Where the state reduced certain services available to plaintiffs under its Medicaid waiver program, the plaintiffs could not sue the federal government for its failure to provide proper oversight of the state’s Medicaid program. Background Richard Stogsdill and Robert Levin ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Pamela A. Harris

Where a contraceptive device, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, failed to work as intended, forcing the plaintiff to undergo a total hysterectomy to have it removed, the manufacturer of the device could not remove the action to federal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Practice Judge Pamela A. Harris

Defendant’s counsel did not render ineffective assistance by failing to argue that defendant’s conviction for attempted abduction did not constitute a crime of violence for purposes of applying the career offender sentencing enhancement because the existing case law at the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

An appeal waiver did not prevent the court from reviewing the defendant’s claim her plea was tainted by constitutional error. On the merits, however, the court agreed the relevant statute applied to the defendant’s admitted conduct. Background Mary Mooney pleaded ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

Where a debtor agreed to pay attorneys’ fees incurred in attempts to recover money owed under a loan in a contract signed prior to his filing for bankruptcy, the creditor was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees that were incurred after ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Commercial Judge Pamela A. Harris

While the question of whether a government would acquiesce in torture is a question of fact for jurisdictional purposes, for purposes of an appeal, it is a mixed question of law and fact that is subject to de novo review. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Pamela A. Harris

Where a plaintiff was entitled to use eminent domain to obtain rights-of-way to portions of private property, that plaintiff was likewise entitled to begin construction on those properties before the value of just compensation had been determined and paid. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Pamela A. Harris

A defendant’s sentence for a single firearm charge and distribution of drugs was vacated and the case remanded, after a finding that the government breached the plea agreement by not advocating for the 10-16 months’ imprisonment agreed to by the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

Although a search warrant was defective, the district court did not err in denying the defendant’s motion to suppress because the officer seeking the warrant possessed sufficient information to support probable cause and any defects in the affidavit were miscalculation, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris

Claims by a defendant convicted of conspiracy in a luxury car scheme that a judge’s jury instruction constructively amended the indictment against him in violation of the Fifth Amendment, was rejected, as the instruction did not alter the element of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Pamela A. Harris