Where a defendant who was sentenced to death for his role in a murder for hire plot alleged his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to investigate adequately his brain injury and potential mental illness, and failing to introduce ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where a defendant convicted of the misuse of public assets sought an evidentiary hearing into the conduct of a juror who followed journalists covering the trial, there was no evidence she read a tweet about the trial. Background After Allen ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

A Trump immigration order, Proclamation 9645, was facially legitimate in that it restricted entry for national security, and not religious, reasons, and there was persuasive evidence the entry suspension had a legitimate grounding in national security concerns. The International Refugee ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where the dismissal order neither satisfied the requirements for a judgment nor was entered as a judgment, it did not start the 14-day deadline for filing a motion for attorneys’ fees. As such, the defendant’s motion filed 18 days later ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Practice Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Allegations that a 401(k) plan sponsor and management committee ignored an imprudent single-stock fund for several years was sufficient to support claims for breaches of the fiduciary duties of prudence and diversification imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where a broker executed trades on investors’ portfolio margin accounts in clear violation of a rule of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., or FINRA, the arbitration panel did not manifestly disregard the law by imposing liability against the broker, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Although the orders authorizing wiretaps simply identified a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division as the authorizing official, and there are six persons who hold that title, because the specific official was named in the applications, which accompanied ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Although the native of El Salvador alleged sheep-related comments and mockery were motivated by racial animus, because they compared a person to animals, the comments were insufficient to constitute a hostile work environment based on race because the plaintiff cited ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where an inmate with a medical condition had performed various prison jobs, he successfully alleged facts showing that after he was hospitalized for a short time, prison officials regarded him as disabled and as a consequence, he could not participate ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Although the pilot was not cleared to fly, an airline nevertheless violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, by not reemploying him “promptly” in an alternative position. Background As Thomas Harwood neared completion of a tour ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Paul V. Niemeyer