Justia U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs filed a putative class action against ACS, alleging that ACS's collection notice violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq. Plaintiffs argued that ACS's collection notice violated section 1692g(a)(3) by stating that debtors only could dispute the validity of their debt in writing. ACS argued that the collection notice complied with the FDCPA because section 1692g(a)(3) contained an inherent writing requirement. The court found, however, that section 1692g(a)(3) permitted consumers to dispute the validity of a debt orally, and it did not impose a writing requirement. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of ACS's motion to dismiss. View "Clark v. Absolute Collection Servs." on Justia Law

Plaintiff, an employee of MTA for four decades, filed suit against MTA alleging various forms of discrimination after her position was terminated due to budget cuts. The court concluded that, because summary judgment was granted before plaintiff had a chance to discover facts essential to her claim, and she alleged discrimination occurring before any legislative activity, the district court's Rule 56(d) denial was an abuse of discretion. The court concluded, however, that the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's age discrimination and disability discrimination claims were barred by sovereign immunity. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. View "McCray v. Maryland Dep't of Transp." on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted under the Arms Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. 2778, for attempting to export small-arms ammunition to Jordan without a license. Defendant, working as a financial-management Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. embassy in Jordan, sought to ship certain personal possessions, including 366 pounds of ammunition, from his parent's house in Alabama to Jordan via a government contract carrier. The court concluded that, under the relevant standard of willfulness, defendant's true belief as to the illegality of transporting the ammunition at issue was sufficient to establish culpability under the Act even if unaccompanied by knowledge of the contents of the United States Munitions List. The court also concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support the district court's conclusion that defendant willfully violated the Act. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Bishop" on Justia Law

Shirley Gross filed suit against PLIVA after her long-term use of the generic drug metoclopramide, produced by PLIVA, caused her permanent injuries. On appeal, plaintiff, as the personal representative of the estate of Gross, challenged the district court's denial of Gross's request to amend her complaint and her state common law tort claims against PLIVA for injuries sustained as a result of her use of a drug it manufactured. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq. The court affirmed the district court's denial of leave to amend and held that none of plaintiff's claims regarding PLIVA's alleged failure to update its warnings were before the court on appeal; the court found that the complaint did not allege any violation of the federal misbranding laws or parallel state duties, and to the extent these claims were made on appeal, they were waived; and all of Gross's causes of action were preempted by the FDCA. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Drager v. PLIVA USA, Inc." on Justia Law

Cobra sought appellate relief from a decision of the Commission temporarily reinstating a coal miner. At issue was whether a Commission decision granting temporary reinstatement to a coal miner was immediately appealable by the coal operator under the collateral order doctrine. The court concluded that the Commission's decision failed to satisfy the requirements of the collateral order doctrine and, therefore, the collateral order doctrine did not permit an interlocutory review of the proceedings. Accordingly, the court dismissed Cobra's petition for review for lack of jurisdiction. View "Cobra Natural Resources, LLC v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n" on Justia Law

These appeals concerned whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were exempt from the payment of state and local taxes imposed on the transfer of real property in Maryland and South Carolina. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac claimed that they were exempt from such transfer taxes under 12 U.S.C. 1723a(c)(2) and 1452(e) respectively. The district courts in Maryland and South Carolina rejected the Counties' claims, concluding that the general tax exemptions applicable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while not applicable to real property taxes, did cover real property transfer taxes, thus making a distinction between property and transfer taxes. The district courts also concluded that Congress acted within its Commerce Clause power. The court held that the real property exclusions from the general tax exemptions of section 1723a(c)(2) and 1452(e) did not include transfer and recordation taxes; in the absence of a particular constitutional right that would trigger heightened scrutiny, the court held that a congressional exemption from state taxation under the Commerce Clause was subject to rational-basis review; Congress could exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from state and local transfer taxes, even though they were collected in the context of interstate transactions, because the taxes could substantially interfere with or obstruct the constitutionally justified missions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in bolstering the secondary mortgage market; and the Counties' remaining arguments for finding the statutory tax exemptions unconstitutional were rejected. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district courts. View "Montgomery County, Maryland v. Federal National Mortgage Assoc." on Justia Law

Defendant moved to dismiss an indictment charging him with one count of traveling in interstate commerce and knowingly failing to update his sex offender registration in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2250. Defendant argued that his plea of nolo contendere to attempted sexual battery in Florida state court did not qualify as a conviction within the meaning of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. 16911 et seq. The court concluded that the district court correctly found defendant's plea of nolo contendere with adjudication withheld constituted a conviction for the purposes of SORNA because it resulted in a penal consequence. View "United States v. Bridges" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction of five felony counts relating to the sale of counterfeit prescription drugs. Defendant sought to introduce evidence establishing a gray market for prescription pills to argue that some of the pills that police seized from him could be genuine. The court concluded that the district court did not err in barring cross-examination regarding gray market evidence where there was no connection to the knowledge element and consequently no relevance; defendant cannot use the privilege against self-incrimination as a means to free himself from the basic rules of relevancy; if the evidence were relevant, the district court did not commit reversible error by directing the evidence to defendant's case-in-chief; and, in the alternative, the gray market evidence should be excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The court also held that, viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, the evidence sufficiently established defendant's knowledge and, therefore, defendant's sufficiency argument failed. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Shauaib Zayyad" on Justia Law

NCUC challenged incentives granted by FERC to VEPCO to encourage investment in transmission infrastructure projects. The court held that FERC properly exercised its broad discretion in declining to apply the 2010 policy change in its Rehearing Order and in evaluating VEPCO's application for incentives. Accordingly, the court granted FERC's grant of incentives to VEPCO under section 219 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), 16 U.S.C. 824s(c). View "North Carolina Utilities Comm'n v. FERC" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction of a firearm offense, contending that the evidence discovered during a traffic stop should have been suppressed at trial because the traffic offense for which he was cited - leaving a vehicle standing such that it obstructs traffic - did not apply to the road on which he had stopped his car. The court rejected this argument, concluding that closely related traffic law barred the conduct for which defendant was cited. The court rejected defendant's argument challenging the exclusion of prior police misconduct where the district court's decision to exclude the evidence was neither arbitrary nor irrational. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Williams, IV" on Justia Law