Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff-Appellant Cynthia Pfeifer filed suit against Defendant-Appellee Federal Express Corporation in the District of Kansas, alleging that the company fired her in retaliation for receiving workers' compensation benefits. Plaintiff filed suit fifteen months following the termination within the applicable state statute of limitations, but outside the limit of six months enumerated in her employment agreement. The district court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment, concluding that the contract clause was reasonable and was not a violation of public policy. Because no Kansas law appeared to control the outcome of the case, the Tenth Circuit certified two questions to the Kansas Supreme Court regarding the ability of parties to shorten the applicable statute of limitations by contract, and if not, then was the six-month limitation unreasonable in this case? The Kansas Court responded that the contract clause in question here did violate public policy. Because of that answer, the Court did not respond to the Tenth Circuit's second question. In light of these answers, the federal district court was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings. View "Pfeifer v. Federal Express Corporation" on Justia Law

Petitioner Arturo Montano-Vega admitted to remaining in the United States illegally, and requested permission to leave voluntarily. Petitioner wanted to avoid a ten-year bar on readmission for aliens who had been "ordered removed." The immigration judge hearing petitioner's case refused the request. Petitioner appealed to the Board of Immigration appeals: if he continued the appeal, he would have to stay in the U.S. for the duration; if he left, the BIA would consider his appeal abandoned and subject petitioner to the ten-year ban. Petitioner elected to leave, and the BIA dismissed his appeal. Petitioner appealed the BIA's decision to the Tenth Circuit challenging the application of 8 C.F.R. 1003.4 to his case in addition to the immigration judge's refusal to allow him to leave voluntarily. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit denied petitioner's challenge to the BIA order because by leaving, his appeal was deemed withdrawn, leaving the court without jurisdiction to hear the case. View "Montano-Vega v. Holder" on Justia Law

Petitioner Elia Ibarra was ordered removed by the Department of Homeland Security for a Colorado conviction on child abuse. The events leading up to her conviction were unclear, but it was undisputed that petitioner's children were unintentionally left home alone while she was at work. No child was injured. Petitioner requested discretionary relief from removal under 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1). The immigration judge hearing petitioner's case decided that she was ineligible cancellation of removal. Petitioner then appealed to the Tenth Circuit to review the immigration judge's decision that found her Colorado conviction for "child abuse-negligence-no injury" was the same as (or close enough to be categorically considered) "child abuse, neglect or abandonment" as codified under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit agreed with petitioner that the Board of Immigration Appeals' then-current interpretation of "child abuse, neglect and abandonment" extended the full range of conduct criminalized by the Colorado statute. Accordingly, the Court reversed the BIA's decision rendering petitioner ineligible for discretionary cancellation of removal. View "Ibarra v. Holder, Jr." on Justia Law

A methamphetamine dealer and several of his buyers and sellers were indicted for their alleged involvement in a distribution conspiracy. Defendant-buyer Jesus Figueroa-Labrada was convicted of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute. His presentence report (PSR) doubled his Sentencing Guidelines range. The sentencing court adopted the PSR but made no particularized findings on defendant's relevant conduct. On appeal, defendant challenged the district court's calculation of methamphetamine attributed to him and the court's failure to make particularized findings. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit reversed on defendant's second challenge and remanded the case for particularized findings and resentencing. View "United States v. Figueroa-Labrada" on Justia Law

Defendants-Appellants Daniel Renteria, Alex Garcia, Jr., and Miguel Ordaz were convicted on various counts relating to a drug conspiracy in two states. Defendants' appeals were consolidated in this opinion. All challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against them, the admission of certain evidence, and the calculation of their sentences. Because the Tenth Circuit found no error in the trial court's judgment (harmless or otherwise), the Court affirmed their respective convictions and sentences. View "United States v. Renteria" on Justia Law

What started as a routine inspection of Defendant-Appellant Norman Washington Berry’s commercial tractor-trailer at a New Mexico port of entry ended with his conviction for possessing with intent to deliver 100 kilograms or more of marijuana (the drugs were nestled inside the fruit crates). Defendant argued on appeal that a "permissive inference" in a jury instruction was given in error, in addition, he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at trial, particularly as it established the weight of the marijuana to be more than 100 kilograms. Furthermore, he claimed his sentence ought not to have been enhanced based on his use of a special skill (commercial truck driving) to help commit the crime. Finding no error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "United States v. Berry" on Justia Law

A three-person nonprofit, Free Speech, brought facial and as-applied challenges against 11 C.F.R. Sec. 100.22(b). The district court dismissed, concluding that Free Speech's claims that its First Amendment rights were violated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) were implicated only to disclosure requirements subject to exacting scrutiny and requiring a "substantial relation between the disclosure requirement and a sufficiently important governmental interest." Free Speech appealed to the Tenth Circuit. On appeal, the group argued that the district court erred in its conclusion, arguing that policies and rules of the FEC were unconstitutionally vague, overbroad and triggered burdensome registration and reporting requirements on the group that acted as the functional equivalent of a prior restraint on political speech. After careful review of the appellate filings, the district court’s order, and the entire record, the Tenth Circuit Court affirmed the dismissal for substantially the same reasons stated by the district court. View "Free Speech v. Federal Election Commission" on Justia Law

Pro se petitioner-appellant Donte Lamonte Parker appealed the denial of his section 2255 motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence. His request for a certificate of appealability (COA) was also denied by the district judge, prompting him to resubmit his application to the Tenth Circuit. Finding not error in the district court's denial of petitioner's motion to vacate his sentence, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court. Furthermore, because he did not make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, the Court denied petitioner's application for a COA. View "United States v. Parker" on Justia Law

During a seventy-two-hour involuntary mental health hold, Ian Wittner was injected with Haldol. He died following the injection. His parents sued defendants the medical center and the treating doctor under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, and the parents appealed. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded that defendants were not state actors for the purposes of section 1983, and vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment. The Court reversed the district court's denial of defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion, affirmed the denial of the parents' Rule 59(e) motion, and remanded the case for entry of judgment in favor of defendants. View "Wittner, et al v. Banner Health, et al" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant George Lopez conducted mediations in a program created and managed by the Administrative Office of Courts of the State of Utah. In 2006, he was removed from the panel of mediators that mediated certain domestic matters. Plaintiff brought suit in federal district court alleging that his removal from that list of mediators violated his right to due process and his right to equal protection of the laws in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983. He also alleged breach of contract, breach of implied contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Upon review of the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, the Tenth Circuit found that because Plaintiff's primary argument was based on his alleged contractual rights as a public employee, and because the Court found that there was no implied contract (because evidence in the record revealed Plaintiff was not a public employee), Plaintiff's arguments necessarily failed. View "Lopez v. Admin Office of the Court" on Justia Law