Citing “judicial immunity,” the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a multimillion-dollar civil rights lawsuit against a Maryland circuit court judge who ordered a deputy sheriff to use electrical shock to quiet a criminal defendant. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Dennis W. Shedd Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Judge Roger L. Gregory

Congress stripped district courts’ jurisdiction to hear the claims of landowners challenging provisions of the Natural Gas Act, under which Mountain Valley Pipeline obtained administrative approval to begin construction. The district court properly dismissed their suit. Background The Plaintiffs are ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Environmental Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

The district court erred in finding that three police officers, fired in retaliation for their joint action, represented a single claim for municipal insurance purposes. Thus, the per-claim policy limit applied to each officer individually, rather than the trio as ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Employment Employment Discrimination Insurance Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A U.S. Department of Health & Human Services policy for “payment adjustment” calculations by hospitals serving disproportionately needy populations is legislative in nature and should have been promulgated through notice-and-comment rulemaking. Thus, the policy cannot be enforced against a Virginia ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Healthcare Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

An immigrant was not rendered ineligible for cancellation of removal based solely on $100 in court costs that he paid after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Such costs, which are not discretionary and sometimes are imposed by the court clerk, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Immigration Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Due Process First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Tort

A life insurance company was under no fiduciary duty to solicit required additional materials from the insured party in order to approve his coverage level, even though his employer had been deducting premium payments for the unapproved amount. Background Steven ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Employment Insurance Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A city ordinance empowering the police chief to deny a “sexually oriented business” license application if he determined that the business “would not comply with all applicable laws” was an overbroad prior restraint. Background The City of Rocky Mount, North ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional First Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Municipal

General-liability insurers could enforce their policy limits as to completed-operations and products hazard claims against the insured, stemming from decades-old asbestos exposure. Background This insurance-coverage dispute involves the applicability of two insurers’ policies to past, pending, and future asbestos-related bodily ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Corporate Evidence Insurance Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Personal Injury Regulated Industries

Where the arbitration clause of the parties’ contract says arbitration is to “be administered pursuant to the JAMS Comprehensive Rules and Procedures,” and where those rules provide that arbitrability disputes are to be decided by the arbitrator, then the arbitration ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge James A. Wynn Jr.