Court: Despite lender’s use of wrong form, no TILA claim

Stop Not Supported by Visual Speed Estimate

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 3, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge James A. Wynn Jr., Search & Seizure

A deputy’s visual estimate of a driver’s speed – uncorroborated by radar or pacing and unsupported by any other indicia of reliability – did not provide probable cause to stop the driver for driving 75 in a 70-mph zone, and the 4th Circuit says the district court erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress cocaine [...]

Mail Carrier Must Reimburse Comp Pay

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 3, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge James A. Wynn Jr., Municipal

A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier who won a personal-injury lawsuit against a South Carolina town after she fell into a manhole must reimburse the Department of Labor for benefits she received under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act; the 4th Circuit affirms a decision that the town qualifies as a “person other than the U.S.” [...]

Cable Company Did Not Discriminate

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 22, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A regional sports network loses its challenge to an FCC order upholding a cable company’s decision on limited broadcast in North Carolina of Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals baseball games, for which there was limited demand; the 4th Circuit upholds the FCC finding that the cable company did not engage in unlawful discrimination under the [...]

Burden Shifted to School Board

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Parents’ groups that oppose a county school board’s 2011-2012 student assignment plan win their appeal in the 4th Circuit, which says the district court erred by failing to apply, and requiring the school board to rebut, a presumption that racial disparities in the assignment plan resulted from the school board’s prior unconstitutional operation of a [...]

Appeals Court Vacates Removal Order

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 4, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Section 212(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act does not bar an alien who adjusts his status post-entry to lawful permanent resident from seeking a waiver of inadmissibility, and the 4th Circuit grants a petition filed by this married father of three, who obtained lawful resident status prior to his felony conviction and marriage to [...]

‘Three-Strikes’ Prisoner Not Out

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 28, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A federal district court could not remand to state court a prisoner’s pro se filing based in part of plaintiff ’s status as a “three-strikes” prisoner due to his frequent legal filings, and the 4th Circuit reverses the remand order and reinstates plaintiff’s complaint for further proceedings. Plaintiff prisoner sued members of the Chesterfield, S.C., [...]

Qualified Immunity in Abortion Protest Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 7, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

The 4th Circuit upholds a judgment that a local sheriff’s department violated a pro-life group’s First Amendment rights when officers asked group members not to display “large, graphic signs” with aborted fetuses as part of a roadside demonstration, but the appellate court also upholds qualified immunity for defendants. Although the parties have filed cross-appeals, no [...]

No Collateral Review Prior to Court-Martial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 25, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A former soldier who was acquitted of rape and murder as an enlisted man in 1989 on retrial and now faces the same charges again after DNA testing in 2006 implicated him for the same crime, cannot avoid court-martial with a federal habeas petition; the 4th Circuit upholds “Councilman” abstention, as defendant must exhaust all [...]

No ‘Vagueness’ Claim for False ID Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 10, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A defendant who ordered from a private company an identification card that appeared to be a government-issued ID and identified him as a diplomat, and who used this ID for several years to identify himself to Transportation Security Administration officers and to Fairfax County court personnel, has his conviction of producing a false identification document [...]