Unsettled State-Law Merits Defeat Fraudulent Joinder: “No Possibility” Requires Clear Foreclosure of the In-State Claim Case: Jeremy Skidmore v. Michael Schinke Court: United States Court of Appeals...
Daugherty v. Dingus: Juror’s Personal Fear and Claimed Familiarity Are “Internal” Deliberative Influences Under AEDPA Introduction In Tony Daugherty v. Dennis Dingus, Warden, the Fourth Circuit...
United States v. McMillan: Lay Investigative Testimony May Include Common-Sense Inferences; Uncorroborated Accomplice Testimony Can Sustain Conviction; New Rule 29 Grounds Are Forfeited Absent...
Fourth Circuit Confirms: Hunt Bars All As-Applied § 922(g)(1) Challenges and Defers to Guidelines Commentary Defining “Large Capacity Magazine” as >15 Rounds Under Kisor I. Introduction In United...
Evidence Required for “Bad Faith” to Excuse the One-Year Diversity Removal Bar, and Fee-Shifting for Untimely Removal Under § 1447(c) Introduction In Dreamworks Motorsports, Inc. v. Jonathan Klein...
Twelve Months Counts as “One Year or Longer” Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) Introduction In Oscar Perdomo Ulloa v. Pamela Bondi, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reviewed two...
Twelve Months Equals “One Year or Longer” Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) Introduction In Oscar Perdomo Ulloa v. Pamela Bondi, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit considered a...
Reaffirming Procedural Default in § 2255: “Clearly Stronger” Appellate-IAC Showing and No Hearing Absent a Material Factual Dispute I. Introduction In United States v. Marcus Taylor (4th Cir. Mar....
U.S.S.G. § 2G1.3 “Minor” Includes Fictitious Minors: Fourth Circuit Defers to Commentary After Finding Guideline Ambiguity I. Introduction In United States v. Gary Lee Hodges (4th Cir. Mar. 25,...
No “Ambush” Where Evidence Was in Defendants’ Control: Rule 15/37 Harmlessness and Sua Sponte Alter-Ego Directed Verdict Introduction In Hayward Industries, Inc. v. BlueWorks Corporation (4th Cir....
Standing Requires Proper Defendants: Supervisory State Officials Are Not Traceable Causes of SCRA Violations by Court Clerks I. Introduction Latasha Rouse v. Matthew Fader (4th Cir. Mar. 24, 2026)...
Informal FCC Complaints Trigger § 207 Election-of-Remedies and § 332(c)(3)(A) Expressly Preempts State Tort Suits Over Network Interference Introduction Bloosurf, LLC v. T-Mobile USA, Incorporated is...
BLBA “Year” Defined by 125 Working Days, Not a 365-Day Employment Relationship (20 C.F.R. § 725.101(a)(32)) 1. Introduction Anita Baldwin v. DOWCP (Fourth Circuit, Mar. 19, 2026) addresses a...
Informational Mortgage Servicing Communications During Active Chapter 13—When Disclaimers and Context Defeat FDCPA and Automatic-Stay Liability 1. Introduction In Ruben Palazzo v. Bayview Loan...
IDEA Exhaustion Has No “Systemic/Class Action” Bypass; Advocacy Resource Diversion Does Not Create Organizational Standing 1. Introduction In D.C. v. Fairfax County School Board (4th Cir. Mar. 19,...
Core § 362(k) Automatic-Stay Enforcement Is Non-Arbitrable When Arbitration Conflicts with Bankruptcy’s Centralization, Uniformity, and Deterrence Functions Case: Goldman Sachs Bank USA v. Rhea Brown...
Fourth Circuit Reaffirms that Second Amendment As-Applied Challenges to § 922(g)(1) Are Foreclosed by Hunt and that Sentencing May Consider Non-Guidelines Conduct Under § 3553(a) Case: United States...
Blanket Intake Bans on Out-of-Cell Exercise Require Individualized Penological Justification Under the Eighth Amendment Case: Theodore Bolick v. Joel Anderson, et al. Court: United States Court of...
FCA Scienter After Schutte: Subjective Awareness from Agency Rulemaking and Internal Audits Can Plausibly Plead Reckless Disregard Despite Statutory Ambiguity Case: United States ex rel. Deborah...
ATS Jurisdiction in U.S.-Controlled Occupation Detention Facilities and Corporate Conspiracy Liability for Torture/CIDT Introduction Suhail Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc. (4th Cir. Mar....