Procter Ralph Hug jr

In Earl v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc., plaintiff Christine Earl, a long-time recruiter at Nielsen, sued her former employer under California law alleging age discrimination, disability discrimination, and wrongful termination after her employment was ended following several policy violations. The district court granted summary judgment to Nielsen on all claims. The Ninth Circuit reversed on the age discrimination and wrongful termination claims, holding that Earl had raised a triable issue of pretext because evidence showed significantly younger employees who committed similar or more serious violations received more lenient treatment, such as receiving formal Performance Improvement Plans before termination, whereas Earl had only received a non-disciplinary Developmental Improvement Plan. The court affirmed summary judgment on the disability discrimination claim because Earl had waived the issue by not briefing it on appeal.

labor & employmentcivil rights

In Su Hwa She v. Holder, the petitioner, born in Burma and later granted Taiwanese citizenship after residing there, sought review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision affirming an immigration judge's denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. The BIA had found her ineligible for asylum due to firm resettlement in Taiwan prior to entering the United States. The Ninth Circuit granted the petition in part, denied it in part, and remanded for further proceedings, upholding the firm resettlement determination based on her 18-month stay, household registration, citizenship recognition, and repeated passport renewals, while clarifying due process requirements if Taiwan later refuses reentry and removal to Burma becomes the proposed country. The court held that applications for protection against removal to Burma were unripe until that country was designated as the actual proposed destination.

immigration

The case involved Ygnacio Ccayhuari Ocampo, a Peruvian citizen, who petitioned for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings as untimely. Ocampo had been ordered removed in 2000 after his asylum application was denied, with the BIA summarily affirming in 2002 and granting voluntary departure; he later married a U.S. citizen and sought to adjust status via an approved I-130 petition, filing the motion to reopen in 2006. The court held that the BIA correctly denied the motion because it was filed more than 90 days after the removal order became final. The core reasoning was that under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(47)(B), a removal order granting voluntary departure becomes final upon BIA affirmance or expiration of the appeal deadline, not upon overstay of the voluntary departure period, making the statutory 90-day clock for reopening start in 2002.

immigration

The case involved defendant Jason Wright's conviction on charges of transporting and possessing child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, stemming from undercover FBI downloads via a file-sharing program where some files contained such material. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the possession conviction under § 2252A(a)(5)(B) but reversed the transportation conviction under § 2252A(a)(1), holding that the direct client-to-client file transfers did not satisfy the interstate commerce element because the files did not cross state lines. The court remanded for additional factual findings on the denial of Wright's motion to suppress his statements to investigators, while rejecting his other claims regarding evidentiary rulings, prosecutorial conduct, jury instructions, and cumulative error.

criminal lawfederal power

The case involved a California state prisoner who sued prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 after they temporarily banned visits from his minor children based on a reported rule violation involving attempted sexual misconduct with a minor. The prisoner alleged violations of his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights and familial association interests, among other claims. The district court denied the officials' motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds. The Ninth Circuit reversed, ruling that the officials were entitled to qualified immunity because the asserted right to visitation in those specific circumstances was not clearly established in 2004.

civil rightscriminal lawfamily law

Abdul Masih Kardoh, a Syrian national living unlawfully in the U.S., paid an undercover ICE agent $40,000 for four fake alien registration cards in a transaction he knew was illegal. After his arrest and deportation without prosecution or forfeiture proceedings, Kardoh filed a Rule 41(g) motion seeking return of the money, which the district court granted on equitable grounds. The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that Kardoh's claim was barred by the in pari delicto doctrine due to his knowing participation in the illegal act. The court treated the motion as a civil proceeding under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and found no genuine issue of material fact, as Kardoh offered no evidence rebutting the agent's declaration detailing his admissions of illegality. Thus, the government was entitled to retain the funds as a matter of law.

immigrationcriminal lawprocedure

In this bankruptcy case, creditor Busseto Foods sought a determination that its claim against debtor Charles Laizure for embezzled funds remained nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) after Busseto returned a preferential payment of $38,833.70 to the Chapter 7 trustee under § 547. The bankruptcy court dismissed the complaint, and the BAP affirmed, holding that § 502(h) creates a claim only against the estate and that no debt existed on the petition date. The Ninth Circuit reversed, ruling that § 502(h) reinstates the claim against the debtor itself with its prior character intact, that § 727(b) does not discharge debts excepted under § 523, and that the statutory text and policy against shielding fraudulent conduct support allowing the nondischargeability action to proceed.

business & regulatoryprocedurefederal power

The case involved a challenge by public health organizations to the composition of Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs) established under the Trade Act of 1974, alleging that the committees violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act's (FACA) requirement for "fairly balanced" membership because they lacked representatives from the public health community. The plaintiffs sought appointment of such representatives and access to committee information. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint, holding that the "fairly balanced" requirement was not judicially reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court reasoned that neither FACA nor the Trade Act provides meaningful standards for determining what constitutes a fair balance in points of view or functions for these specific trade advisory committees, making the issue non-justiciable and better suited for executive or legislative resolution.

business & regulatoryprocedurefederal power

The case Camins v. Gonzales involved a lawful permanent resident who, after pleading guilty to a crime in 1996, was detained upon returning from a brief trip abroad and charged with inadmissibility under new immigration laws. The court had to determine if the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) eliminated the prior Fleuti doctrine allowing innocent, casual, and brief trips without triggering entry and inadmissibility charges, and whether any such change applied retroactively. The Ninth Circuit held that IIRIRA did abrogate the Fleuti doctrine, meaning LPRs with certain convictions could no longer make such trips without risk of inadmissibility. However, the court reasoned that the new provision could not be applied retroactively to those who pled guilty before IIRIRA's effective date, due to their reasonable reliance on the old law when entering plea agreements, consistent with Supreme Court precedent on settled expectations in immigration consequences.

immigrationcriminal law

The case concerns whether Michael Racusin's claim against bankrupt debtors American Wagering, Inc. and Leroy’s Horse and Sports Place should be treated as a creditor's debt or subordinated under 11 U.S.C. § 510(b) as arising from the purchase or sale of a security. Racusin, hired as a financial advisor for an IPO, obtained a money judgment for unpaid compensation after the debtors breached their contract, but the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel reversed the bankruptcy court's ruling that the claim was not subject to subordination. The Ninth Circuit reversed the BAP, holding that Racusin holds a prepetition money judgment for services rendered under an employment agreement and never acquired or sought an equity interest, so the claim is that of a creditor rather than an investor. The court reasoned that subordination applies only to claims tied to the risk of ownership in securities, not to fixed compensation debts from contract breaches, and remanded for further proceedings.

business & regulatory