Criminal Law Library Blog

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CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, SENTENCING
US v. Borden , No. 08-1625
Sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant a sentence reduction where: 1) defendant's sentence was appropriate based upon his extensive criminal history and the need to protect society; and 2) the court did not erroneously rely upon its earlier decision not to resentence defendant as a the basis for the present denial.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, PER CURIAM, SECURITIES LAW
Esquire Trade & Fin., Inc. v. CBQ, Inc., No. 07-1701
In an action for breaches of debenture-related agreements and for securities fraud, district court's grant of summary judgment for defendant on grounds that plaintiff's claims were barred by res judicata is vacated and remanded where the order dismissing the earlier action between plaintiff and a third party does not operate as a res judicata bar to the claims raised in the present action as the required privity between the third party and defendant is not present. Read more...

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW, INTERNATIONAL LAW, MILITARY LAW
Matar v. Dichter, No. 07-2579
In an action brought by survivors of Israeli bombing in Gaza, seeking damages for war crimes and violations of international law, district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims for lack of jurisdiction on grounds that defendant is immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act is affirmed where, although questions exist as to whether the Act applies to former officials like defendant or not, common law principles that predate and survive the enactment of the Act still apply and recognize the immunity of former foreign officials for acts performed in their official capacity.

GOVERNMENT BENEFITS, INSURANCE LAW
Poupoure v. Astrue , No. 08-0659
In a dispute involving disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act, district court judgment affirming the denial of plaintiff's claim is affirmed where: 1) substantial evidence supports the ALJ's determination that plaintiff is not entitled to disability benefits because he retained the ability to perform light work and there is work in the national economy that he can do; 2) the ALJ did not err in finding that the testimony of one of plaintiff's treating physicians was not entitled to significant weight; and 3) substantial evidence supports the finding that plaintiff's subjective complaints of pain were insufficient to establish disability

IMMIGRATION LAW
Johnson v. Holder , No. 07-4629
Petition to review of Board of Immigration Appeal's denial of motion to reopen deportation proceedings is denied where the law of the case doctrine requires that the present court's ruling in an earlier action involving plaintiff must be followed, and thus plaintiff's argument that she need not make an individualized showing of reliance is rejected.

ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY, SANCTIONS
Wolters Kluwer Fin. Serv., Inc. v. Scivantage, No. 07-2491
In an action involving sanctions imposed on a law firm and its partners, district court's judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) sanction against the firm for the voluntary dismissal and the use of deposition transcripts was unjustified absent other specific evidence of the law firm's bad faith; 2) sanction against law firm partner Reiner was in error absent other specific evidence of his intentional misconduct and because his sanctioned actions were procedurally adequate; and 3) court did not abuse its discretion in its sanctions against law firm partner Peters