The Third Circuit issued these 3 decisions on Friday.

Fischbein v. Olson Research Group—civil—reversal—Greenberg

Faxed solicitations to participate in paid market-research surveys are advertisements subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s bar on unsolicited fax ads, the Third Circuit held. The faxes’ offer of payment (even if described by the fax sender as an honorarium) for completing the surveys makes them an advertisement under the TCPA.

Joining Greenberg was Restrepo. Jordan dissented, arguing that the Court’s interpretation was contrary to the TCPA’s language. Arguing counsel were Philip Bock of Chicago for the disgruntled fax receivers, and, for the fax senders,  Samantha Southall and Patrick Doran of Buchanan Ingersoll and Francis Earley of New York.

Francisco-Lopez v. AG—immigration—reversal—Rendell

In 2012, a immigrant from Guatemala who was a lawful permanent resident pled guilty to a crime. In 2016, the Board of Immigration Appeals adopted a new standard defining crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT). The government then initiated removal proceedings against the man on the theory that his conviction was for a CIMT, and the BIA ruled against him by applying its 2016 standard retroactively. Joining four other circuits, the Third Circuit ruled that the BIA should not have retroactively applied its decision.

Joining Rendell were Shwartz and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Lisa Kasdan of the Law Office of Marcia S. Kasdan for the petitioner and Craig Newell, Jr., for the government.

[UPDATE- the Court issued an amended opinion on August 13, deleting a specified part of footnote 5. The new opinion is now linked above, the old opinion is here.]

US v. Bradley—criminal—reversal—Jordan

The Third Circuit reversed a district court’s ruling suppressing evidence from a vehicle stop for speeding where the officer found cocaine in a backpack in the trunk, remanding for a determination whether the drugs would inevitably have been discovered during a valid inventory search upon impounding the vehicle because the driver’s license was suspended.

Joining Jordan were Ambro and Shwartz. Arguing counsel were Scott Ford for the government and Ronald Krauss of the MDPa defender for the driver.