Although the defendant challenged the search warrant that led to his plea to possession of child pornography, there was probable cause for the warrant because the facts in the affidavit supported a reasonable inference that someone using his IP address ...

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

Where agents demonstrated that a wiretap was necessary in light of the defendant’s remote location and the lack of success that traditional investigative methods had against his co-conspirator, the defendant charged with conspiracy could not suppress the evidence. Background Demetrius ...

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

Although the United Mine Workers Benefit plan argued that Consol Energy’s change in benefits violated federal law, the alleged risk of harm to the beneficiaries was too speculative to confer standing. Background Consol Energy Inc. is required under the Coal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Albert Diaz Labor

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy established in 2012 was arbitrary and capricious because the memo explaining that decision did not identify any basis for the department’s view that the program ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Albert Diaz

A restaurant that refused to allow a child with a severe gluten sensitivity to bring in his own homemade meal could be sued for discrimination in violation of the American with Disabilities Act. Background J.D. is an 11-year-old boy who ...

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

A defendant claiming the relevant law had changed after his sentence was not entitled to habeas relief because, in fact, the law had not changed. Background Jermaine Moss was tried in a Florida federal district court for two drug offenses ...

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

North Carolina’s ban on the unauthorized practice of law is not constitutionally infirm as applied to a trade association because it does not restrict the association’s speech, association or related rights and does not violate the state’s Monopoly Clause. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Albert Diaz

Testimony from a Department of Homeland Security intern about how he extracted cellphone data was not improper opinion testimony, and did not require expert testimony for authentication purposes. And the district court did not commit plain error by concluding a ...

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

The court joined its sister circuits in holding that, where a party obtains a judgment against an insured, and then sues that insured’s carrier, that second suit is not a “direct action” within meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(1). Furthermore, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Albert Diaz

The dismissal of a church’s suit was vacated, allowing it to pursue claims against Baltimore County alleging it discriminated against the church on religious grounds in violation of a federal statute and the Constitution by denying it permission to operate ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Albert Diaz