Last Week in Federal Appeals (No. 60)
Last Week in Federal Appeals (No. 60)
Appellate decisions from the week of December 11, 2023.
“Lady Justice wears a blindfold because justice is supposed to be meted out evenhandedly. She holds scales because evidence is supposed to be weighed impartially. These ancient symbols of fairness and clear-sightedness—the very moral force underlying a just legal system—are mocked if one side can rig the game by calling its own balls and strikes.”
Judge Willet, Wilson v. Midland County
Decision Summaries
First Circuit
U.S. v. Cowette
The First Circuit reversed the district court and held that a defendant’s use of the phrase, “I guess,” before unequivocally invoking her right to representation under the Fifth Amendment did not undermine the defendant’s invocation.
Second Circuit
Carpenter v. Allen
The Second Circuit held that the district court exceeded its discretion in granting a defendant’s motion for the return of financial documents seized under a warrant. In this case, the panel concluded, the government demonstrated a legitimate need to retain the property at issue to defend against the defendant’s pending motion collaterally attacking his convictions because the evidence may be used at a potential retrial should that motion succeed.
Carroll v. Trump
In a case of first impression, the Second Circuit held that the defense of presidential immunity is waivable. Thus, the panel further held that President Trump waived presidential immunity by failing to raise it as an affirmative defense in his answer to the plaintiff’s complaint alleging defamation.
Soule ex re. Stanescu v. Connecticut Association of Schools, Inc.
Without reaching the merits of the case, the Second Circuit held that the non-transgender plaintiffs established an injury redressable by monetary and injunctive relief in claiming that the state’s policy allowing transgender students to participate in track races violated Title IX.
Fifth Circuit
Wilson v. Midland County
The Fifth Circuit held that a plaintiff seeking relief for the deprivation of her constitutional rights during her criminal proceedings was barred from bringing a civil claim without first showing that her conviction was reversed through the appellate process or habeas corpus. The panel agreed that the plaintiff suffered a lack of due process where a prosecutor served as a law clerk to the judge in her case, but ultimately affirmed the dismissal of her complaint because of the Fifth Circuit’s precedential bar.
Ninth Circuit
Elden v. Nirvana, L.L.C.
The Ninth Circuit held that each republication of child pornography may constitute a new personal injury. Thus, the plaintiff’s complaint, which stems from a photograph taken of him as a baby for the cover of Nirvana’s album Nevermind, is not barred by the ten-year statute of limitations because the photo has been continuously reissued.
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