Appeal of I-81 Widening Project Dismissed

Election Officials Violated NVRA

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 19, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Virginia election officials violated the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to disclose completed voter registration applications with voters’ Social Security numbers redacted; the 4th Circuit affirms a district court decision that Section 8(i)(L) of the NVRA does apply to such applications and defendants violated the NVRA. Plaintiff Project Vote is a nonprofit organization seeking [...]

Church-Service Robbery Justified Religious Comments

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 19, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Although the trial judge at defendants’ trial for armed robbery of Sunday worship services at a North Carolina church made references to religion, those references did not violate defendants’ right to due process, as defendants’ choice to target a church during weekly services “imbued their crime with an undeniably religious character”; the 4th Circuit denies [...]

‘Vulnerable Victim’ Enhancement Approved

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 22, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A defendant who, from a Florida jail, appropriated a social security number and identity belonging to a disabled woman in Florida, has her sentence for social security fraud and aggravated identity theft increased under the sentencing guidelines’ “vulnerable victim” enhancement, in this decision from the 4th Circuit. In 1995, the Sentencing Commission adopted Amendment 521 [...]

Brokers Sued Over MLS Operation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 22, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Antitrust, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The 4th Circuit says plaintiff buyers of real estate brokerage services in South Carolina have stated an antitrust claim under the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, with allegations that defendant brokerages that serve as board members of the local multiple listing service conspired to unfairly restrain market competition. The two putative class actions allege [...]

Denial of DME Coverage Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The 4th Circuit upholds the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ denial of Medicare Part B coverage for the BIO-1000, a device to treat osteoarthritis of the knee, rejecting the claims of the manufacturer’s bankruptcy trustee that the Secretary improperly used the adjudicative process to develop a policy denying coverage and her decisions were arbitrary [...]

Murderer’s ‘Stalking’ Conviction Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A man who terrorized a former high-school girlfriend for more than three decades, and who served time in prison for killing her mother and a friend and wounding a neighbor as the woman fled her West Virginia home in 1975, cannot overturn his conviction on federal firearms charges and for stalking the woman and her [...]

Conviction Affirmed for ‘Citizenship’ Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A Nicaraguan citizen who attempted to assume the identity of a Puerto Rican-born citizen and verbally affirmed to an ICE agent that he would like to make a statement that he was a U.S. citizen, can be convicted of making a claim of citizenship under 18 U.S.C. § 911, the 4th Circuit says. The government [...]

Aircraft Certification is ‘Discretionary’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Tort

A helicopter flight instructor cannot sue the Federal Aviation Administration for alleged harm to his flight instruction business resulting from the FAA’s suspension of an airworthiness certification of the helicopter leased by the instructor; the 4th Circuit affirms the district court’s finding that the FAA inspector’s original certification of the aircraft fell under the FTCA’s [...]

No Defamation Claim for Government Sub

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Contract, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Plaintiff sub-subcontractor on defendant Coast Guard’s Deepwater Acquisition Project cannot sue the Coast Guard for defamation and related tort claims for alleged injuries from termination of its at-will consulting agreement and removal of its name from a list of government contractors; the 4th Circuit says permitting these claims to go forward would reward artful pleading [...]