Where a federal statute generally preempts state law causes of action for goods lost or damaged in transit, a homeowner alleging her household goods were lost or stolen during a move could not escape application of the statute by alleging ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tort

Where a detainee sentenced to death alleged he received ineffective assistance of counsel regarding his decision to plead guilty and the process of sentencing explaining, but his arguments were procedurally defaulted or without merit, his claims were rejected. Background In ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge G. Steven Agee

Where a remediation company filed suit within three years of the date that coverage for its work on a church’s real estate was partially denied, but more than three years from the date of loss, its declaratory judgment and breach ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Roger L. Gregory

Where a church alleged that certain COVID-19 executive orders issued by the Virginia governor violated its religious rights, but the orders expired in June 2020 and the state of emergency on which they were predicated ended in July 2021, the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Robert B. King

Where a man failed to timely serve a deputy he sued for injuries allegedly suffered during an arrest, the district court was required to either (1) wait 90 days before dismissing the complaint or (2) provide notice and offer him ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights

Where a district court directed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, to adjudicate the plaintiff’s naturalization application within 45 days and retained jurisdiction to hear the case if the agency failed to comply, the plaintiff did not qualify ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where the owner of a company sold his shares to the employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, but the ESOP paid an inflated price for the shares, the owner was liable for the price difference. But, because he forgave certain ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.

Where the government failed to produce documents in the trial of the Massey Energy CEO who, after a coal mine explosion, was convicted of conspiracy to willfully violate mandatory federal mine safety and health standards, his conviction was upheld because ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where the government agreed to request a one-level reduction of a drug sentence if certain conditions were satisfied, but when the conditions were met it failed to request the reduction, it breached the plea agreement. The government may, however, argue ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal

Where an employee has to stand, walk or lie down as a break from sitting about every 10 minutes and requires heavy levels of narcotics to manage his pain, he is incapable of full-time employment and thus disabled under the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Judge G. Steven Agee