Justia U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of three petitions for habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. 2241 arising from proceedings where petitioner was disciplined for sending threatening letters from prison. The panel held that Bureau of Prisons Prohibited Acts Code 203, which prohibits inmates from threatening another with bodily harm or any other offense, addressed legitimate penological concerns in a manner that was sufficiently narrow to satisfy constitutional concerns. The panel also held that the BOP's actions were supported by sufficient evidence. View "Lane v. Salazar" on Justia Law

Inmates at the ADC, and the Arizona Center for Disability Law, filed suit against senior ADC officials, alleging that ADC's policies and practices governing health care delivery in ADC prisons and conditions of confinement in ADC isolation units exposed them to a substantial risk of serious harm to which defendants were deliberately indifferent. The parties eventually entered into a settlement agreement in which defendants agreed to comply with more than 100 performance measures. At issue on appeal were the district court's rulings interpreting and enforcing the settlement agreement.Determining that it had jurisdiction, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's November 10, 2016 Outside Provider Order; reversed the February 3, 2017 ruling that the Stipulation precludes it from issuing a general staffing order; and reversed the December 23, 2016 ruling that close custody inmates are part of the subclass. The panel noted that the district court may, in the future, consider ordering defendants to develop and implement a plan to increase staffing in general as a remedy for defendants' non-compliance. Furthermore, offering close custody inmates 15.5 hours or more out-of-cell time per week is sufficient to place these inmates outside of the subclass for purposes of monitoring compliance with the Stipulation. View "Parsons v. Ryan" on Justia Law

The borrowed employee doctrine applies to employees under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. A maritime worker who has collected statutory workers' compensation for her injuries may not further recover against a borrowed employer.The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for a general contractor in an admiralty action brought by an injured maritime worker. The panel held that the general contractor was immune from suit under the one recovery policy at the heart of the workers' compensation law. In this case, the maritime worker was the general contractor's borrowed employee where her work was subject to its direction and control at all times. Therefore, the maritime worker was barred from bringing tort claims against the general contractor. View "Cruz v. National Steel and Shipbuilding Co." on Justia Law

Retroactivity analysis under Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. v. FTC, 691 F.2d 1322 (9th Cir. 1982), is only applicable when an agency consciously overrules or otherwise alters its own rule or regulation, or expressly considers and openly departs from a circuit court decision. The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's decision finding petitioner removable because he committed two crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT) when he was convicted of felony endangerment under Arizona Revised Statutes 13-1201 and facilitation to commit unlawful possession of marijuana for sale.Applying Montgomery Ward to this case, the panel held that there was no change in law raising retroactivity concerns. Therefore, the BIA did not err by applying Leal I, In re Leal, 26 I. & N. Dec. 20 (B.I.A. 2012), to conclude that Arizona endangerment is a CIMT. Finally, the panel rejected petitioner's claim regarding Leal II, claims under In re Silva-Trevino, 24 I. & N. 687 (A.G. 2008), preclusion claims, and an 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii) claim. View "Olivas-Motta v. Whitaker" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) against St. James after she was terminated from her teaching position when she told the school that she had breast cancer and would need to miss work to undergo chemotherapy. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the school, holding that, based on the totality of the circumstances test under Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. E.E.O.C., 565 U.S. 171 (2012), the First Amendment's ministerial exception did not foreclose plaintiff's claim. In this case, plaintiff did not have any credentials, training, or ministerial background; there was no religious component to her liberal studies degree or teaching credential; St. James had no religious requirements for her position; and St. James did not hold plaintiff out as a minister. View "Biel v. St. James School" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order granting plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). The panel held that this is essentially a dispute between those who use the Golden Gate Bridge to travel between Marin County, California and San Francisco, California, and defendants who are charged with operating the bridge on behalf of the State of California. The panel held that the district court properly ruled that the case against Conduent, the toll collector, belongs in state court with the California entities that manage the bridge's maintenance and operation. View "Kendrick v. Conduent State and Local Solutions, Inc." on Justia Law

After federal agencies issued two interim final rules (IFRs) exempting employers with religious and moral objections from the Affordable Care Act requirement that group health plans cover contraceptive care without cost sharing, states filed suit to enjoin the enforcement of the IFRs. The Ninth Circuit affirmed that venue was proper in the Northern District of California; affirmed that plaintiff states have standing to sue based on procedural injury where the states have shown with reasonable probability that the IFRs will first lead to women losing employer-sponsored contraceptive coverage, which will then result in economic harm to the states; affirmed the preliminary injunction insofar as it barred enforcement of the IFRs in the plaintiff states; but vacated the portion of the injunction barring enforcement in other states because the scope of the injunction was overbroad. View "California v. Azar" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit joined the Second, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits in holding that the decision of whether to certify a claim under 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(c) is committed to agency discretion. Petitioner, a Pakistani national, sought review of the BIA's decision declining to certify, pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(c), his claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. The panel dismissed the appeal of the failure to certify petitioner's claim and held that it did not have jurisdiction to review the IJ and BIA's decision not to certify. The panel denied petitioner's due process claim challenging the same lack of certification, holding that abuse of discretion challenges to discretionary decisions, even if recast as due process claims, do not constitute colorable constitutional claims. View "Idrees v. Whitaker" on Justia Law

The union petitioned the district court to vacate an arbitration award under section 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, and Mirage filed a cross-petition seeking confirmation of the award. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's decision affirming the award, holding that the arbitrator's conclusion that the grievance was not arbitrable simply misunderstood the arbitrability inquiry. In this case, the arbitrator concluded that the union's exclusive remedy to recover the claimed benefits was against BB King's. Whatever the soundness of that conclusion, the panel reasoned that it plainly had nothing to do with substantive arbitrability, which, concerned only whether the dispute falls within the scope of the parties' arbitration agreement. Furthermore, the union's assent could not be inferred from its failure to call a halt to the arbitration proceedings and seek judicial resolution of the arbitrability. View "Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas v. Mirage Casino-Hotel, Inc." on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit dismissed objector's appeal of the bankruptcy court's order denying his objection to confirmation of a Chapter 9 petition, by the City of Stockton, as equitably moot. In this case, objector filed an inverse condemnation claim against the City in state court and the plan classified the claim as a general unsecured claim.The panel held that objector did not seek a stay of confirmation at any stage; the plan has been substantially consummated; the relief of undoing plan confirmation would bear unduly on innocent third parties; and the bankruptcy court could not fashion relief without undoing the confirmed plan. On the merits, the panel held that the Takings Clause exempted objector's unsecured claim from reorganization. In reality, objector's purported property interest was a claim for monetary relief. View "Cobb v. City of Stockton" on Justia Law