9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Opinions Filed in December 2015

Cuprite Mine Partners v. Anderson

A trial in suit for partition by sale required by Arizona law is procedural and therefore a federal court in diversity is required to follow federal procedural rules.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Property Law

Shirrod v. OWCP

When calculating attorney’s fees under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the relevant community billing rate is determined based on city where the litigation took place.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Attorney Fees

Adobe Systems, Inc. v. Christenson

If a copyright holder challenges a first sale defense on the grounds that the copyrighted material was licensed and not sold, the burden shifts to the copyright holder to prove so, instead of the individual raising the affirmative defense bearing the burden of satisfying the statutory requirements.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Copyright

Correo-Ruiz v. Lynch

The five-factor balancing test from Garfias-Rodriguez v. Holder is used to determine whether the Briones rule may be applied retroactively in a given case.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

DM Residential Fund v. First Tennessee Bank

A party seeking the remedy of rescission must rescind promptly upon discovering the facts that would entitle rescission, and not engage in activities inconsistent with canceling the contract.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Remedies

Styers v Ryan

It has never been held by the Arizona Supreme Court that a conditional writ of habeas corpus that has been issued necessarily means that a sentence or conviction resulted from a constitutional error.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

Americans For Prosperity Foundation v. Harris

Exacting scrutiny applies to compelled disclosure requirements; compelled disclosure of IRS Form 990 Schedule B alone does not constitute First Amendment injury.

Area(s) of Law:
  • First Amendment

McKinney v. Ryan

A sentencer in a capital case may not refuse to consider, as a matter of law, any relevant mitigating evidence offered by the defendant, including nonstatutory mitigating factors not causally connected to the crime.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

Oyama v. University of Hawaii

A public university may deny an application for a professional certification without violating the applicant's First Amendment rights when the decision to deny the application is directly related to defined and established professional standards, is narrowly tailored to serve the University's mission, and reflects reasonable professional judgment.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

United States v. Taylor

A violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, for making a false statement, requires that the statement knowingly be false to influence the bank’s actions in a banking transaction, but not that the bank bear any risk of loss or liability.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Garcia v. Long

A criminal suspect in custody of police must unambiguously and unequivocally invoke the right to remain silent for interrogation by the officer to cease, and if an officer tries to clarify an unambiguous request, then receives an equivocal response, the suspect’s post-request testimony cannot be used to question the clarity of the first request.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

Viloria v. Lynch

The U.S. Court of Appeals only has jurisdiction in removal proceedings over final orders of removal.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

Jewel v. National Security Agency

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedue Rule 54(b), when an action presents more than one claim for relief, or when multiple parties are involved, the court may direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more claims or parties only if the court expressly determines that there is no just reason for delay.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Ai v. United States

Section 606(b) of the Covenant which governs United States-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands relations applies equally to the CNMI as it does to Guam; thus, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act applies to all employees and employers in Guam, notwithstanding their citizenship or residency.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Insurance Law

State of California v. FERC

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may apply the Mobile-Sierra presumption of justness and reasonableness in the context of short-term spot sale contracts whenever a contracted rate is involved.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Administrative Law

Mondaca-Vega v. Holder

When important individual interests are at stake, the court applies the intermediate standard of proof, which may be articulated as either “clear and convincing” or “clear, unequivocal, and convincing.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

Dominguez v. Colvin

It is proper for a district court to remand the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security to the agency for additional investigation or explanation, unless certain prerequisites are met for remanding for benefits.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Administrative Law

Frank v. Schultz

Due process violations do not exist if the error the inmate complains of is corrected in the administrative appeal process.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Rights § 1983

Talaie v. Wells Fargo Bank

Absent any clear intent of Congress for retroactivity, 15 U.S.C. § 1641(g) notice requirement to borrowers within thirty days from when their mortgage is sold, transferred, or assigned to a third party does not apply retroactively.

Uthe Technology Corp. v. Aetrium, Inc.

The one satisfaction rule will not preclude a plaintiff’s suit for additional damages against other defendants related to the same injury if the remedy in the second suit was not available in the first case and if court offsets the previously awarded damages from the subsequent claims.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Remedies

Dorrance v. United States

Taxpayers who obtain stock through demutualization and subsequently sell the stock cannot claim a basis in that stock for tax purposes because their basis in the mutual rights that were terminated during the demutualization was zero.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Tax Law

United States v. Gilbert

When a judgment is entered but leaves open the amount of restitution to be determined, the statute of limitations for filing a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion does not restart when the actual amount of restitution is later entered.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

Lyall v. City of Los Angeles

Attendees who lack current possessory interest in a venue and do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy lack standing to challenge a warrantless search of the venue.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

Sjurset v. Button

Officials may remove children from their parents’ custody without a court order only if the information they have at the time of the seizure provides reasonable cause to believe that the children are in imminent danger of serious bodily injury and that removal is reasonably necessary to prevent that injury.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Rights § 1983

United States v. Lloyd

The doctrine of harmless error requires a court to affirm a conviction if there is an overwhelming presence of guilt.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Cascadia Wildlands v. Thrailkill

The court defers to the agency on matters of science.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Environmental Law

SEIU v. Los Robles Reg'l Med Ctr.

In order for the statute of limitations to begin running under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, the employer must communicate an “unequivocal, express rejection of the union’s request for arbitration.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Labor Law

United States v Holden

When defining continuing offense, a court will look at either explicit language of the substantive law on point, or the intent of Congress in creating the law coupled with the nature of the crime committed.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Daniel v. Ford Motor Co.

The Consumers Legal Remedies Act prohibits “unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by any person in a transaction intended to result or which results in the sale or lease of goods or services.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Consumer Credit

United States v. Medina-Carrasco

A plea agreement is not ambiguous if the sentence given is within the range contemplated by the plea agreement.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Flores-Rios v. Lynch

Under the framework for “membership in a particular social group”, the family is a distinct social group.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

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