Ninth Circuit

COLUMBIA EXPORT TERMINAL, LLC V. ILWU, 20-35037

Date filed: 06/28/2021

Panel: Bybee Bress (author) District Judge Cardone Affirming convictions for entering the United States at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officers in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1), the panel held that § 1325(a)(1) does not violate the non-delegation doctrine, and is not unconstitutionally vague—facially or as applied.

DANNY JONES V. CHARLES RYAN, 18-99005

Date filed: 06/28/2021

Panel: Thomas (author) Hawkins Christen Applying the standards set forth in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the panel reversed the district court’s judgment denying Danny Lee Jones’s habeas corpus petition challenging his Arizona death sentence, and remanded to the district court with instructions to issue the writ.

PRGE&J RET. SYS. ADMIN. V. VOLKSWAGEN, 20-15564

Date filed: 06/25/2021

Panel: Wallace (dissenting) M. Smith (author) Court of International Trade Judge Restani The panel reversed the district court’s order denying summary judgment to defendants in a putative securities fraud class action and remanded for the district court to further consider whether a triable issue of material fact existed.

VICTOR ANGELES ZAMORANO V. MERRICK GARLAND, 19-72893

Date filed: 06/25/2021

Panel: M. Smith Ikuta (author) District Judge Vratil Granting in part, denying in part, and dismissing in part Victor Luis Angeles Zamorano’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal of an immigration judge’s denial of voluntary departure, and remanding, the panel held that the immigration judge erred by failing to evaluate the factors weighing in favor of granting Zamorano voluntary departure.

BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON V. 732 HARDY WAY TRUST, 19-17048

Date filed: 06/25/2021

Panel: Rawlinson Forrest (dissenting) VanDyke (author & concurring) The panel reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the 732 Hardy Way Trust, its denial of summary judgment to the Bank of New York Mellon, and its dismissal of the Bank’s claims against a homeowners association in a quiet title action concerning title to real property in Nevada that was subject to a homeowners association nonjudicial foreclosure sale.

EHM PRODUCTIONS, INC. V. STARLINE TOURS OF HOLLYWOOD, 20-55426

Date filed: 06/24/2021

Panel: Gould Lee VanDyke (author and concurring) The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award concerning the parties’ joint venture agreement to operate a celebrity bus tour.

LIONEL BOGLE V. MERRICK GARLAND, 19-72290

Date filed: 06/23/2021

Panel: Bennett (author) Miller District Judge Pearson (dissenting) Denying Lionel Prince Deon Bogle’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the panel held that, in determining whether a conviction satisfies the thirty-gram limit of the personal-use exception to the ground of removability based on drug convictions, the circumstance-specific approach applies to determining the amount of marijuana involved in the conviction.

USA V. ALFRED VELAZQUEZ, 19-50099

Date filed: 06/23/2021

Panel: Paez (author) Bade (dissenting) District Judge Melgren The panel vacated a conviction for importing controlled substances into the United States, and remanded for a new trial, in a case in which the defendant testified he did not know the car he was driving contained drugs.

DESCHUTES RIVER ALLIANCE V. PGE, 18-35867

Date filed: 06/23/2021

Panel: W. Fletcher (author) Bea (dissenting in part, concurring in judgment) Friedland The panel reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and remanded with instructions to vacate the judgment and to dismiss a citizen suit in which Deschutes River Alliance alleged that PGE was operating the Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project in violation of the Clean Water Act.

BARBARA GIBSON V. USA, 20-35333 - Order

Date filed: 06/22/2021

Panel: Sixth Circuit Judge Boggs Paez Watford Subject Matter: Montana Law The panel certified to the Montana Supreme Court the following questions: 1. Under Montana law, for a claim that accrued prior to the effective date of Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-308 (2021), may a plaintiff in a survival action recover the reasonable value of medical care and related services when the costs of such care or services are written-off under the provider’s charitable care program? 2. For a claim that accrued prior to the effective date of Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-308 (2021), does a charitable care write-off qualify as a collateral source within the meaning of section 27-1-307? If so, does a charitable care write-off qualify for the “gifts or gratuitous contributions” exception under section 27-1-307(1)(c)?

ZANE DICKINSON V. DAVID SHINN, 20-15175

Date filed: 06/22/2021

Panel: Tallman Bybee Bade (author) The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Zane Dickinson’s habeas corpus petition challenging his Arizona state court conviction for attempted second-degree murder in a case in which the trial court misstated Arizona law in its instructions to the jury by implying that a defendant could be guilty of attempted second-degree murder if he merely intended to cause serious physical injury, not death.

REYNALDO GONZALEZ V. GOOGLE LLC, 18-16700

Date filed: 06/22/2021

Panel: Gould (concurring in part and dissenting in part) Berzon (concurring) Christen (author) The panel addressed appeals from the district court’s dismissal of three actions seeking damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Google, Twitter, and Facebook on the basis that defendants’ social media platforms allowed ISIS to post videos and other content to communicate the terrorist group’s message, to radicalize new recruits, and to generally further its mission. The panel affirmed the judgments in the Gonzalez and Clayborn appeals and reversed and remanded in Taamneh.

CREIGHTON MELAND V. SHIRLEY WEBER, 20-15762

Date filed: 06/21/2021

Panel: McKeown Ikuta (author) Bress The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing of an action brought by a corporate shareholder challenging the constitutionality of California Senate Bill 826, which requires all public corporations headquartered in California to have a minimum number of females on their boards of directors.

ESTATE OF GLOWDENA B. FINNIGAN V. USA, 19-35922

Date filed: 06/21/2021

Panel: Graber Clifton (author) Ikuta (dissenting) The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States in an action brought by the Estate of Glowdena B. Finnigan seeking to quiet title to real property that had been granted by the federal government to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, but was abandoned many years ago.

USA V. LONNIE PARLOR, 19-30269

Date filed: 06/21/2021

Panel: Berzon (dissenting) Miller Bress (author) Affirming a sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the panel held that the district court properly imposed three sentencing enhancements: a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(1)(A) because the “offense involved” three to seven firearms that were “unlawfully possessed;” a two-level enhancement under § 2K2.1(b)(4)(A) because one of the firearms had been reported stolen; and a four-level enhancement under § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) for possessing firearms “in connection with another felony offense, drug trafficking.”

RAVINDER KAUR V. MERRICK GARLAND, 18-72786

Date filed: 06/21/2021

Panel: Schroeder Berzon District Judge Mendoza, Jr. (author) Granting Ravinder Kaur’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, and remanding, the panel held that the Board erred in concluding that Kaur failed to establish material changed circumstances to warrant an exception to the time limitation on her motion to reopen, and in concluding that she failed to establish prima facie eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

TROUT UNLIMITED V. MICHELLE PIRZADEH, 20-35504

Date filed: 06/17/2021

Panel: Graber (author) Bress (dissenting) District Judge Dawson The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of an action challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2019 withdrawal of its 2014 proposed determination to exercise its authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to restrict the ability of miners to operate in part of the Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska.

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND V. ALPHABET, INC., 20-15638

Date filed: 06/16/2021

Panel: Thomas Ikuta (author) Nguyen The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s dismissal of a securities fraud action for failure to state a claim, vacated the district court’s judgment, and remanded for further proceedings.

BIG SANDY RANCHERIA ENTERS. V. ROB BONTA, 19-16777

Date filed: 06/16/2021

Panel: Thomas (author) Schroeder Berzon (concurring in part and acquiescing dubitante in part) The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an action in which Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises, a federally chartered tribal corporation wholly owned and controlled by the Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians, sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the Attorney General of California and the Director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration concerning taxes applied to inter-tribal sales of cigarettes.

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