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

Where the former corrections officer convicted for his role in the death of a detainee argued that the jury instructions were erroneous, but he did not raise that objection at trial, his motion for habeas relief was denied. Background A ...

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

Where Justin Fairfax, the Virginia lieutenant governor, failed to plead facts plausibly suggesting that CBS aired reports of two women who accused him of sexual assault with a “high degree of awareness” that he likely did not assault them, his ...

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

In a case of first impression, the court held a local government’s policy of enforcing state law renders it susceptible to Monell liability if the municipal policymaker made a meaningful and conscious choice that caused a constitutional injury. Because the ...

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

A defendant sentenced in 2009 to 151 months in prison for distributing crack cocaine is eligible for relief under the First Step Act of 2018. When the law changed the quantities of crack cocaine to which 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) ...

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

Although regulations prohibit “commercial vehicles” from driving on the George Washington Parkway unless authorized by permit, the mere fact the defendant was driving a commercial vehicle on the parkway did not provide a basis to stop his vehicle. The marijuana ...

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

After the defendant was sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed when he was 17, the Supreme Court held that, when sentencing a minor to life without parole, the court must consider the defendant’s “youth and attendant characteristics.” Because ...

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