An employer who allegedly told a beneficiary it would pay death benefits, after the life insurance carrier denied the claim, has been sued by the beneficiary who alleges she relied on the promises to her detriment. Background According to the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Robert B. King

An out-of-state citizen could bring a constitutional challenge against a statute that limited copies of the state’s registered voter list to state residents because the list was closely connected to political speech and the statute imposes both content- and speaker-based ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Robert B. King

A defendant was properly subject to an enhanced sentence because his prior state conviction for distribution of crack cocaine qualified as a serious drug offense under the Armed Career Criminal Act, or ACCA, and a controlled substance offense under the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Robert B. King

Senior government officials, including the former Attorney General and the Postmaster General, cannot be held liable for claims they unlawfully relied on electronic surveillance to spy on a CBS television reporter because such conduct did not violate a clearly established ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Robert B. King

A Maryland state agency enjoys 11th Amendment immunity against sexual orientation and disability discrimination claims brought by a former employee because the agency did not consent to suit in federal court. Background This appeal and ongoing proceedings in the District ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge Robert B. King

A district judge could reject a plea agreement if the court was concerned it was too lenient or questioned whether it served the public interest. Once the court rejected the plea agreement, it did not err in rejecting the defendant’s ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Robert B. King

Political organizations argued that an exception for debt collection under the autodialer ban in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, represented unconstitutional content-based discrimination against other speech. The Fourth Circuit agreed but held that the exception was severable from ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge Robert B. King

A criminal defendant’s petition for habeas corpus relief was timely because his state court motion to reduce his sentence constituted an application for collateral review under Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act that tolled the statute of limitations during its ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Robert B. King

A former lawyer who was prosecuted for his role as “consigliere” in a multi-state marijuana trafficking organization had his convictions for money laundering and obstruction of justice upheld. The convictions were based in large part on inculpatory recorded conversations he ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Robert B. King

Senior government officials, including the former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, cannot be held liable for claims they unlawfully used electronic surveillance to spy on a CBS television reporter because such conduct did not violate a clearly established right. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Rights Judge Robert B. King