AEDPA “Double Deference” Controls Habeas Review of State-Court Manifest-Necessity Mistrials Triggered by Defense Opening Statements Introduction In Keith Wood v. Shawn Straughn (Fourth Circuit, July...
Certification Despite Prior Erie Prediction: Fourth Circuit Sends South Carolina “Adequate Warning vs. Design Defect” Question to State Supreme Court I. Introduction Jesse Near v. Enerco Group, Inc....
Generalized Gang Extortion/Recruitment Motives Do Not Establish Asylum Nexus Without Petitioner-Specific Evidence; BIA Need Not Remand for “Clear Factual or Legal Error” Shorthand Absent Identified...
Non‑Unanimous Court‑Martial Verdict Claims Are Non‑Jurisdictional and Unreviewable on Federal Habeas After “Full and Fair” Military Consideration Introduction In Jamie Brown v. Troy Meink (4th Cir....
Deferred Enforced Departure Is Not an Immigration “Status”: “Admitted in Any Status” Under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a)(2) Requires Entry in an INA-Recognized Classification Case: Alejandra Montesinos...
Due Process Requires a Meaningful Opportunity to File: Immigration Courts May Not Block Timely Motions to Reopen and Then Deny Them as Untimely I. Introduction In Dwayne Burey v. Todd Blanche (4th...
United States v. Ball: Post-Ruan CSA Prescribing Liability Requires Objective Unauthorized Prescribing Plus Subjective Knowledge—“Her” Practice Not the Measure I. Introduction In United States v....
9 U.S.C. § 207’s Three-Year Deadline Is Mandatory, Not “Permissive” — and Foreign Judgment Recognition Remains an Alternative Route 1. Introduction This published decision from the United States...
Sentencing Explanation Sufficiency: Upward Variance Affirmed for “Underrepresented” Criminal History Despite Mitigation Evidence Introduction In United States v. William Malone (4th Cir. July 15,...
Competency to Stand Trial Suffices for Faretta Waiver; Indiana v. Edwards Is Discretionary, Not Mandatory 1. Introduction In United States v. Stephen Snyder (4th Cir. July 14, 2026), the Fourth...
Rule 60(b)(6) Finality in Diversity Cases: Later State-Law Decisions Are Not “Extraordinary” Absent the Same Transaction or Occurrence 1. Introduction In Golden Corral Corporation v. Illinois Union...
FTCA “Risk-Creation” Negligence Survives the Intentional Tort Exception When a Separate Duty to the Victim Exists (Sheridan Applied to USPS Assault Context) I. Introduction In Dawn Lusk v. Chris...
Plain-Error Limits on Unpreserved Daubert Challenges and Continued Foreclosure of Facial Second Amendment Attacks on 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) I. Introduction In United States v. Tracy Grant, Jr. (4th...
Manual Cell-Phone Border Searches Are “Routine” and Require No Individualized Suspicion Case: United States v. Jose Belmonte Cardozo (No. 25-4239) Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth...
AEDPA Deference Attaches to the Last Reasoned Merits Decision—Not to Unreached Strickland Prongs Addressed Only by a Lower Court Case: George Michael Steen v. Leslie Cooley Dismukes, et al. (4th Cir....
Jus Cogens Violations Are Not “Official Acts”: No Conduct-Based Foreign Official Immunity for TVPA Extrajudicial Killing Claims Introduction In Gert Kuiper v. Mario Reyes Mena (4th Cir. July 8,...
Post-Abitron Rule in the Fourth Circuit: Targeted U.S. Web Marketing and U.S. Customer Sales Constitute Domestic “Infringing Use in Commerce” I. Introduction In Dmarcian, Inc. v. DMARC Advisor BV...
Fourth Circuit: § 1326(d) Exhaustion Requires Timely, Lozada-Compliant Presentation of Ineffective-Assistance Claims to the BIA Case: United States v. Melvin Mauricio Valencia Gil (4th Cir. July 9,...
Municipal Discretion Defeats Due-Process Property Interests in Optional Board Seats Case: Kenneth Deal v. City of Monroe (4th Cir. July 8, 2026) | Holding: An appointee to a discretionary municipal...
ALJ May Qualitatively Weigh Conflicting Arterial Blood-Gas Studies Using Exercise Duration Without Additional Expert Proof 1. Introduction Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC v. DOWCP (4th Cir. July 10,...