing the appeal from an immigration judge’s denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court held that the BIA did not err in determining that t...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The fifth-circuit affirmed the district court’s partial grant of summary judgment, denial of default judgment against certain defendants, and denial of leave to amend the complaint. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Arredondo’s motion for leave to amend because he...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s final judgment dismissing Plaintiff Pittsburgh Logistics Systems’ claims for unjust enrichment and misappropriation under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Defend Trade Secrets Act, as well as the denial of its motion to alter or amend the judgment und...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Fifth Circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal. The court based its decision on an independent review of the record, which concurred with counsel’s assessment under *Anders v. California* and *United States v. Flores* that the appeal presents no nonfrivolous iss...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The fifth-circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after determining that counsel had filed a brief in accordance with *Anders v. California* and *United States v. Flores*, concluding that the record presented no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review. The court decline...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The fifth-circuit vacated the defendant’s federal sentence and remanded the case for resentencing because the district court failed to properly consider U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b). The court held that the district judge erred by conflating its authority under the Sentencing Guidelines with the Bureau of Prisons’ exc...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal with prejudice of two consolidated Texas products liability cases alleging that a surgical stapler caused a patient’s death. The court held that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim for breach of implied warranty of merchantability because they did n...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The fifth-circuit granted the appointed attorney’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal. The court’s decision was based on the Government’s refusal to waive the untimeliness of the appeal, a dispositive factor under *United States v. Pesina-Rodriguez*. Because the appeal was filed late and the go...

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-10-02 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of two consolidated Texas products liability cases with prejudice. The appeals arose from a surgical stapler incident that resulted in a patient’s death, where plaintiffs alleged breach of implied warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particula...