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

Flying Pigs filed suit in state court against RRAJ to enforce an equitable lien against certain trademarks and associated goodwill now owned by RRAJ. RRAJ removed to federal court and the district court denied Flying Pigs's motion to remand to state court and then granted RRAJ's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the complaint with prejudice. The court concluded that the "necessarily raised" requirement for a "significant" federal issue had not been satisfied. Flying Pigs has not filed a complaint arising under federal law; it had initiated a foreclosure proceeding in state court to enforce an equitable lien under North Carolina law. Accordingly, the court vacated the judgment and remanded for the return of the litigation to state court. View "Flying Pigs, LLC v. RRAJ Franchising, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, foreign nationals, alleged that they were tortured and otherwise mistreated by American civilian and military personnel while detained at Abu Ghraib. CACI, a corporation domiciled in the United States, contracted with the United States to provide private interrogators to interrogate detainees at Abu Ghraib. Plaintiffs alleged that CACI employees instigated, directed, participated in, encouraged, and aided and abetted conduct towards detainees that clearly violated federal and international law. The court concluded that the Supreme Court's decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. does not foreclose plaintiffs' claims under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. 1350, and that the district court erred in reaching a contrary conclusion. In light of Kiobel, the court held that plaintiffs' claims "touch and concern" the territory of the United States with sufficient force to displace the presumption against extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute. Because the court was unable to determine whether the claims presented nonjusticiable political questions, the court did not reach the additional issue of the district court's dismissal of plaintiffs' common law claims. The court vacated the district court's judgment with respect to all plaintiffs' claims and remanded. View "Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully reentering the United States. Defendant argued that a conviction of first degree burglary in Maryland is not a crime of violence because Maryland's definition of burglary exceeds the scope of generic burglary as defined by the Supreme Court. The court concluded that Maryland's first degree burglary statute encompasses "conduct that falls outside the generic definition" of burglary. As a consequence, a Maryland conviction of first degree burglary cannot constitute a crime of violence for purposes of U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). Accordingly, the district court erred by applying that enhancement and defendant's sentence must be vacated. View "United States v. Henriquez" on Justia Law

The district court affirmed the bankruptcy court's ruling that the non-debtor release provision in NHF's Chapter 11 reorganization plan was unenforceable. The court concluded that NHF has failed to demonstrate that it faces exceptional circumstances justifying the enforcement of the Release Provision in its Reorganization Plan. NHF failed to make the necessary showing to support the risk of donor litigation, nor has it carried its broader burden of justifying the non-debtor release of its Reorganization Plan. View "National Heritage Foundation v. Behrmann" on Justia Law

The Club is a non-profit provider of protection and indemnity insurance. The Club's Rules include a choice-of-law provision selecting New York law and a two-year statute of limitations for claims against the Club. The Club filed a civil action against defendant alleging that it breached the insurance contract by failing to reimburse the Club for a shortfall and by failing to pay the overdue insurance premiums. The court agreed with the district court, and precedent, that an otherwise valid choice-of-law provision in a maritime contract is enforceable and may require application of a jurisdiction's statute of limitations, in lieu of the doctrine of laches, to govern issues regarding the timeliness of claims asserted under that agreement. Accordingly, the court held that the district court correctly applied New York's six-year statute of limitations to the Club's claims arising under its maritime insurance contract with plaintiff. Therefore, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "American Steamship Owners v. Dann Ocean Towing, Inc." on Justia Law

McAirlaids filed suit against Kimberly-Clark for trade-dress infringement and unfair competition under section 32(1)(a) and 43(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act), 15 U.S.C. 1114(1)(a) and 1125(a), and Virginia law. McAirlaids produces "airlaid," a textile-like material composed of cellulose fiber. McAirlaids fuses shredded cellulose fiber ("fluff pulp") through a patented embossing process that produces a "pixel" pattern for its absorbent products. McAirlaids filed suit against Kimberly-Clark after Kimberly-Clark began using a similar dot pattern on its GoodNites bed mates, an absorbent product manufactured in a manner different from McAirlaid's pads. On appeal, McAirlaids appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Kimberly-Clark. The court concluded that McAirlaids has presented sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding the functionality of its pixel-pattern. In particular, deciding whether McAirlaid's embossing pattern affects the quality of its pads requires weighing evidence and making credibility determinations. Therefore, the court vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings. View "McAirlaids, Inc. v. Kimberly-Clark Corp." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his convictions stemming from multiple offenses arising from a health care fraud scheme. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of the health care offenses and of the perjury offense; the district court did not err in denying defendant's post-trial request for acquittal or a new trial on inconsistent verdicts where defendant's argument was baseless; defendant's sentence, which was less than half the low end of his Guidelines range, was reasonable; and there was no basis for concluding that the district court erred with respect to the forfeiture proceedings. View "United States v. Louthian, Sr." on Justia Law

The EEOC initiated a lawsuit against Propak more than six and one-half years after a Propak employee filed his discrimination charge. The district court granted Propak's motion for summary judgment. At issue on appeal was whether the district court abused its discretion in ordering that the EEOC pay attorneys' fees to Propak, the prevailing defendant employer. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in holding that the EEOC acted unreasonably in initiating this litigation. The court need not address the district court's alternative holding that the EEOC's continued pursuit of the litigation was unreasonable in light of the developing record in the case. The court declined to address the district court's well-reasoned fee calculation. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "EEOC v. Propak Logistics, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction of two counts stemming from his participation in a series of armed robberies. The government cross-appealed the district court's denial of forfeiture. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction under Pinkerton v. United States for brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The court concluded, however, that the district court's forfeiture ruling was unsupported by any relevant legal authority. Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and reversed the trial court's forfeiture ruling, remanding with directions to enter a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of the value of the stolen goods. View "United States v. Blackman" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Nicaragua, argued that he met the requirements of 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(1)(A) and was therefore eligible for cancellation of removal. Shortly before the statute's ten years of physical presence requirement would accrue, DHS served petitioner with a notice to appear. On appeal, petitioner's main argument was that the notice to appear was invalid and thus did not stop the accrual of the ten-year statutory period. The court concluded that petitioner's original notice to appeal was not invalid where the court deferred to the BIA's reasonable interpretation of the statute and noted that the notice to appear substantially complied with the requirements of section 1229(a); the IJ did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to terminate removal proceedings; DHS had discretion to amend the charge; the court lacked jurisdiction to review petitioner's contention that the IJ violated his procedural due process right by pretermitting his application for cancellation of removal, and because the court determined that deference to In re Camarillo was appropriate, the court need not reach the BIA's alternative rationale regarding fraud. Accordingly, the court denied in part and dismissed in part. View "Urbina v. Holder, Jr." on Justia Law