9th Circuit Court of Appeals (38 summaries)
Burton v. Davis
A motion to proceed pro se is timely if it is made before the jury is established and there is no evidence that it is a tactic to secure delay.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
United States v. Murguia-Rodriguez
Under the Court Interpreters Act, a party must knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive their right to an interpreter; mere affirmation that a party is comfortable proceeding in English does not constitute waiver of that right.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Ass’n. v. Perez
If a court holds that a statute does not prohibit certain conduct, that does not disallow an agency from rulemaking regarding that conduct.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Sarver v. Chartier
Procedural state laws are not used in federal court if to do so would result in a direct collision with a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Smith v. Schriro
It is unconstitutional for an intellectually disabled person to be executed even if their crime merits execution.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Valencia v. Lynch
Where a statute is ambiguous, an agency regulation that provides reasonable interpretation will receive deference upon review.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Ramirez v. Lynch
When a state’s statutory definition for a crime of violence is broader than the federal definition, it cannot constitute a crime of violence that merits deportation.
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
Klein v. City of Laguna Beach
The court may lawfully award lower or no attorneys’ fees to a plaintiff who seeks compensatory damages and is only awarded nominal damages.
Area(s) of Law:- Attorney Fees
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
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
Cascadia Wildlands v. Thrailkill
The court defers to the agency on matters of science.
Area(s) of Law:- Environmental Law
Nozzi v. Hacla
Section 8 beneficiaries of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 have a due process property interest in their benefits.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
United States v. Kowalczyk
Amicus counsel that provides meaningful adversarial testing of the prosecution’s case satisfies a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Pauma v. State of California
The doctrine of retroactivity does not apply to contracts.
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
ASSE Int’l v. Kerry
Due process under the Administrative Procedure Act is violated when a person or entity does not have a meaningful opportunity to rebut significant portions of the evidence that an agency uses against it.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
United States v. Moser
The lodestar method requires the court to calculate an attorney’s fee award by multiplying the market billing rate by the hours reasonably expended, regardless of a contingency fee agreement.
Area(s) of Law:- Attorney Fees
Hinojosa v. Davey
A law violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution when it applies to events occurring before its enactment and disadvantages the offender affected by it by altering the definition of criminal conduct or increasing the punishment for the crime.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
United States v. Rosales-Gonzales
A district court judge has discretion to reject a party’s request or recommendation regarding a defendant’s sentence, even if the party’s recommendation is included in the plea agreement.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
In re: Optical Disk Drive Antirust Litig.
A document reviewed by a grand jury is not protected by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) and may be released pursuant to a subpoena.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Taylor v. San Diego Cty.
Laws that permit the state to indefinitely commit sexually violent predators to a mental health facility do not violate the Equal Protection Clause, nor is it a violation of the Due Process Clause to place the burden of proof on the committed individual to prove the individual is no longer dangerous.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Watson v. City of San Jose
A higher court will reverse a district court’s order under an abuse of discretion standard only when the district court reaches a result that is implausible, illogical, or there is no inferential support that may be gleaned from the record.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Edwards v. First American Corp.
To qualify for adjudication as a nationwide class, the class must have numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy; furthermore, the common issues must predominate over the individual issues.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Kirkpatrick v. County of Washoe
Municipalities must obtain judicial authorization before taking a child into protective custody, unless there is reasonable cause to believe the child is in imminent danger.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Rights § 1983
Maes v. Chavez
Federal habeas corpus petitions are subject to a one-year statute of limitations, but if a state court appeal is pending, the pendency period may be added to the statute of limitations.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Chess v. Dovey
A faulty jury instruction is considered harmless when the non-appealing party is able to show that it is more probable than not that the jury would have reached the same verdict had the erroneous instruction not been given.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Rights § 1983
United States v. Rodriguez
In order to be convicted of a crime that has a requisite mental state of willfulness or reckless disregard for human life, the record must provide sufficient evidence that the defendant acted willfully or with reckless disregard for human life.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Pavoni v. Chrysler Group
Summary judgment may be granted where no genuine issue of material fact exists, after reviewing the case in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Newman v. Wengler
If a state prisoner has been given a full and fair opportunity to litigate their claim in a lower court, then the prisoner’s federal petition for habeas corpus regarding that previous claim may not be granted.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Alaska Wilderness League v. Jewell
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, when a plan meets all the statutory requirements, approval is not arbitrary or capricious.
Area(s) of Law:- Environmental Law
United States v. Osuna-Alvarez
A person who uses the identity of another person commits identity theft regardless if they had the other person's permission.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Nat’l Parks Conservation Ass’n v. EPA
Under the Clean Air Act, when the Environmental Protection Agency implements regulations regarding regional haze at a plant where the best available retrofit technology is already in place, the Environmental Protection Agency does not need to provide a detailed explanation for the regulation.
Area(s) of Law:- Environmental Law
Slone v. CIR
To determine whether a company, which sold its shares, received any practical economic benefits other than the creation of income tax losses, the court must consider relevant subjective and objective factors.
Area(s) of Law:- Tax Law
Stankova v. Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.
Summary judgment should not be granted when there is a triable issue of fact.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
United States v. Johnston
When the indictment arises from the same actions, a defendant may not be convicted of both possession and receipt of child pornography since possession is a lesser-included offense of receipt.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Zavala v. Ives
An alien defendant, who is awaiting potential prosecution rather than deportation, will receive sentencing credit for their time spent in detention.
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
Comstock v. Humphries
Information favorable to the defendant that the prosecutor fails to communicate, even inadvertently, is considered suppressed.
Area(s) of Law:- Evidence
United States v. Bonds
A single, non-responsive answer by a grand jury witness cannot support a conviction for obstruction of justice.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
United States v. Walls
A regulation that uses the phrase “affecting interstate commerce” indicates that Congress intended that regulation to extend to the outer limits of Congress’s commerce power.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law