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

Debtors filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 13. At issue was whether debtors could exclude an annuity debtor received under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (RRA), 45 U.S.C. 451m(a), when calculating their "projected disposable income," which determined the amount they must repay creditors to qualify for Chapter 13 relief. The court concluded that the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's decision was reviewable. Applying a trust law understanding of the statute pursuant to Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, the court held that the RRA's anti-anticipation clause, which provided that the payment of an annuity shall not be "anticipated," referred to premature receipt of payment, and thus did not preclude the inclusion of the RRA annuity payments in Chapter 13 debtors' projected disposable income. View "In re: Robert Scholz & Carolyn Scholz" on Justia Law

This appeal presented the question, among others, of what event triggered the running of the statute of limitations for a claim for wrongful disclosure of a tax return pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7431(d). The court concluded that the statute of limitations began to run when plaintiff knows or reasonably should know of the government's allegedly unauthorized disclosures. The court also concluded, in the circumstances presented in this case, that the statute of limitations did not begin to run when plaintiffs became aware of a pending general investigation that would involve disclosures, but only later when they knew or should have known of the specific disclosures at issue. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and reversed in part. View "Aloe Vera of America, Inc., et al v. USA" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying the defense surrebuttal summation; the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to excuse one of the prospective jurors for cause; and the district court did not err in denying defendant's proposed jury instruction. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Maloney" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, cigarette vendors, appealed the district court's dismissal of their antitrust action against defendants for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Plaintiffs challenged taxes imposed by the virtue of the authority vested in an Indian tribe. The court held that the tribe did not implicitly waive its sovereign immunity by agreeing to dispute resolution procedures nor by ceding its authority to Washington State when entering into a cigarette tax contract. The court also held that federal antitrust law did not explicitly abrogate tribal immunity, and the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, was not a law of general applicability vis-a-vis the tribe. The court further held that tribal officials were protected by the tribe's sovereign immunity because they acted pursuant to the tribe's authority. The court affirmed the district court's alternative ruling that the action was barred by res judicata in light of the prior litigation in state and tribal courts. View "Miller, et al v. Wright, et al" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed the sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after removal. The court affirmed the sentence, holding that a prior conviction for "rape of a child in the third degree," in violation of Revised Code of Washington section 9A.44.079, categorically qualified as "statutory rape," which was a crime of violence for the purpose of a sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). View "United States v. Zamorano-Ponce" on Justia Law

Tim Wilborn appealed the reduction of attorneys' fees he earned while representing plaintiff in a Social Security benefits claim. At issue was whether Wilborn received fees for the same work under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 2412, and the Social Security Act (SSA), 42 U.S.C. 406(b)(1). The court held that the $5,000 award under the EAJA was for the "same work" as the work for which Wilborn received the section 406(b)(1) award, and therefore the district court correctly offset the $5,000 from the 25% award. View "Parrish v. Commissioner Social Security" on Justia Law

In this prisoner civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, plaintiff appealed from the dismissal with prejudice of his first amended complaint for deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Plaintiff alleged that defendants violated his rights by failing to comply with his medical "chrono," which required him to be housed in a ground floor cell and that defendants failed to provide him with an interpreter at medical appointments. The court held that the district court erred by refusing to consider arguments that plaintiff raised for the first time in his objections to a magistrate judge's findings and recommendations on defendants' motion to dismiss; concluding that defendant failed to exhaust his administrative remedies; and dismissing his complaint on the ground that he failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Further, the district court erred by failing to provide notice pursuant to Rand v. Rowland. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "Akhtar v. J. Mesa, et al" on Justia Law

Petitioners challenged the FWS's Biological Opinion regarding the Ruby Pipeline Project, which involved the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline extending from Wyoming to Oregon. The court set aside the Opinion as arbitrary and capricious and set aside the Record of Decisions because it relied on the invalid Opinion. The court remanded for the agency to formulate a revised Opinion that: (1) addresses the impacts, if any, of Ruby's groundwater withdrawal on listed fish species and critical habitat; and (2) categorizes and treats the Conservation Action Plan measures as "interrelated actions" or excludes any reliance on their beneficial effects in making a revised jeopardy and adverse modification. View "Center for Biological Diversity. v. BLM, et al" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction for assaulting a federal officer. Defendant argued that his conviction should be reversed because the district court's jury instructions failed to inform the jury adequately that the government bore the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense. The court concluded that the jury instructions in this case correctly stated the government's burden of proof on the entire issue of self-defense. The court found no abuse of discretion and affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Pepper" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated plaintiffs, argued that a series of automated telephone calls placed to his home by Best Buy violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. 227, and the Washington Automatic Dialing and Announcing Device Act (WADAD), Wash. Rev. Code 80.36.400. The court concluded that these calls were aimed at encouraging listeners to engage in future commercial transactions with Best Buy to purchase its goods. They constituted unsolicited advertisements, telephone solicitations, and telemarketing, and were prohibited by the TCPA, the WADAD, and the Washington Consumer Protection Act, Wash. Rev. Code 80.36.400(3). View "Chesbro v. Best Buy Co., Inc." on Justia Law