Where the sentencing guidelines provide for a two-level enhancement where the defendant maintains a premises for the purpose of drug distribution, and the record showed the defendant’s access to and control over a house and the drug distribution business operating ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Although South Carolina failed to produce three pieces of evidence during the defendant’s murder trial where he was convicted and sentenced to death, because the undisclosed evidence was not material, his habeas petition was denied.  Background Marion Bowman was convicted ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where a federal district court already rejected a detainee’s challenge to his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, his reassertion of that same argument in a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 was properly dismissed. Background After the Supreme ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where a relator alleged that adult care homes were violating the False Claims Act by billing for personal care services, or PCS, based on a census method, rather than based on the hours their employees actually spent providing PCS to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison Jones Rushing Tort

Where a hospital was granted summary judgment on a claim that it breached the standard of care by failing to timely transfer a patient to another hospital, but the district court erred in its interpretation of West Virginia’s Medical Professional ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison Jones Rushing Negligence

Where the former employee of an educational program for at-risk adolescents alleged that he was treated differently than white employees, and included specific factual allegations of the different treatment, that was sufficient to state a claim for race discrimination. Charles ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where an employer retained the right to “change, abolish or modify existing policies, procedures or benefits applicable to employees as it may deem necessary with or without notice,” its motion to compel arbitration of wage and hour claims brought by ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where a defendant did not dispute that his conduct fell “squarely” within the confines of a federal firearms’ statute, he could not challenge that statute as vague. Both the U.S. Supreme Court and this court have held that a litigant ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allison Jones Rushing

Where there is no agreement to the contrary, an arbitrator, and not the court, decides the preclusive effect of a prior court judgment. Background The crux of this case is the court’s standard for reviewing arbitration awards. The district court ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Allison Jones Rushing

In an issue of first impression that has divided other circuits, the court held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act does not give private plaintiffs a right to sue for injunctive relief. Background The named plaintiffs ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison Jones Rushing Tort