Tag Archives: Immigration opinions

New opinion — a Pa. conviction for endangering the welfare of a child is not a deportable child-abuse crime

Liao v. AG — immigration — reversal — Shwartz

A Chinese citizen who had been a legal permanent US resident for a decade was convicted in Pennsylvania of endangering the welfare of a child after a physical altercation with his girlfriend. Yesterday, the Third Circuit held that his conviction was not a “crime of child abuse” under the Immigration and Naturalization Act because the elements of the criminal statute allowed conviction on a lesser showing  than the INA. The court accordingly vacated the man’s removal order and remanded.

Joining Shwartz were Roth and Fisher. Arguing counsel were former Ambro clerk Joshua Bolian of Robbins Russell for the immigrant and Jonathan Robbins for the government. The opinion noted that Bolian appeared pro bono, noted that his service is in highest tradition of the profession, and thanked him for his representation.

Two especially interesting new opinions

In re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Prods. — civil — affirmance — Smith

Today a divided Third Circuit panel ruled against a woman who brought a consumer class-action suit against a baby-powder maker. The plaintiff alleged that perineal use of the baby powder can lead to increased risk of ovarian cancer. Her legal theory was that she suffered an economic injury by purchasing a product that was unsafe, even if it was only unsafe to other consumers. The majority held that her allegations were legally insufficient: “buyer’s remorse, without more, is not a cognizable injury under Article III.”

Judge Fuentes dissented, acknowledging that the majority’s conclusion makes perfect sense in the abstract but arguing that it failed to recognize that a product’s overall safety often is a key to consumers’ decisions about whether to buy it. Many of us would be less likely to buy a product marketed as safe that gives lots of other people cancer, and companies presumably know that. So denying economic recovery here allows companies to profit from hiding the danger, by preventing recovery by the consumers who spent their money on a product they would never have bought had they known.

Joining Smith was Chagares, with Fuentes dissenting. Both opinions are outstanding. Arguing counsel were Timothy Blood of California for the consumer and Matthew Powers of O’Melveny & Myers for the baby-powder maker.

 

Tima v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Bibas

A Cameroonian man in the U.S. on an expiring student visa entered into a sham marriage with a U.S. citizen almost three decades ago. He was discovered and pled guilty to making a false statement about being married, but the government didn’t try to deport him at the time. So he moved on with his life, married a citizen over 20 years ago, and had three children, all U.S. citizens. In 2003, the government in its infinite wisdom started trying to deport him for marriage fraud and a crime involving moral turpitude, namely the marriage-fraud false-statement conviction. The man applied for a fraud waiver under 8 USC § 1227(a)(1)(H).

Today, the Third Circuit denied the man’s petition for review, holding that the fraud waiver did not apply to removal based on the moral-turpitude conviction. By its terms, the fraud waiver applies to “grounds of admissibility directly resulting from such fraud.” The gist seems to be that, while the conviction here seems to be “directly resulting,” it wasn’t a ground “of admissibility” because the crime occurred after his admission. Even though the court admitted that its interpretation rendered part of the statute surplussage, and admitted that the man’s argument on this point was “cogent,” it still found the statute’s meaning clear enough that the rule of lenity did not apply, based on evidence including the “technical meaning” of the word “paragraph” as opposed to sections, subsections, subparagraphs, clauses, and subclauses, in light of authorities like the House Legislative Counsel’s Manual of Drafting Style.

My respectful view: if I first found myself relying on some legislative counsel style guide to support my statutory interpretation, and next I were forced to admit that applying the rule against surplussage would defeat my interpretation, then, even though three other circuits have interpreted the statute the same way, I believe the rule of lenity would start sounding plausible. Plausible enough, at least, that explaining why it rejected it, to uphold the quarter-century-late deportation of a father of three, warranted more than the single sentence of reasoning the opinion gave it here.

Joining Bibas were Jordan and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Matthew Archambeault of Corpuz & Archambeault for the man and Karen Melnik for the government.

New opinion — Third Circuit decides jurisdiction for appeals from nationality determinations transferred out-of-circuit

Ricketts v. AG — immigration — dismissal — Jordan

On Monday, the Third Circuit held that, when a deportation proceeding is transferred out-of-circuit to determine whether the person the government is trying to deport actually is a U.S. citizen, an appeal from that determination must go to the circuit court where the case was transferred to, not the circuit court where the case originated. The Third Circuit acknowledged that this holding may conflict with a prior Ninth Circuit ruling.

Joining Jordan were Greenaway and Fisher. The appeal was decided without oral argument.

Two new opinions

Bakran v. Secretary Dept. Homeland Security — civil / immigration — affirmance, basically — Shwartz

The Third Circuit today rejected a citizen’s challenges to a statute that prevents persons convicted of certain sex offenses from sponsoring a family member to enter the country. The opinion’s introduction summarizes ably:

Ahmed Bakran appeals from the District Court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (the “USCIS”), and the Attorney General (“Defendants”) on Bakran’s statutory and constitutional challenges to the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-248, § 402(a), 120 Stat. 587, 622-23 (2006) (the “AWA”), and related agency memoranda.

The AWA restricts the ability of a United States citizen convicted of a sex offense to sponsor an immediate relative’s immigration application. Bakran claims that certain protocols used to enforce the AWA violate the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. (the “APA”). The protocols he challenges, however, simply guide the Secretary’s determination, and as we explain herein, we lack jurisdiction to review them.

Bakran also asserts that the AWA violates his right to marriage and is impermissibly retroactive. The AWA does not infringe his marriage right but rather deprives him of an immigration benefit to which he has no constitutional right. Moreover, because the Act is aimed at providing prospective protection, it is not  impermissibly retroactive. Therefore, we will vacate the District Court’s order granting summary judgment to Defendants on Bakran’s APA claims, and remand with directions to dismiss the APA claims for lack of jurisdiction, and affirm the District Court’s order denying relief on his constitutional and retroactivity challenges to the AWA.

Joining Shwartz were Greenaway and Simandle DNJ by designation. Arguing counsel were Nicklaus Misiti of New York for the appellant and Sara Wilson for the government.

Clientron Corp. v. Devon IT — civil — reversal — Greenaway

In an odd and interesting case today, the Third Circuit vacated a district court’s order that pierced the corporate veil as a sanction for egregious discovery abuse, but the court left the door open to a significant sanction being reimposed on remand.

Joining Greenaway were Krause and Jones MDPA by designation. Arguing counsel were John van Loben Sels of California for the appellant and Gary Samms of Obermayer Rebmann for the appellees.

Three new opinions, including a major immigration appeal

S.E.R.L. v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Jordan

This appeal posed a fascinating tension: immigrant advocates urged the court not to apply Chevron deference. Broadly, conservatives today tend to oppose immigration and Chevron deference, while liberals tend to favor both. When the “liberal” side advances the “conservative” position, as here, the familiar ideological guideposts are harder to read.

The legal issue in today’s case was whether a Honduran woman and her children qualified for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act as members of a “particular social group.” Their group, they argued, consisted generally of family members of domestic-abuse victims. The Board of Immigration Appeals had interpreted “particular social group” narrowly, in a way fatal to the family’s claim here, and the family argued that its strict test wasn’t entitled to Chevron deference.  Today, the Third Circuit rejected their position, holding that the BIA’s interpretation is entitled to Chevron deference and denying the petition for review.

Joining avowed Chevron foe Jordan were Krause and Greenberg. Arguing counsel were Russell Falconer of Texas for the family and Sheri Glaser for the government. A footnote in the opinion thanked several groups for filing amicus briefs “which have assisted our consideration of the legal issues before us and also shine a light on an issue of international concern.”

Minarsky v. Susquehanna Co. — civil / employment discrimination — reversal — Rendell

A county secretary alleged that she was subjected to years of sexual harassment by a superior, the since-fired head of the county’s veterans-affairs department, and she sued various defendants including the county based on a theory vicarious liability. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the county, but today the Third Circuit reversed, holding that whether the county had satisfied the Faragher-Elllerth affirmative defense to vicarious liabililty for workplace harassment should be decided by a jury.

Joining Rendell were Greenaway and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were David Koller of Koller Law for the secretary, Dana Zlotucha of Kreder Brooks Hailstone for the county, and Gerald Hanchulak for the superior.

Wayne Land & Mineral Gp. v. Delaware River Basin Comm’n — environmental — reversal — Jordan

The Third Circuit today reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit brought by a company trying to keep the Delaware River Basin Commission from regulating its fracking work. The relevant law allows the commission to regulate a “project,” and the Third Circuit held that that term in ambiguous and remanded for fact-finding on the drafters’ intent.

Judge Scirica wrote a brief separate opinion. The signature line states simply that the opinion is “concurring,” and it ends with the statement that “I concur,” but the body of the opinion states that he agrees with part of the court’s opinion but has a concern that “precludes him from joining in full.” Specifically, he joined with the court’s ambiguity analysis but disagreed with the opinion’s inclusion of an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of other issues that the district court will decide on remand.

(Readers may recall that is the case in which a lawyer fainted during the original oral argument.)

Joining Jordan were Hardiman and Scirica at least in part, and Scirica concurred. Arguing counsel were David Overstreet of Overstreet & Nestor for the appellant, Kenneth Warren of Warren Environmental Counsel for the commission, and Jordan Yeager of Curtin & Heefner for an intervenor group.

New opinion — a big Third Circuit immigration ruling

Osorio-Martinez v. AG — immigration — reversal — Krause

In 2016, the Third Circuit issued a blockbuster immigration ruling in Castro v. US DHS, holding that federal courts lack jurisdiction to hear a challenges to removal brought by a group of women and children caught, on US soil, shortly after entering the US, and that this statutory denial of jurisdiction did not violate the Suspension Clause. It was a crushing loss for immigrant advocates and one of the Third Circuit’s most controversial recent opinions.

Today, just two years later, a different Third Circuit panel heard a second appeal brought by four of the children and their mothers who were among those denied a forum in Castro. The opinion’s introduction explains:

Now, two years after their initial detention, Petitioners raise what, at first glance, appear to be the same claims. But upon inspection they differ in a critical respect: The children now have been accorded Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status—a protective classification designed by Congress to safeguard abused, abandoned, or neglected alien children who are able to meet its rigorous eligibility requirements.

That one difference, the court held today, is dispositive:

[W]e are now confronted with a matter of first impression among the Courts of Appeals: Does the jurisdiction-stripping provision of the INA operate as an unconstitutional suspension of the writ of habeas corpus as applied to SIJ designees seeking judicial review of orders of expedited removal? We conclude that it does.

The court observed that the ” Government’s decision to continue seeking removal is particularly noteworthy because, as far as we are aware, until very recently DHS has never attempted to remove SIJ-classified children back to their countries of origin, much less on an expedited basis.”

How broadly available is SIJ status? Is today’s ruling just a narrow exception, or does it promise to swallow the Castro rule? I didn’t notice any discussion of these questions in today’s opinion, and I’m hoping that immigration experts will shed light here in the days ahead.

Joining Krause were Ambro and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Jessica Rickabaugh of the Tucker Law Group for the appellants and Joseph Darrow of the DOJ for the government. Other notable counsel on the briefs include Nancy Winkelman (formerly of Schnader, now at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office) for amicus appellant and pending Sixth Circuit nominee Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler for the government.

New opinions — three affirmances

Bonilla v. Sessions — immigration — affirmance — Shwartz

The Third Circuit denied a El Salvadoran citizen’s petition for review of removal, rejecting the man’s argument that his right to due process was denied when reasonable-fear-screening proceedings before the immigration judge went forward without his counsel. Although the hearing notice said that counsel should appear with the client at the hearing, the lawyer (unidentified in the opinion except to clarify that appellate counsel was different) “assumed it would be held telephonically.” The court did not decide whether parties have a right to counsel at a reasonable-fear hearing, denying relief instead because the man had notice of his right to counsel and failed to show prejudice.

Although today’s opinion does not say so, Pacer shows that the panel issued a non-precedential opinion in the case on March 15. Two months later, after the mandate had issued, the government filed a motion to publish, which the panel granted. Motions to publish are an under-utilized tool, in my view. [UPDATE: after my original post the order granting the motion to publish was posted on the court’s website.]

Joining Shwartz were Jordan and Krause. The case was decided without argument.

 

US v. Foster — criminal — affirmance — Jordan

The Third Circuit today affirmed two criminal convictions, rejecting five different challenges to their convictions and sentences: a Fourth Amendment issue, a 404(b) admissibility claim, a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge to evidence of constructive possession of a firearm, and two firearm-use sentencing-enhancement claims.

Joining Jordan were Shwartz and Krause. Arguing counsel were Renee Pietropaolo of the WDPA federal defender for one defendant, Eleni Kousoulis of the DE federal defender for the other, and Elizabeth Van Pelt of the DE US Attorney’s office for the government.

 

US v. Shaw — criminal — affirmance — Restrepo

Finally, the Third Circuit upheld a former prison guard’s convictions for sexually assaulting an inmate and obstruction of justice. The court rejected challenges to the sexual-assault instructions (splitting with the Tenth Circuit), the sexual-assault sufficiency, two evidentiary challenges, and a speedy-trial claim.

Joining Restrepo were Smith and McKee. Arguing counsel were Robert Pickett of Pickett and Craig for the defendant and Desiree Grace of the NJ US Attorney’s office for the government.

New opinions — a de facto life sentence for a juvenile offender violates the Eight Amendment, and sexting between consenting teenagers is enough to support deportation

United States v. Grant — criminal / sentencing — reversal in part — Greenaway

In 2012, the Supreme Court held in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders violate the Eighth Amendment, Today, in a major juvenile-sentencing decision, the Third Circuit extended Miller to hold that a 65-year sentence for homicide crimes committed at age 16 was unconstitutional. From the introduction:

This case presents several difficult challenges for this Court. It calls upon us to decide a novel issue of constitutional law: whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits a term-of-years sentence for the duration of a juvenile homicide offender’s life expectancy (i.e., “de facto LWOP”) when the defendant’s “crimes reflect transient immaturity [and not] . . . irreparable corruption.” Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718, 734 (2016). Next, if we find that it does, then we must decide what framework will properly effectuate the Supreme Court’s determination that the Eighth Amendment affords nonincorrigible juvenile offenders a right to a meaningful opportunity for release. Furthermore, we must take great pains throughout our discussion to account for the substantive distinction that the Supreme Court has made between incorrigible and non-incorrigible juvenile offenders in order to ensure that the latter is not subjected to “a punishment that the law cannot impose upon [them].” Id. (quoting Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348, 352 (2004)).

Our decision today therefore represents an incremental step in the constitutional discourse over the unique protections that the Eighth Amendment affords to juvenile homicide offenders.

The court held, ” A term-of-years sentence without parole that meets or exceeds the life expectancy of a juvenile offender who is still capable of reform,” which the court held includes all non-homicide offenders, “is inherently disproportionate and therefore violates the Eighth Amendment under both Miller and Graham.” The court joined the Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, and split with the Eighth, on the applicablity of Miller and Graham to de facto life sentences.

Joining Greenaway were Cowen in part and Padova EDPA by designation. Judge Cowen dissented in part, joining the Eighth Amendment holding in full but disagreeing with the majority’s denial of sentencing relief as to additional counts based on the sentencing-package doctrine.

Arguing counsel were Lawrence Lustberg of Gibbons for the appellant and Bruce Keller for the government.

 

Moreno v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Vanaskie

Today, the Third Circuit held that a Pennsylvania conviction for possessing child pornography, 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6312(d), is a crime involving moral turpitude supporting removal. The petitioner was a 49-year-old man who lived legally in the U.S. since age 12, pled guilty to a single count, and was sentenced to probation.

Applying the categorical approach (the opinion in a footnote echoed concerns raised about the categorical approach in other recent Third Circuit opinions), the court held that the least culpable conduct under the statute — consensual ‘sexting’ between an 18 year-old and a 17 year-old — is morally turpitudinous. But the opinion seemed to base that conclusion on little more than the fact that such conduct is criminal, which strikes me as questionable. Lots of conduct is subject to prosecution without being “inherently base, vile, or depraved.” Does anyone really believe that sexting between two consenting teenagers is depraved?

Joining Vanaskie were Shwartz and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were Wayne Sachs of Philadelphia for the petitioner and Jaclyn Shea for the government.

 

 

Two new opinions

The Third Circuit issued two published opinions yesterday.

Haberle v. Troxell — civil rights / disability — partial affirmance — Jordan

A severely depressed man with a gun was in an apartment threatening to kill himself. Fearing for the man’s life, his longtime partner called the Nazareth, PA, police to help. But instead of waiting for trained crisis negotiators to arrive, a local police officer called his fellow officers “a bunch of fucking pussies” and decided to go in himself because “[t]his is how we do things in Nazareth.” When the officer knocked on the door and identified himself as a police officer, the man inside killed himself.

The man’s estate sued the officer and the borough, alleging various constitutional violations and violation of the Americans with Disability Act. The Third Circuit yesterday upheld the dismissal of the constitutional claims, holding that the officer’s conduct does not shock the conscience, but remanded to allow the plaintiff to amend her ADA claim, holding that the ADA applies to police officers making an arrest.

Joining Jordan were Greenaway and Rendell; Greenaway concurred separately to argue that ADA relief should be available under a different provision in the statute as well. Arguing counsel were Joseph Walsh of Lauer & Fulmer for the estate and John Morgenstern of Deasey Mahoney for the defendants.

[UPDATE: after the remand, the district court dismissed again, the plaintiff appealed again, and the Third Circuit reversed again.]

 

Lewin v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Jordan

The Third Circuit held that a conviction under New Jersey’s receiving-stolen-property statute is an aggravated felony supporting removal. The court rejected the petitioner’s argument that the statute failed to require proof of mens rea beyond a reasonable doubt where it required that the petitioner believe that the property is probably stolen.

Joining Jordan were Roth and Mariani MDPA by designation. The case was decided without oral argument.

New opinion — Third Circuit upholds removal based on unlawful-contact-with-a-minor conviction

Mondragon-Gonzalez v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Vanaskie

The Third Circuit today granted the government’s motion to publish a previously non-precedential opinion denying an immigration petition for review. The court upheld the BIA’s ruling that the petitioner’s Pennsylvania conviction for unlawful contact with a minor qualified as a “crime of child abuse” supporting removal, deferring to the BIA’s statutory interpretation and by doing so arguably splitting with the Tenth Circuit.

Joining Vanaskie were Shwartz and Fuentes. The case was decided without oral argument.

Two new opinions — false claims and immigration

US ex rel. Greenfield v. Medco Health Solutions — civil / false claims — affirmance — Ambro

The Third Circuit today affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the alleged false claimant in a qui tam case. The case arose when, first, a health-care provider made donations to charities then, second, two of those charities alleged recommended the provider to patients. The panel rejected the provider’s argument that the relator had to prove that the charities’ recommendation actually caused members to use the provider, but also rejected the relator’s argument that it was enough just to show that the recommendations were made and the provider submitted claims around the same time. The panel held that the relator lost because he failed point to any specific patient who was referred by the charities and for whom the provider later sought government reimbursement.

Joining Ambro were Krause and Conti WDPA by designation. Arguing counsel were Regina Poserina of Begelman Orlow for the relator, Craig Singer of Williams & Connolly for the provider, and Katherine Allen for the government as amicus. (Making this the rare Third Circuit case where a majority of the panel and a majority of the arguing counsel were women.)

 

Williams v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Smith

The Third Circuit today held that a conviction under Georgia’s forgery statute, which covers using a false name when signing a document, is an aggravated felony supporting removal. The petitioner was a lawful permanent resident who immigrated to the US when he was 13 months old; his parents, grandparents, siblings, and children all are US citizens. The court split with the Ninth Circuit.

Joining Smith were Hardiman and Brann MDPA by designation. Arguing counsel were Christopher Mauro of Dechert for the petitioner and Christina Greer for the government.

New opinions, including a hot-button voting case with some harsh words for the appellant

American Civil Rights Union v. Philadelphia City Commissioners — civil / voting — affirmance — McKee

Back in May I posted here about a Third Circuit oral argument that got off to a bad start when the lawyer raised his voice in an unsuccessful attempt to talk over one of the judges. (You’d expect a former law school dean and Scotus clerk to know better.)

Interrupting a judge, it turns out, was not the path to victory. Today, the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s rejection of a conservative group’s challenge to Philadelphia’s alleged failure to remove persons convicted of a felony from its voter rolls.

And it turns out interrupting a judge was the least of counsel’s advocacy missteps. The opinion tartly observed that one of the appellant’s arguments “not only mangles the statute beyond recognition, it also misrepresents the non-precedential case it relies on.” Later: “This is exactly the kind of statutory contortion that led the District Court to … threaten[] to impose sanctions for blatant misrepresentation of the statute.” Pow.

Joining McKee were Vanaskie and Rendell. Arguing counsel were John Eastman of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence for the appellant and Kelly Diffily for the city.

 

Alimbaev v. AG — immigration — reversal — Krause

Here’s a fascinating introduction:

This disconcerting case, before our Court for the second time, has a lengthy procedural history marked by conflict between the Board of Immigrations Appeals (BIA) and the Immigration Judge (IJ) and fueled by troubling allegations that Petitioner, an Uzbek national, relished watching violent terroristic videos, while apparently harboring anti-American sympathies. The issue on appeal, however, is whether the BIA correctly applied the clear error standard of review, as required, when reviewing the IJ’s factfinding in this case—an inquiry that highlights the role of faithful adherence to applicable standards of review in preserving the rule of law, safeguarding the impartiality of our adjudicatory processes, and ensuring that fairness and objectivity are not usurped by emotion, regardless of the nature of the allegations. Because we conclude that the BIA misapplied the clear error standard when reversing the IJ’s finding that Petitioner’s testimony was credible, we will grant the petition for review of the BIA’s removal order, vacate the denial of Petitioner’s applications for adjustment of status, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and remand once more to the BIA.

The opinion features a significant discussion of clear-error review by the Board of Immigration Appeals and how it applies to immigration judges’ credibility findings. The opinion emphasized the Third Circuit’s obligation to “carefully” scrutinize the BIA’s application of clear-error review in accepting or rejecting IJ factfinding.

Joining Krause were Jordan and Stearns D.Mass by designation. Arguing counsel were Lawrence Rudnick of Rudnick Immigration Group for the petitioner and Daniel Smulow for the government.

 

Christopher Columbus LLC v. Bocchino — admiralty — reversal — Stengel EDPA

Precedential opinions by judges sitting by designation in the Third Circuit are pretty unusual. It’s also fairly uncommon for district judges to sit by designation over CA3 appeals from their own district — reviewing a colleague’s work, that is. But both occurred here.

Also unusual? An appeal that “arise[s] out of a drunken brawl which erupted among passengers who were enjoying a cruise.” The issue on appeal was whether the dispute fell under maritime jurisdiction, and the court held that it did and vacated the district court’s dismissal.

Joining Stengel EDPA by designation were Hardiman and Krause. Arguing counsel were Daniel Wooster of Palmer Biezup for the appellant and Stanley Gruber of Freedman & Lorry for the appellee.

4 new opinions, including two immigration reversals

Uddin v. AG — immigration — reversal — Rendell

The Third Circuit today granted an immigration petition to review, holding that the BIA erred when it found a Bangladesh citizen ineligible for withholding of removal. The BIA had deemed him ineligible because he was a member of a major political party, some of whose members had committed terrorist acts.

The Third Circuit held that membership in a party whose members had committed terrorism wasn’t enough — the BIA had to find that the terrorist acts were authorized by party leaders. Analogizing to American politics, the court observed, “If a single member of the Democratic or Republican Party committed a terrorist act, we would not impute terrorist status to the entire group, absent some showing that party leadership authorized the act.”

The court joined the reasoning of a 2008 Seventh Circuit opinion authored by just-retired Judge Posner. Not surprisingly, today’s opinion quotes Posner at length and identifies him by name.

Joining Rendell were Greenaway and Shwartz; Greenaway also concurred separately. Arguing counsel were Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran of NY for the petitioner and Daniel Smulow for the government.

UPDATE: The Court issued an amended opinion on September 25. The opinion link has been updated; the change is identified in this order.

 

Mateo v. AG — immigration — reversal — Vanaskie

The Third Circuit held that a non-citizen’s Pennsylvania conviction for robbery of a motor vehicle did not support his removal. The removal order was premised on the vehicle-robbery conviction being a crime of violence, but the Third Circuit held that the crime-of-violence standard was unconstitutionally vague. The court joined three other circuits on this point, splitting with the Fifth Circuit. The court further held that the vagueness standard is no lower in immigration cases than it is in criminal cases.

Joining Vanaskie were McKee and Jordan. Arguing counsel were Tracey Hubbard of Scranton for the petitioner and Matthew Connelly for the government.

 

US v. Hodge — criminal — reversal in part — Chagares

After a Virgin Islands man used a gun to rob an armored vehicle, the government charged him with a separate Virgin Islands gun count for each of three crimes he committed during the offense. Today, the Third Circuit vacated two of those non-federal convictions on double jeopardy grounds (but it rejected the analogous argument as to two federal gun counts). The court granted relief even though the defendant received a single sentence for all three counts, similar to the federal practice of imposing concurrent sentences. The court rejected the defendant’s many other challenges.

Joining Chagares were Jordan and Hardiman. Arguing counsel were Richard Della Fera of Florida for the defendant and David White for the government.

 

Moody v. Atlantic City Bd. of Education — employment discrimination — reversal — Shwartz

An employee sued her employer, alleging that a fellow employee had sexually harassed her and the employer retaliated against her when she complained.

On the harassment claim, the employer’s liability turned on whether the alleged harasser was her supervisor even though he didn’t hire and couldn’t fire her. The plaintiff was a substitute janitor who worked at different sites; the alleged harasser had the power to decide if she got work at one of those sites, and in a recent several-month period 70% of her work had been at that site. The district court granted summary judgment to the employer based its conclusion that the alleged harasser was not her supervisor.

Today, a divided Third Circuit panel reversed, holding that the plaintiff’s allegations were sufficient to survive summary judgment on whether the alleged harasser was her supevisor. Judge Rendell dissented on this point, arguing that in light of a recent Supreme Court case the majority was “simply incorrect.”

On the retaliation claim, the panel was unanimous that reversal was required, holding that her allegation that her hours were reduced right after she complained was sufficient.

Joining Shwartz was Greenaway; Rendell dissented in part. Arguing counsel were Samuel Dion of Dion & Goldberger for the plaintiff and Rachel Conte of Riley and Rile for the employer.

Five new opinions from the end-of-summer opinion surge

This post covers the precedential opinions issued August 29.

Parker v.Montgomery Co.  Corr. Facility — prisoner civil rights — denial — Smith

I detest the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. This opinion magnifies the shabby unfairness of the PLRA, so I detest its result and I hope (with no optimism) that the Supreme Court or Congress fixes it.

While I believe all that, I also believe this: this opinion is superb, a near-perfect model of clarity and restraint. It is a crisp counter-punch to the cynics and the “politicians in robes” federal-judge-bashers. I deplore its holding as a policy matter, but, given controlling law, its ruling is probably correct and without a doubt reasonable.

Under the PLRA’s three-strikes rule, an indigent prisoner who has filed three actions or appeals that were deemed “frivolous, malicious, or fail[] to state a claim upon which relief may be granted” no longer qualifies to proceed in forma pauperis. That means that, unlike all other poor litigants, they must pre-pay the full filing fees. The current fee for one Third Circuit appeal is $505, or over 2600 hours of income for a PA inmate earning 19 cents an hour.

The issue in this case is whether an inmate may appeal IFP from a district court imposing a third strike. The court held that, given the language of the statute and a unanimous 2015 Supreme Court case interpreting it, he may not appeal IFP from his third strike, disagreeing with the Solicitor General and splitting with the Ninth Circuit.

Joining Smith were Fuentes and Stark D. Del. by designation. Arguing counsel were Ryan Becker of Fox Rothschild for the prisoner and Philip Newcomer for the county. The panel extended its gratitude to Becker and his co-counsel Peter Buckley for “donating their time and talent in accepting this pro bono appointment.”

 

Davenport v. Borough of Homestead — civil rights — partial reversal — Fisher

Late one night, a driver ran a red light and then did not pull over for police. Police followed him, as he drove into Pittsburgh, never exceeding 45 miles per hour and jeopardizing no one. The police sergeant called off the low-speed pursuit, but instead several off-duty police officers deployed a spike strip in an area filled with pedestrians. After the red-light-runner swerved out of his lane to avoid the spike strip, several officers opened fire. A pedestrian was struck in the back and the driver’s mother, a passenger in the car, was shot in the head. The mother sued the officers for using excessive force, the officers asserted qualified immunity, and the district court denied the officer’s motion.

The Third Circuit reversed, holding that no reasonable juror could find for the mother because of the heavy pedestrian presence and the driver’s swerving and, alternatively, because the unconstitutionality of the officer’s actions wasn’t clearly established. Ugh.

Joining Fisher were Hardiman and Roth. Arguing counsel were Shane Haselbarth of Marshall Dennehey for the officers and J. Kerrington Lewis Sr. of Lewis Lewis for the mother.

 

NLRB v. New Vista Nursing & Rehab. — labor — reversal — Smith

The Third Circuit rejected an employer’s challenges to the NLRB’s power to act based on various grounds including recess appointments of its board members. On the merits, the court vacated the NLRB’s order for applying the wrong test to decide whether the nurse employees were supervisors and thus unable to unionize.

Joining Smith was Fisher in full and Greenaway in part; Greenaway dissented on the merits issue. The case was decided without oral argument despite impressive counsel and an amicus.

 

Norfolk Southern Railway v. Pittsburgh & W. Va. R.R. — contract — affirmance — Vanaskie

The Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in a dispute over interpretation of a railroad lease.

Joining Vanaskie were Ambro and Scirica. The case was decided without oral argument.

 

Bamaca-Cifuentes v. AG — immigration — affirmance — McKee

The Third Circuit rejected an immigration petition for review, holding that 8 CFR 1003.2(c)’s timebar applies to motions to reopen removal under the Convention Against Torture.

Joining McKee were Cowen and Fuentes. The case was decided without oral argument.

4 new opinions

I’m out of the office for the next few days, so my posts will be later and briefer than usual.

McMunn v. Babcock & Wilcox Power — civil — affirmance — Smith

The Third Circuit today upheld summary judgment in favor of the defense in a major civil suit that alleged that radiation emissions caused the plaintiffs’ cancers.

Smith was joined by Restrepo. McKee concurred (apparently without joining Smith’s opinion, and also joined by Restrepo, which seems likely to cause future confusion to the extent the two opinions disagree). Arguing counsel were Louis Bograd of Motley Rice for the plaintiffs and John Phillips of Paul Hastings and Nancy Milburn of Arnold & Porter for the defendants.

 

Mendoza-Ordonez v. AG — immigration — reversal — Nygaard

The Third Circuit granted a Honduras citizen’s petition for review, holding that the man was entitled to withholding of removal based on evidence that he faced violence for his political views and reports indicating that his home country was unable to protect him.

Joining Nygaard were Ambro and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Joseph Brophy of Brophy & Lenahan for the petitioner and Sabatino Leo for the government.

 

Williams v. Globus Medical — civil — affirmance — Scirica

The Third Circuit upheld dismissal of a shareholder suit against a company for belatedly disclosing a business decision that caused a sales decline.

Joining Scirica were Chagares and Fisher. Arguing counsel were Jacob Goldberg of the Rosen Law Firm for the shareholders and Barry Kaplan of WA for the company.

 

Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. US Army Corp of Engineers — environmental — affirmance — Smith

The Third Circuit denied a petition to review an agency ruling approving a gas pipeline.

Joining Smith were Nygaard and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were Aaron Stemplewicz for the Riverkeepers, Varu Chilakamurri for the government, and John Stoviak of Saul Ewing for the intervenor pipeline company.

New opinions — catching up on last week’s ten opinions, including another ACA blockbuster and several notable reversals

Last week I was on vacation. During slow periods it’s not all that rare for the Third Circuit to go a week without issuing a single published opinion. But July/August is never a slow period — that’s when clerkships typically end, so everyone is scrambling to clear the decks. Last week the court issued 10 precedential opinions, 5 on Friday alone.

And there were some big ones, including a hot-button Affordable Care Act case and reversals in criminal, habeas, immigration, and prisoner civil rights cases. But enough wind-up …

 

US v. Wrensford [July 31] — criminal — reversal in part — Shwartz

The Third Circuit held that a defendant was arrested for Fourth Amendment purposes when he was involuntarily taken to a police station and held in a cell. Seems obvious, but the district court ruled to the contrary. The court vacated his criminal conviction and remanded. The court affirmed a co-defendant’s convictions on various grounds.

Joining Shwartz were Greenaway and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were FPD Omodare Jupiter for the prevailing appellant, Martial Webster for the other appellant, and Rhonda Williams-Henry and David White for the government.

 

Haskell v. Superintendent [August 1] — habeas corpus — reversal — Ambro

In this significant habeas corpus opinion, the Third Circuit held that a petitioner who has established a reasonable likelihood that the prosecution’s knowing use of false evidence could have affected the outcome need not also show that the error was not harmless. (Or, for my fellow habeas nerds, once you clear Napue you don’t have to clear Brecht too.) On the merits, the court reversed the district court’s denial of relief. Appallingly, the district court had not even granted a certificate of appealability.

Joining Ambro were Vanaskie and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were AFPD Elisa Long for the appellant and Mark Richmond of the Erie DA’s office for the Commonwealth.

 

EEOC v. City of Long Branch [August 2] — civil procedure — reversal — Chagares

The Third Circuit summarized its decision vacating a district court ruling in an EEOC enforcement suit thus:

The EEOC raises two issues on appeal: (1) whether Long Branch is precluded from contesting the motion to enforce because it failed to exhaust its administrative remedies ***, and (2) whether the EEOC may disclose information from the noncharging parties’ employment and personnel records to Lt. Johnson ***. Despite the compelling nature of these issues, we will not reach them because of a procedural error committed by the District Court: the District Court erroneously treated the motion to enforce that the Magistrate Judge had reviewed as a nondispositive motion instead of a dispositive motion. This is a meaningful distinction under the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. § 631, et seq., as the categorization of motion dictates, inter alia, the level of authority with which a magistrate judge may act on a motion and the availability and standard of review afforded by the District Court and our Court.

Joining Chagares were Ambro and Fuentes. The case was decided without oral argument.

 

Ildefonso-Candelario v. AG [August 3] — immigration — reversal — Stearns

The Third Circuit held that a conviction under Pennsylvania’s obstruction-of-justice statute, 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. 5101, is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude because it sweeps in non-fraudulent conduct. The court firmly rejected the government’s request to remand without decision to let the BIA reconsider its ruling.

Joining Stearns (D. Mass., sitting by designation) were Jordan and Krause. Arguing counsel were Daniel Conklin of the Shagin Law Group for the petitioner and Rebecca Phillips for the government.

 

Blackledge v. Blackledge [August 3] — family — affirmance — Krause

The Third Circuit rejected a father’s appeal from denial of his petition alleging that the mother violated an international treaty by retaining custody of their son.

Joining Krause were Ambro and Nygaard. Arguing counsel for the father was former Fisher clerk M. Patrick Yingling of Reed Smith; Barbara Ernsberger of Behrend & Ernsberger argued for the mother. The opinion thanked the father’s counsel for accepting the court’s appointment in the case and for their “excellent briefing and argument.”

 

Millhouse v. Heath [August 4] — prisoner civil rights — reversal — Cowen

The mean-spirited Prison Litigation Reform Act contains a provision — the PLRA’s three strikes rule — that poor prisoners cannot qualify for the same reduced filing fees as any other poor litigants if they previously filed three or more prisoner suits that were deemed frivolous, because it’s so fair to punish people who are poor and lawyer-less for not accurately assessing the strength of their potential legal claims.

Last week, a partially divided Third Circuit panel held that a prisoner was entitled to file in forma pauperis despite having more than 3 prior suits dismissed as frivolous because (1) the number of PLRA strikes must be assessed as of the time the notice of appeal is filed and (2) dismissals without prejudice for failure to state a claim do not count as strikes. Judge Ambro disagreed on both points but would have reached the same result through equitable tolling.

Joining Cowen was Restrepo, with Ambro dissenting in part. Arguing counsel were Stephen Fogdall of Schnader Harrison for the prisoner and Timothy Judge for the government. The opinion thanked Fogdall and his Schnader co-counsel Emily Hanlon for their “excellent work” as pro bono counsel appointed by the court.

 

US v. Ferriero [August 4] — criminal — affirmance — Scirica

The Third Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of a New Jersey county politico convicted of violating the Travel Act, RICO, and the wire fraud statute by lobbying on behalf of commercial clients without disclosing his own financial interest. In a lengthy opinion, the court rejected various challenges to the convictions, including the defendant’s quite plausible-sounding argument that failing to disclose his interest cannot constitute making a false or fraudulent misrepresentation under the wire fraud statute. The court also rejected the defendant’s arguments relying on McDonnell v. United States.

Joining Scirica were Hardiman and Rosenthal SD Tex by designation. Arguing counsel were Peter Goldberger for the defendant and Bruce Keller for the government.

 

US v. Chapman [August 4] — criminal — affirmance — Greenaway

The Third Circuit held that a conviction for mailing a threat to injure constitutes a crime of violence under the Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Jordan concurred “to express dismay at the ever-expanding application of the categorical approach.”

Joining Greenaway were Jordan and Rendell. Arguing counsel were Ronald Krauss of the MDPA federal defender for the defendant and unfairly blocked Third Circuit nominee Rebecca Ross Haywood for the government.

 

In re: AE Liquidation [August 4] — civil — affirmance — Krause

The opinion’s introduction says it best:

This case arises from the bankruptcy and subsequent
closing of a jet aircraft manufacturer, and requires us to assess
that manufacturer’s obligation under the Worker Adjustment
and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, 29 U.S.C. §§
2101-2109, to give fair warning to its employees before
effecting a mass layoff. On appeal, we are asked to determine
whether a business must notify its employees of a pending
layoff once the layoff becomes probable—that is, more likely
than not—or if the mere foreseeable possibility that a layoff
may occur is enough to trigger the WARN Act’s notice
requirements. Because we conclude that a probability of
layoffs is necessary, and the manufacturer has demonstrated
that its closing was not probable until the day that it occurred,
it cannot be held liable for its failure to give its employees
requisite notice. Accordingly, we will affirm ***

Joining Krause were Fisher and Greenberg. Arguing counsel were Jack Raisner of New York for the appellants and Barry Klayman of Cozen O’Connor for the appellees.

 

Real Alternatives v. Secretary DHHS [August 4] — civil — affirmance — Rendell

A sharply split Third Circuit panel held last week that a secular anti-abortion group with no religious affiliation was not entitled to the same exemption as houses of worship from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employer-provided health insurance include contraceptive services. The court also held that employees’ religious beliefs are not substantially burdened by the ACA’s contraception mandate. The majority answered both questions “[a]fter careful review, but without any hesitation.” A petition for certiorari seems a certainty and I sure wouldn’t bet against a grant.

Joining Rendell was Greenaway. Jordan dissented as to the rejection of the employees’ claims. Both authors are at the top of their game. Arguing counsel were Matthew Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom for the employer and employees and Joshua Salzman for the government.

New opinion — Third Circuit hammers IJ for hostile asylum hearing

Serrano-Alberto v. AG — immigration — reversal — Krause

Appellate judging is a cerebral job. But good judges retain the capacity to be outraged by outrageous things. Today, the Third Circuit issued an opinion brimming with outrage, condemning the shabby way an immigration judge treated a man seeking asylum and remanding to give him a new chance to present his case.

The man seeking asylum was a famous El Salvadoran soccer player who was extorted for money by the MS13 gang. When he stopped paying, they began trying in earnest to kill him and his family. Eventually he fled to the U.S., was caught, sought asylum pro se, and got a hearing before longtime immigration judge Mirlande Tadal.

Today’s opinion recounted the asylum hearing in devastating detail, identifying the IJ by name and ultimately concluding that her conduct involved “a hostile and demeaning tone, a focus on issues irrelevant to the merits, brow beating, and continual interruptions.” Further: “the pervasiveness and egregiousness of the … problematic conduct here … evinced bias and created an intolerable atmosphere of intimidation.” On this record, the court held that the IJ’s conduct deprived the petitioner of his due process right to a fair hearing before an impartial arbiter.

Joining Krause were Vanaskie and Nygaard. Arguing counsel were Zachary Nightingale of California for the petitioner and Lindsay Murphy for the government.

New opinions — an immigration reversal and 1L property-class flashbacks

Flores v. AG — immigration — reversal — Fuentes

Our government decided to remove a Guatemalan woman who had pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder — she saw her jealous ex-boyfriend kill her current boyfriend, but did not tell police because because the murderer threatened to kill her and her 3-year daughter if she did. She contested her removal because “her father, who had physically and sexually abused her as a child, wanted to kill her” and “she had been raped by members of a local gang immediately following her previous removal to Guatemala.” The BIA ruled against her on the grounds that her conviction was related to obstruction of justice and thus so serious that she was ineligible for withholding of removal. The Third Circuit today reversed in a thorough and compelling opinion.

Joining Fuentes was Ambro; Shwartz dissented. Arguing counsel were Marcia Kasdan for the petitioner and Andrew Insenga for the government.

US v. Cardaci — property / tax — partial affirmance — Jordan

I could be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this sentence in a court opinion before: “To give one admittedly extreme example, it stands to reason that a healthy twenty-six-year-old wife would have a greater interest in a life estate than would her ailing eighty-nine-year old husband.” Will today’s opinion containing that sentence become the leading case for this proposition? I’m eager to find out.

After a husband’s business nosedived and he failed to pay around $80,000 in taxes, the government sued him for back taxes, seeking a forced sale of the home where he lived with his wife. The district court decided the husband’s share of the jointly owned house wasn’t worth enough and instead ordered the husband to start paying the government rent instead. Today, the Third Circuit held that the district court did have the power to order a forced sale of a jointly owned house in New Jersey, but it remanded for reconsideration of the remedy.

Joining Jordan were Greenaway and Rendell. Arguing counsel were Julie Avetta (subject of this 2009 Washington Post “OnLove” essay, and also an accomplished classical singer) for the government and Anthony Monzo of Monzo Catanese for the homeowners.

Three big new opinions by Judge Hardiman

In re: Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park — civil — reversal — Hardiman

Pennsylvania law bars insurance companies from paying out fire insurance to a “named insured” if the owner of the property owes back taxes on it. The main purpose of this law, the Third Circuit noted today, is to keep property owners from profiting from arson.

This appeal arose from a fire at a beach club owned by one corporation and operated by another. The operator insured the club against fire damage, there was a fire, and the operator submitted a claim. It emerged that the owner owed taxes on the property; the non-payment happened long before the operator ever entered the picture. But the upshot was that the vast majority of the operator’s insurance payout — hundreds of thousands of dollars — went to various government bodies to pay off the owner’s back taxes, not to cover the fire losses of the operator who paid the policy. Not surprisingly, the operator sued. (The suit was transferred to bankruptcy court when the owner filed for bankruptcy.)

The district court ruled that the operator was entitled to the insurance payout because the PA statute was ambiguous and the legislative intent was to apply it only to insureds who were themselves the tax-delinquent property owners. Today, the Third Circuit reversed, holding that the plain language of the statute required it to be applied to any named insured and rejecting the operator’s argument that the outcome violated the takings clause. The court left the door open for the operator to try to recover money from the owner in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Now, I’m no insurance expert, but I suspect this holding could create a giant mess for Pennsylvania. Does the Third Circuit’s reading of PA law mean that now every would-be tenant in the state needs to research and then monitor their property owner’s property tax payments or face catastrophic loss from denial of fire-insurance proceeds they bought and paid for in perfect good faith? Is that realistic? How many PA tenants don’t even know the identity of their property owner? Do PA tenants need to insist that future property leases require the owners to be and stay current on property taxes as a lease condition? What about current leases? Unless I’m mistaken, the consequences of today’s paean to plain meaning could be broad and profoundly disruptive.

The opinion does not address these concerns, but it defends its holding with a policy argument of its own, warning that the insurer’s “interpretation could incentivize an end run around Section 638 by permitting unscrupulous owners to use the corporate form to collect insurance proceeds without satisfying their delinquent taxes.” Fair point. But, in my view, the problem the court avoids is nothing compared to the problems it creates. If the operator seeks en banc rehearing, I think it deserves a serious look.

Joining Hardiman were Fisher and Greenaway. Arguing counsel were John Mizner for the operator-insured and Arthur Martinucci of Quinn Buseck for the appellants.

 

Cazun v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Rendell

The Third Circuit today affirmed the denial of an asylum applicant’s appeal, upholding the government’s rule that aliens subject to reinstated removal orders are ineligible to apply for asylum. Although the panel was unanimous on the outcome, it divided along ideological lines on the rationale. The majority found the statute ambiguous and applied Chevron deference to the agency’s interpretation, but the concurrence in the judgment found the statute unambiguous and thus that Chevron was inapplicable.

Joining Rendell was McKee; Hardiman concurred in the judgment. Arguing counsel were Keren Zwick of the National Immigrant Justice Center for the asylum applicant and Carmel Morgan for the government.

 

US ex rel. Gerasimos Petratos v. Genentech — civil / qui tam — affirmance — Hardiman

The Third Circuit issued a significant False Claims Act ruling yesterday, affirming on alternative grounds the district court’s dismissal of a pharmaceutical qui tam action.

The appeal arose from a drug company’s marketing of its “multi-billion dollar cancer drug” Avastin; the company’s head healthcare data analyst alleged that the company concealed key information about the drug’s side effects, which resulted in doctors prescribing the drug more often and the government paying out more Medicare claims. The analyst then sued under the False Claims Act.

The district court dismissed the suit on falsity grounds based on its view that the analyst had to prove that how the drug was used had been rejected by the FDA, not by individual doctors. The Third Circuit disagreed, holding that the district court had conflated two different statutory standards. But the Third Circuit affirmed on alternative grounds, holding that the suit failed on materiality grounds under the recent USSC Escobar decision, essentially because the government continued paying out Medicare claims even after the analyst revealed his information. The court concluded, “Petratos’s allegations may be true and his concerns may be well founded—but a False Claims Act suit is not the appropriate way to address them.”

Joining Hardiman were Scirica and Rosenthal SDTX by designation. Arguing counsel were Matthew McCrary of San Francisco for the appellants, Mark Mosier of Covington & Burling for the company, and Weili Shaw for the government.

UPDATE: this post on JDSupra calls Genentech a “gift to qui tam defendants” because it relied on the government’s non-intervention as evidence that the alleged wrong was immaterial. The post asserts that the government chooses to intervene in less than 25 percent of cases, and “No authority has ever suggested … before” that non-intervention suggests immateriality.

New opinions — Third Circuit reverses in an immigration appeal and rejects the government’s jurisdictional challenge in a criminal appeal

Myrie v. AG — immigration — reversal — Ambro

Jarndyce and Jarndyce, I just learned from Wikipedia, is “a fictional court case from the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens” which “has become a byword for seemingly interminable legal proceedings.”

The Third Circuit invoked that fictional case today in an opinion sending back — for a fifth time — a Panamanian citizen’s challenge to removal. From the start, the man has argued that, if sent back to Panama, gangs there would target him with impunity. This time, the basis for reversal was that the Board of Immigration erroneously reviewed only for clear error his claim that he likely would be tortured with official acquiescence if removed; the Third Circuit held that this was a mixed question of law and fact that the BIA should have instead reviewed de novo. The court also directed the BIA to consider the petitioner’s circumstantial evidence of official acquiescence to torture.

Joining Ambro were Chagares and Fuentes. Arguing counsel were Nathanael Kibler of Tennessee for the petitioner and Erica Miles for the government.

 

US v. Rodriguez — criminal — affirmance — Restrepo

The Third Circuit today affirmed a district’s denial of a motion for a sentencing reduction. The defendant argued that it was substantively unreasonable for the district court to deny his motion for a sentencing reduction based on a change to the Sentencing Guidelines after his sentencing. The most significant aspect of today’s ruling was that the court rejected the government’s argument that it lacked jurisdiction to review the appellate claims like the one raised here, joining three circuits and splitting with one.

Joining Restrepo were Chagares and Roth. Arguing counsel were Ronald Krauss of the MDPA federal defenders for the defendant and MDPA AUSA Carlo Marchioli for the government.

Three new opinions, including an immigration reversal

Chavez-Alvarez v. AG — immigration — reversal — Ambro

Years after a lawful permanent resident was convicted by a military court of sodomy and other crimes, the government sought to deport him on the theory (among others) that his sodomy conviction was for a crime involving moral turpitude. The BIA upheld removal, “determining that because Chavez-Alvarez’s particular crime was subject to a sentence enhancement because it was committed forcibly, and because the application of the enhancement in his case was the “functional equivalent” of a conviction for the enhanced offense, he was convicted of forcible sodomy.”

Today, the Third Circuit reversed. Applying the categorical approach, the court ruled that a military conviction for sodomy did not require proof of force and, given Lawrence v. Texas, was not a crime involving moral turpitude. The court rejected the argument that the president’s military sentencing guidelines functioned to create separate offenses for categorial-approach analysis.

Joining Ambro were Vanaskie and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Craig Shagin of the Shagin Law Group for the petitioner — by my quick count, this is the fourth CA3 published win for Shagin since 2015! — and Sabatino Leo of the DOJ for the government.

 

Fried v. JP Morgan Chase — civil — affirmance — Ambro

In my book, this is opinion-introduction perfection:

Ginnine Fried bought a home in 2007 for $553,330. It was near high tide in the real estate market, but she had to believe she was getting a bargain, as an appraisal estimated the home’s value to be $570,000. Fried borrowed $497,950 at a fixed interest rate to make her purchase and mortgaged the home as collateral. Because the loan-to-purchase-price ratio ($497,950 / $553,330) was more than 80%, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”), the servicer for Fried’s mortgage (that is, the entity who performs the day-to-day tasks for the loan, including collecting payments), required her to obtain private mortgage insurance. Fried had to pay monthly premiums for that insurance until the ratio reached 78%; in other words, the principal of the mortgage loan needed to reduce to $431,597, which was projected to happen just before March 2016.

We now know that the housing market crashed in 2008, and the value of homes dropped dramatically. Fried, like many homeowners, had trouble making mortgage payments. Help came when Chase modified Fried’s mortgage under a federal aid program by reducing the principal balance to $463,737. The rub was that Chase extended Fried’s mortgage insurance premiums an extra decade to 2026. Whether it could do this depends on how we interpret the Homeowners Protection Act (“Protection Act”), 12 U.S.C. § 4901 et seq. Does it permit a servicer to rely on an updated property value, estimated by a broker, to recalculate the length of a homeowner’s mortgage insurance obligation following a modification or must the ending of that obligation remain tied to the initial purchase price of the home? We conclude the Protection Act requires the latter.

Joining Ambro were Vanaskie and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Jonathan Massey of Massey & Gail (the attorney who won the Chavez en banc last year) for the bank and Antonio Vozzolo of NJ for the homeowner.

 

Edinboro College Park Apts. v. Edinboro University Foundation — antitrust / sovereign immunity — partial reversal — Smith

When apartment owners sued a state university’s foundation and its president for conspiring to monopolize the student-housing market, the defendants asserted they were state actors immune from antitrust liability. Today, the Third Circuit agreed because the university’s anticompetitive conduct conformed to a clearly articulated state policy and the foundations were directed by the university.

Joining Smith were McKee and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Matthew Wolford of PA for the apartment owners, Matthew McCullough of MacDonald Illig for the foundation, and Kemal Mericli of the PA AG for the president.

 

New opinion — Third Circuit clarifies appellate immigration jurisdiction

Park v. AG — immigration — dismissal — Fuentes

South Korean citizen Sang Goo Park entered the US on a visitor’s visa, and the visa stated that he had been employed at an electronics company when in truth he was a cook. The discrepancy came to light some years later when Park filed an approved petition from his employer to adjust his status. In what seems like an insane misallocation of government resources, the government decided to deport him over this, and years upon years of litigation ensued.

The issue in today’s appeal is crisply summarized in the opinion’s introduction (cite omitted):

He now claims that, in the years since the removal order, he has become eligible for a “§ 212(i)” waiver of inadmissibility. He would like the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA” or “Board”) to reopen his removal proceedings so that he might apply for the waiver, but he faces an imposing obstacle. Because of the passage of time, his only route to reopening lies through 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(a), commonly known as the “sua sponte” reopening provision. Under that regulation, the BIA may reopen a case at any time. The BIA has held, however, that it will do so only in extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the BIA’s discretion in this area is broad—so broad, in fact, that we have no meaningful way to review it, thereby depriving us of jurisdiction over orders denying sua sponte reopening.

Park’s petition invokes one of the limited exceptions to the rule against review. He argues, as he did before the agency, that the BIA has consistently reopened sua sponte for aliens like him who have become eligible for relief from removal after their cases have ended. By ruling consistently in this way, Park contends, the BIA has established a rule or “settled course of adjudication” that it is now bound to follow, or at least from which the BIA may not depart without explaining itself. Park also points to our two precedential opinions interpreting this “settled course” exception, Chehazeh v. Att’y Gen. and Cruz v. Att’y Gen., as weighing in favor of our ability to review the BIA’s decision.

Park’s petition gives us an opportunity to clarify our jurisprudence surrounding the “settled course” exception, which originated over a decade ago but has existed since without a framework. In part, this requires us to interpret Chehazeh and Cruz, which Park reads as being broader than they actually are (a mistake he is not alone in making).

The opinion noted that Third Circuit non-precedential opinons have applied the settled course exception inconsistently, sometimes suggesting that a bare allegation was enough to confer appellate jurisdiction. The court rejected that approach, holding that a petitioner seeking to invoke the exception must establish that the BIA limited its discretion through a settled course, and explaining that this showing must be such that the BIA’s ruling “can be meaningfully reviewed” and “must be persuasive enough to allow the reasonable inference that the BIA’s discretion has in fact been limited.” Applying this framework, the court held that Park’s showing failed and dismissed his petition.

Joining Fuentes were Ambro and Shwartz. Surprisingly, the case was decided without oral argument; petitioner’s counsel was David Kim of New York.

New opinions — an immigration win and two criminal-appeal affirmances

Rodriguez v. AG — immigration — petition granted — Shwartz

The Third Circuit today granted a Domincan Republic citizen’s petition for review because the conviction that triggered his removal proceedings had been vacated and the notice of removal did not say that his placement in a deferred adjudication program supported removal.

Shwartz was joined by Ambro and Fuentes. The case was decided without argument; winning counsel was Fabian Lima.

 

US v. Robinson — criminal — partial affirmance — Roth

A divided Third Circuit panel today affirmed a criminal conviction but remanded, after the government’s concession of error and with no analysis, for a re-determination of whether the defendant is a career offender. The key issue on appeal was whether a defendant who uses a gun during a Hobbs Act robbery commits a “crime of violence” per 18 USC 924(c). The court held that the gun-use crime qualifies as a crime of violence when the defendant is tried and convicted together of both gun use and robbery.

Roth was joined by McKee; Fuentes concurred in part and concurred in the judgment. Arguing counsel were Brett Sweitzer of the EDPA federal defender for the defendant and Bernadette McKeon for the government.

 

US v. Galati — criminal — affirmance — Roth

A similar panel affirmed another criminal conviction against a similar challenge brought by the same counsel. The panel expressly followed the Robinson decision described above and described this case as bearing a striking resemblance.

Joining Roth were McKee and Jordan. Arguing counsel were Brett Sweitzer for the defendant and Mark Coyne for the government.

 

New opinions — “crime of violence” deportation trigger is unconstitutionally vague

Baptiste v. AG — immigration — reversal — Greenaway

The Third Circuit held that the statutory “crime of violence” standard, like the armed-career-criminal residual clause, is unconstitutionally vague. This holding deepens a circuit split. The court ruled that the petitioner here still is deportable, though, because he was convicted of two ‘crimes involving moral turpitude.’

Joining Greenaway were Scirica and Rendell. Arguing counsel were Dickinson School of Law student Penelope Scudder of for the petitioner and Jesse Bless for the government.

 

US v. Henderson — criminal — affirmance — Vanaskie

The Third Circuit today upheld a district court’s ruling that a criminal defendant was an armed career criminal (and thus subject to a much more severe sentence), holding that PA’s Controlled Substance Act — sorry, what follows is gibberish unless you do criminal appeals —  is divisible and thus subject to the modified categorical approach. The case was argued just over a year ago.

Joining Vanaskie were Fuentes and Jordan. Arguing counsel were Renee Pietropaolo for the defendant and Laura Irwin for the government.

New opinions — an immigration reversal on aggravated felonies and a sentencing reversal on loss amount

Singh v. AG — immigration — reversal — Scirica

The Third Circuit today held that a Pa. conviction for possession of counterfeit drugs with intent to deliver is not an aggravated felony that would make the person convicted ineligible for discretionary relief from removal. The court held that the BIA erred by not applying the modified categorical approach. The court granted the petition for review and remanded.

Joining Scirica were Ambro and Jordan. Arguing counsel were Craig Shagin for the petitioner and Elizabeth Chapman for the government.

 

US v. Free — criminal sentencing — reversal — Fuentes

Here’s one you don’t see every day. A guy with plenty of money to pay his debts filed for bankruptcy and hid hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets, except he still had enough assets to pay his creditors in full. Not for nothing does the Third Circuit describe this as “bizarre.” The asset-hiding led to criminal convictions for bankruptcy fraud and a two-year sentence.

The issue in today’s appeal was how to calculate the loss amount for sentencing purposes, given that the creditors lost nothing. The district court used the amount the defendant concealed and the amount of debt he sought to discharge in bankruptcy. The Third Circuit reversed for resentencing, ruling that the loss amount is the amount the creditors lost or the amount the defendant intended to gain. The court noted that the resentencing court still could impose the same sentence, even without any loss enhancement, through an upward departure for lying and disrespect to the court. The court rejected as “too clever by half” his argument that the absence of loss rendered the evidence legally insufficient.

Joining Fuentes were Shwartz and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Martin Dietz for the defendant and Laura Irwin for the government.

 

 

New opinion — Court rejects necessity requirement for class certification

Gayle v. Warden Monmouth County Corr. Inst. — immigration / class action / jurisdiction — reversal — Krause

Today’s lone published opinion was issued by a panel comprised of Judges Fuentes, Krause, and Roth, which sat in February. It’s the third precedential opinion issued by that panel in the past week (Johnson and Hoffman are the other two), and all three are biggies. I went back and looked, and this is the ninth precedential opinion issued by that panel!  (Others include the kindergardener-abduction case, a criminal-sentencing appeal I described as “exceptionally aggressive,” and a big Fourth Amendment home search case.) I don’t normally track such things, but nine published opinions (and counting?) from one panel sitting has to be some kind of a record.

Anyway, today’s opinion arises from a class action suit challenging a federal statute imposing mandatory detention of aliens who have committed certain crimes. The facts and procedural history are complicated, but the gist of it is that the Court ruled today that the district erred by deciding the merits of the suit long after the class representatives’ claims had become moot, depriving both the district court and the Third Circuit of jurisdiction over the entire case except for a motion for class certification. (Oops.) The Court further held that the district court erroneously denied certification based on its view that a class action was “unnecessary” — noting a circuit split, the court held that necessity is not a freestanding basis for denying certification.

Krause was joined by Fuentes and Roth. Arguing counsel were Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project for the class and Elizabeth Stevens for the government.

New opinions: a big immigration win for the government, and a little preemption circuit split

Castro v. U.S. D.H.S. — immigration — affirmance — Smith

The Third Circuit issued a blockbuster immigration ruling today, holding that (1) federal courts lack jurisdiction to review challenges to expedited removal orders, and (2) the statute depriving courts of such jurisdiction does not violate the Suspension Clause.

On the statutory issue, the court joined a majority of courts to address the issue, citing opinions from the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits and rejecting opinions from the Ninth Circuit and two district courts.

On the Suspension Clause issue, the court admitted it was “very difficult.” The opinion summarized the issue thus:

Petitioners argue that the answer to the ultimate question presented on appeal – whether § 1252 violates the Suspension Clause – can be found without too much effort in the Supreme Court’s Suspension Clause jurisprudence, especially in I.N.S. v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001), and Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008), as well as in a series of cases from what has been termed the “finality era.” The government, on the other hand, largely views these cases as inapposite, and instead focuses our attention on what has been called the “plenary power doctrine” and on the Supreme Court cases that elucidate it. The challenge we face is to discern the manner in which these seemingly disparate, and perhaps even competing, constitutional fields interact. Ultimately, and for the reasons we will explain below, we conclude that Congress may, consonant with the Constitution, deny habeas review in federal court of claims relating to an alien’s application for admission to the country, at least as to aliens who have been denied initial entry or who, like Petitioners, were apprehended very near the border and, essentially, immediately after surreptitious entry into the country.

Joining Smith were Hardiman and Shwartz. Hardiman also briefly concurred dubitante to express doubt about the opinion’s reasoning on the Suspension Clause issue. Arguing counsel were Lee Gelernt of the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project for the appellants and Erez Reuveni for the government. A large number of amici participated, represented by an impressive array of local and national counsel, and the opinion thanked amici for their valuable contributions.

Given its importance, the case is an obvious candidate for a petition for en banc rehearing, but the panel composition makes me suspect that finding a majority for rehearing will be difficult.

Update: Steve Vladeck has early commentary on the opinion in a post on his Just Security blog here. And it’s harsh commentary: “incredibly novel and misleading,” “simply nuts,” and “hopefully, a strong candidate for en banc review.”

Update2: Noah Feldman has this critical commentary (“The decision is wrong, and the U.S. Supreme Court should review it”) on Bloomberg View.

Rosenberg v. DVI Receivables XVII — civil — reversal — Ambro

Today the Third Circuit held that § 303(i) of the bankruptcy code does not preempt state-law claims predicated on the filing of an involuntary bankruptcy petition by non-debtors. The opinion creates a circuit split with the Ninth Circuit.

Joining Ambro were Jordan and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Lewis Pepperman of Stark & Stark for the appellants and Peter Levitt of Florida for the appellees.

A notable non-precedential immigration case, highlighting an “unfortunate mistake” by government counsel

In a non-precedential opinion today in Chang-Cruz v. AG, the Third Circuit ruled in favor of an Ecuadoran citizen legally in the U.S. who argued that he’s eligible for cancellation of removal because his state convictions for drug-trafficking-related acts near a school were not aggravated felonies. Judge Krause wrote the opinion, joined by Judges Ambro and Nygaard.

Any pro-petitioner immigration ruling is noteworthy, but the end of today’s opinion is particularly interesting:

In closing, we note our expectation that on remand and in future cases the Government will refrain from engaging in the problematic conduct that has marked its performance here. The last time this case was before us, the Justice Department requested and we granted a remand to the BIA for the limited purpose of the BIA considering “what effect, if any, Descamps has on this immigration case.” J.A. 619. Once back before the BIA, however, the Government asserted that Descamps was inapplicable and instead proceeded to argue that the plea transcript was relevant to whether Chang-Cruz should receive discretionary relief, along with an inadequate explanation for why it failed to obtain that plea transcript before the IJ rendered her initial decision cancelling Chang-Cruz’s removal. These were issues well outside the scope of our remand. See Pareja v. Att’y Gen., 615 F.3d 180, 197 (3d Cir. 2010). Most troubling, however, is the Government’s resort before the BIA to a frivolous argument that Chang-Cruz engaged in “obstructionism” by opposing the Government’s remand to the IJ to consider the plea transcript. See J.A. 879. It comports with neither the professionalism nor the ethical mandates of Government counsel to chill vigorous advocacy by asserting that an alien who avails himself of the congressionally prescribed opportunity to seek cancellation of removal thereby loses the privilege of cancellation. We trust that this was an unfortunate mistake that will not be repeated.

 

New opinion — can the government deport you for threatening to slap someone? [updated]

Javier v. AG — immigration — deny and dismiss — Greenaway

At the government’s request, the Third Circuit today issued as precedential an opinion it previously had issued as non-precedential,  holding that a conviction under Pennsylvania’s terroristic-threats statute (18 Pa Cons. Stat. 2706(a)(1)) categorically qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude to support removal. The statute makes it a crime to “communicate[], either directly or indirectly, a threat to: [] commit any crime of violence with intent to terrorize another.” The court rejected the petitioner’s argument that, because “any crime of violence” includes simple assault and because simple assault is not turpitudinous, therefore the statute included non-turpitudinous conduct. The court reasoned that the turpitude derives from the intent to terrorize. The opinion disagreed with a 2010 non-precedential opinion, Larios v. AG, 402 F. App’x 705 (3d Cir. 2010) (Jordan, joined by Fuentes and Aldisert).

Joining Greenaway were Vanaskie and Shwartz. The case was decided without oral argument.

UPDATE:

The title of my original post about today’s opinion in Javier was, “can the government deport you for threatening to slap someone?”

The court’s answer to that question is that, yes, you can be deported for threatening to slap someone, even though you can’t be deported for actually slapping someone, because an element of a conviction for threats is intent to terrorize.

But the Javier opinion’s reasoning contains a serious gap, in my view: does “intent to terrorize” require anything more, under Pennsylvania law, than ‘intent to make the person think you actually will assault them’? Because, if it doesn’t, then I see no sense in saying assaults aren’t categorically turpitudinous but mere threats to assault are. After all, we’d all agree that hitting someone is worse than making them afraid that you’re going to hit them, no?

I’m not an expert on Pennsylvania criminal law, so I don’t know if “intent to terrorize” requires more than the fear that would result from any believed threat of assault, but the opinion’s failure to discuss the point is concerning.

New opinions — an en banc ruling in the Double Eagle gold coins case, plus an immigration case

Langbord v. US Dept. of the Treasury — civil — affirmance — Hardiman

The en banc Third Circuit ruled that the government was allowed to keep 10 extremely rare and valuable Double Eagle gold coins it seized from the family that had handed them over for authentication. Previously a divided panel (Rendell and McKee with Sloviter dissenting) had ruled for the family. It’s an unusual en banc case in that covers a dizzying list of appellate issues, many of them fact-bound.

The court split 8+1 to 3. Joining Hardiman were Ambro, Fuentes, Smith, Fisher, Chagares, Vanaskie, and Shwartz. Jordan concurred in part and concurred in the judgment, describing the Mint’s strategy of claiming the coins without judicial authorization as “a bad idea.” Rendell with McKee and Krause dissented, criticizing the majority’s reasoning as “at best cryptic and, at worst, sets an incorrect and dangerous precedent that would allow the Government to nullify CAFRA’s provisions at will.”

Arguing counsel were Barry Berke for the family and Robert Zauzmer for the government.

An interesting and odd case.

 

Sunday v. AG — immigration — petition denied — Chagares

The Third Circuit held that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not grant the Attorney General authority to grant a waiver of inadmissibility, and it held that removal cannot be unconstitutionally disproportionate punishment because it is not punishment.

Joining Chagares were Fisher and Barry. Arguing counsel were Keith Whitson of Schnader Harrison in Pittsburgh for the petitioner and Andrew Oliveira for the government.

New opinions — government can deny citizenship for false statements on old immigration applications

The Third Circuit has had a flurry of published immigration opinions in recent weeks, and today brings two more, both government wins.

Saliba v. AG — immigration — affirmance — Greenberg

A citizen of Syria falsely claimed to be a citizen of Lebanon when applying for temporary US residency. The deception got him temporary status and later legal permanent residence, but it was caught when he applied for citizenship. The district court denied his petition challenging citizenship denial, and today the Third Circuit affirmed in a lucid and well-reasoned opinion that is two-spaces-after-the-period away from violating every rule of good typography.

Joining Greenberg were Ambro and Jordan. The case was decided without oral argument, which seems like a missed opportunity because losing counsel speaks six languages.

 

Koszelnik v. Secretary of Dep’t of Homeland Security — immigration — affirmance — Roth

Stop me if this sounds familiar: a citizen of Poland falsely answered a question on a visa application and as a result gained permanent residency, but the falsehood was later caught when he applied for U.S. citizenship. The district court ruled against him, and the Third Circuit today affirmed, noting in a footnote:

Two panels of this Court are filing opinion in Koszelnik v. Secretary, No. 14-4816, and Saliba v. Attorney General, No. 15-3769, on this day dealing with similar issues. Each opinion is a further precedent supporting the other opinion.

(Saliba had a subtantially identical footnote.)

Joining Roth were Fuentes and Krause. Arguing counsel were John Bleimaier of Princeton for the appellant and Neelam Ihsanullah (who I suspect is no longer a member of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild) for the government.

 

If someone approaches you today with this offer — “I will give you $10 if you successfully predict one published opinion for which the Third Circuit will not grant rehearing en banc, but if you lose you have to pay $1,000″ — consider taking a flier on today’s opinions.

Three new immigration opinions

Three published opinions today — all three were immigration appeals, all three involved Hispanic petitioners, all three were decided without oral argument, and all three were government wins.

Bedolla Avila v. AG — immigration — denial — Smith

The Third Circuit issued an opinion applying the convoluted analysis to decide whether a crime counts as an aggravated felony for purposes of removal. First, the court attempts to apply the formal categorical approach to the statute of conviction. But sometimes the statute of conviction is divisible, and in which case the court departs from formal categorical approach and instead uses a modified categorical approach. (If those terms are Greek, they’re explained in the opinion.) Here, the court held that the petitioner was convicted under a divisible statute and used modified categorical analysis to identify the crime of conviction. Having identified the crime he was convicted of, the court then had to decide if it was an aggravated felony, as follows:

there are two independent but valid routes by which an offense may be found to qualify as an aggravated felony. The first, the illicit trafficking route, provides that a crime is an aggravated felony if it is a felony under state law and contains a trafficking element. Id. The second, the hypothetical federal felony route, provides that a crime is an aggravated felony if it would qualify as a felony under the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Id.

Applying the hypothetical federal felony route, the court held that the petitioner’s crime was analogous to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and thus qualified as an aggravated felony.

The court also rejected the petitioner’s argument that simultaneous removal proceedings against a person in front of an immigration judge and the Dept of Homeland Security are prohibited.

Joining Smith was McKee and Hardiman. The case was decided without argument; Sandra Greene of Greene Fitzgerald represented the petitioner.

 

Frias-Camilo v. AG — immigration — denial — Jordan

A native of the Dominican Republic was a lawful permanent resident for 7 years before pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine, but he “received no jail sentence, no term of probation, no community service, and owed no fines or fees.” The government in all its wisdom decided to deport him anyway. He argued he was not subject to removal because his guilty plea did not result in any punishment. The Third Circuit disagreed and denied his petition.

Joining Jordan were Ambro and Greenberg. The case was decided without oral argument; counsel for the petitioner was Raymond Lahoud of Barkout & Barkout.

 

Ordonez-Tevalan v. AG — immigration — denial — Greenberg

A Guatamalen woman twice entered the U.S. illegally and was caught both times. She tried to prevent removal the second time by explaining that she came to the U.S. in order to escape an ex-boyfriend who had raped her and threatened to kill her. The Third Circuit rejected her appeal on 3 independent grounds — the immigration judge’s credibility findings against her, her failure to prove that the abuse she feared was the result of her membership in a protected class, and her failure to prove that her abuse was caused or allowed by an official.

The court did rule against the government on a jurisdictional issue. While the Third Circuit petition was pending, the parties jointly moved to reopen proceedings in the Board of Immigration Appeals (apparently to correct an error in the record), and the BIA issued new orders denying relief on the same grounds as before. The petitioners did not file a new petition challenging the new orders, and the government argued that the Third Circuit lacked jurisdiction to review her challenge to the old orders. The court rejected this argument on the ground that the new orders did not alter the prior decisions.

Joining Greenberg were Jordan and Scirica. The case was decided without oral argument; counsel for the petitioners was Carol Donohoe of Reading, Pa.

 

 

 

Divided Third Circuit panel upholds deportation based on special court-martial conviction

Gourzong v. AG — immigration — dismissal — Rendell

Under federal law, a non-citizen can be deported if he was “convicted of an aggravated felony,” and “convicted” requires a judgment of guilt “by a court.” Jamaican native Gurson Gourzong was convicted of an aggravated felony by a special court-martial. Unlike a general court-martial, a special court-martial is not necessarily presided over by a legally trained judge, and the record doesn’t clearly establish whether a legally trained judge presided over Gourzong’s special court martial.

Today, a divided Third Circuit panel held that, because “as a general matter” special courts-martial qualify as courts, therefore the special court-martial conviction here was a judgment by a “court,” and accordingly Gourzong was removable. In a footnote, the panel left open the possibility that aliens could prove their specific special courts-martial were not “courts,” but said Gourzong had made no such showing.

Judge Cowen dissented. The nub of his disagreement came down to his position that it should have been the government’s burden, not the alien’s, to establish that the specific special court-martial at issue qualified as a court. He also disagreed that the special courts-martial typically qualfied as courts, noting that the presiding officers lack military judges’ training and independence. And he criticized the government’s conduct in the case, noting its history of changing its position and its failure to timely file its brief.

Joining Rendell was Fisher; Cowen dissented. Arguing counsel were Craig Shagin of the Shagin Law Group for the petitioner and Jesse Bless for the government. The panel thanked Shagin for agreeing to serve as pro bono counsel for his “excellent advocacy” in the case, and Cowen  praised Shagin as “Gourzong’s able pro bono counsel.”

[As the circuit’s resident typography scold, I register my horror that the majority opinion put its record cites in boldface. My horror is mitigated only partially by the opinion’s use of hard spaces after section symbols.]

New opinions — a major immigration reversal, and an Alito loss

Cen v. Attorney General — immigration — reversal — Krause

The Third Circuit today struck down an immigration regulation, and it’s hard for me to imagine what possessed the government to take the position it did. Here’s the introduction from today’s opinion:

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows a child under the age of twenty-one whose alien parent has married a U.S. citizen abroad to obtain a temporary “K-4” visa to accompany her parent to the United States and, based on the parent’s marriage, to apply to adjust her status to that of a lawful permanent resident. On a petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), we now consider the validity of a regulation that makes it impossible for a child who entered on such a visa to remain with her family and adjust her status from within the United States if she was over the age of eighteen at the time of her parent’s marriage. Because the regulation departs from the plain language of the INA, contravenes congressional intent, and exceeds the permissible scope of the Attorney General’s regulatory authority, we conclude it is invalid. We therefore will grant the petition for review and will reverse and remand to the BIA for further proceedings.

The Seventh Circuit struck down the same regulation in 2013, but the government has continued to enforce it outside that circuit. The Third Circuit today held that the regulation failed at step two of Chevron analysis. The opinion is thorough, and vigorous: “the Government’s reading of § 1255(d) would transform K-4 visas for older K-4 children into nothing more than tourist visas, giving their holders only a glimpse of what life with their families might have been like in America before being sent home because they are legally incapable of fulfilling § 1255(a)(2)’s eligibility requirement. Such a reading defies common sense.”

Joining Krause were Shwartz and Greenberg. Arguing counsel were Scott Bratton for the petitioner and Robert Stalzer for the government.

 

1621 Rt 22 West Operating Co. v. NLRB — labor — affirmance — Jordan

If I were a circuit judge, would I be a little nervous about ruling against a party represented a Supreme Court Justice’s sister? I might. But that’s what the Third Circuit fearlessly did today, ruling in favor of the NLRB in a case where arguing counsel for the petitioner was Rosemary Alito, the Justice’s younger sister and quite a formidible lawyer in her own right.

The appeal arose out of a workplace union election. After the NLRB ruled that the employer engaged in anti-union activities, the employer argued for the first time on appeal that the NLRB’s acting general counsel was serving illegally and therefore his complaint and all that followed were invalid. The Third Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear this argument because it was not exhausted. The court also rejected the employer’s arguments that an NLRB member should have recused because his chief counsel had previously represented the union in this case but did not participate in the NLRB’s review, that its labor practices were legal, and that the NLRB imposed the wrong remedy.

Joining Jordan, who has been on an opinion tear lately, were Ambro and Scirica. Arguing counsel were Alito of K&L Gates for the employer and Jeffrey Burritt and Benjamin Shultz for the government.

New opinion — a petitioner win in an immigration appeal [updated]

Orozco-Velasquez v. Attorney General — immigration — remand — Roth

The Third Circuit issued a late-in the day opinion granting an immigration petition for review and remanding with instructions for the immigration court to consider the petitioner’s application for cancellation of removal. The appeal turned on interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s “stop-time” rule, and the court expressly disagreed with other circuits’ interpretation of the rule.

Joining Roth were McKee and Ambro. Arguing counsel were Amanda Johnson of Dechert for appointed amicus petitioner (the petitioner was pro se) and Robert Tennyson Jr. for the government. The opinion expressed appreciation to Stuart Steinberg and former Van Antwerpen clerk Ryan Moore of Dechert for undertaking the amicus curiae assignment pro bono, and noted that law student Johnson argued “adeptly.” It was issued a year and a week after the oral argument.

UPDATE: Amanda Johnson argued the case as third-year law student participating in Penn Law’s federal appellate litigation externship, supervised by Professor Louis Rulli as well as counsel at Dechert. Here is a Penn Law news release with background on the case.