Where a firefighter with the Alexandria Fire Department alleged he was passed over for a one-year paramedic internship because of his race, but the evidence showed the placement of interns was nondiscriminatory, judgment was awarded to the fire department. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Julius N. Richardson

A public transit system had a legitimate interest in avoiding some politically charged advertisements, but its lack of a formal definition of “political” or written guidelines clarifying how its prohibition on political ads was to be applied doomed its policy ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where the Richmond Transit Authority had a legitimate interest in avoiding some class of politically charged advertisements, but had no formal definition of “political” and no written guidelines clarifying how the ban on all political ads was to be applied, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where the district court erred by imposing an enhanced statutory maximum that was neither charged nor submitted to the jury, because the statutory sentencing enhancement was supported by overwhelming evidence and was uncontroverted, the error was harmless. Background Former federal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Julius N. Richardson

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a constitutional challenge to Virginia’s lifelong sex offender registration requirement for certain offenses. The petitioner had been convicted at age 18 based on conduct with a 14-year-old girl. He argued that ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julius N. Richardson Sex offender registration

Where there were disputed facts over whether a decedent’s conduct provided justification for a state trooper to fire fatal shots, including the fact that the officer claimed the man turned toward him while raising his hands but the decedent was ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where Virginia’s sex-offender registry law allows an offender who is charged with “carnal knowledge of a child” to be removed from the registry in time if he is less than five years older than his victim, but not if he ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where the term “relating to obstruction of justice” is ambiguous about whether an ongoing or a reasonably foreseeable proceeding must be obstructed, the court deferred to the reasonable interpretation of the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA. Background Jean Francois ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Julius N. Richardson

The text, structure and legal landscape in which the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or ADEA, was passed do not support a finding that the statute’s federal-sector provision encompasses disparate-impact liability. Background Dr. Jane DiCocco brought Title VII and Age ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where the Fourth Circuit previously held that a federal law banning the purchase of a handgun by persons under 21 violated the Second Amendment, but the plaintiff in that case turned 21 before the mandate issued, her original claims were ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Julius N. Richardson