Christian Brown

9th Circuit Court of Appeals (16 summaries)

Shannahan v. Internal Revenue Service

The IRS properly denied a Freedom of Information Act request from an attorney, representing fugitives, who was seeking information related to his client's civil case because disclosure would seriously undermine the Federal Tax Administration and would interfere with law enforcement purposes.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Law

United States v. Lequire

Under Arizona law, a contract between an insurance agency and insurance company that “permitted agency commingling, required monthly agency payments whether premiums were collected or not, and created a right to interest on late payments” results in a creditor-debtor relationship, not a trust. Thus, if no trust property exists, there can be no crime of embezzlement since the alleged victim did not own the funds allegedly embezzled.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

United States v. Yeung

It is insufficient to rely upon the outstanding principal balance as the basis for restitution in calculating a restitution award under the Mandatory Victims Restitution of Act of 1996, when the victim is a loan purchaser and not the loan originator. In addition, the proper valuation for returned collateral is the market value at time the victim takes possession, not the amount the victim is able to sell the property for at a later date.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

United States v. Casasola

The statute 8 U.S.C. § 1432(a), in effect prior to February 27, 2001, does not violate the equal protection clause by denying derivative citizenship to foreign-born children when only one married parent is a naturalized citizen.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

Hydrick v. Hunter

In order to seek monetary damages under a § 1983 claim, a plaintiff must overcome qualified immunity by alleging factual allegations that are sufficient to establish a plausible claim against a defendant.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Law

McMurray v. Verizon Communications

For takings claims related to action that has already taken place, plaintiffs must follow the procedure set out in the Tucker Act prior to filing suit for takings.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Bravo v. City of Santa Maria

An officer's omission that a person of interest was incarcerated is sufficient to raise the issue of judicial deception in relation to a 1983 claim challenging the validity of a search warrant authorizing a search of the person of interest's home.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Law

Durand v. U.S. Department of Labor

A FECA beneficiary must deduct litigation costs from the gross recovery of a judgment received under 5 U.S.C. § 8132.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Labor Law

Small v. Avanti Health Systems, LLC

A successor employer's failure to negotiate with a union is at least as harmful as an employer who negotiates in bad faith and is grounds for an injunctive relief.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Labor Law

United States v. Gilchrist

To qualify for a sentencing guidelines enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 a defendant need only willfully engage in conduct to obstruct a potential investigation and need not know that an investigation is pending.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Sentencing

Al Haramain Islamic v. U.S. Dept of Treasury

The use of confidential information does not violate due process, however the government must attempt to mitigate the impact caused by using confidential information.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Carrico v. City of San Francisco

In order to establish standing for a claim of violation of the First Amendment based upon free speech, there must be some description of the restricted speech or conduct.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

United States v. Barajas-Alvarado

An expedited removal proceeding order is valid as a predicate element under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 so long as the proceeding was fundamentally fair.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

C.F. v. Capistrano Unified School District

The law regarding violations of the Establishment Clause by a teacher’s comments is not clearly established and broad claims that such comments were hostile to religion are not particularized enough to deny qualified immunity to teachers.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Lee v. Corinthian Colleges

Reliance on a safe harbor provision is not sufficient to negate the requisite scienter of the Federal False Claims Act.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Payne v. Peninsula School District

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires remedy exhaustion under 20 U.S.C. § 1415(l) when (1) there is an IDEA claim or a functional equivalent, (2) if plaintiff seeks prospective injunctive relief to alter their Individual Education Program, or (3) if plaintiff is seeking to enforce rights that arise as a result of a denial of public education. In addition the exhaustion requirement is a claims processing provision and not a jurisdictional requirement.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

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