Supplemental materials suggested the Environmental Protection Agency was arbitrary and capricious in how it treated the concept of “refining” for determining whether a small refinery was entitled to an exemption from a renewable fuel program. The documents showed the EPA ...
Read More »Administrative – Documents suggest EPA was arbitrary in ‘refining’ decision
Immigration – No advance notice of need for corroborating evidence 
Joining the majority of courts and consistent with the Board of Immigration Appeals’ interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the INA does not require an immigration judge to give an alien seeking relief from removal advance notice of specific ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – No probable cause to believe defendant with girlfriend 
Where the police went to the private home of the defendant’s girlfriend believing he might be there, but lacked probable cause to conclude that he lived there, their entry without a warrant required suppression of the evidence and his convictions ...
Read More »Constitutional – Short-term aerial surveillance allowed to continue 
Where Baltimore’s short-term aerial surveillance program does not target particular individuals or violate a reasonable expectation of privacy, and seeks to meet a serious law enforcement need without burdening constitutional rights, the denial of community activists’ request for a preliminary ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – Miner’s suit over respirator time-barred 
Where the record showed that a coal miner developed black lung disease more than two years before he filed suit, even though the disease was not identified until later, the suit was barred by Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations. Background ...
Read More »Immigration – Domestic abuse social group violates anti-circularity 
Where being in a controlling and abusive domestic relationship is a characteristic that defines the group by the fact of persecution, the Board of Immigration Appeals did not err in finding a woman’s proposed social group—married El Salvadoran women in ...
Read More »Constitutional – N.C. absentee ballot deadline not extended 
Where parties challenging the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ decision to extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots failed to demonstrate they were likely to succeed on the merits of their Equal Protection or Elections Clause arguments, the ...
Read More »Administrative – Failure to report Swiss bank accounts prompts fines 
Where a husband and wife failed for many years to file required reports of monies held in Swiss bank accounts, and the evidence showed their conduct was reckless, they were liable for enhanced penalties and interests. Background The Bank Secrecy ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Attempted Hobbs Act robbery decision creates circuit split 
Attempted Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” because it may be committed without the use or attempted use of physical force. This decision splits from three other circuits, which held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as ...
Read More »Immigration – El Salvadoran’s persecution based on family memberships merits asylum 
An El Salvadoran petitioner’s repeated testimony that her family was being targeted for extortive threats, and that she was targeted because her parents were failing to comply, entitled her to asylum. The Board of Immigration Appeals erred by concluding that ...
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