Penley v. McDowell County Board of Education (VLW No. 017-2-203, 31 pp.) (Thacker, J.) (Wilkinson J., concurring) 16-2034; Nov. 28, 2017; USDC at Asheville, N.C. (Cogburn J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A state house member allegedly threatened the plaintiff-teacher – who ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

In PETA’s suit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regulations under the Animal Welfare Act for license renewal of animal exhibitors, the 4th Circuit upholds a decision deferring to the agency’s decision to conduct spot-check inspections of licensees despite PETA’s ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A district court did not err in enhancing defendant’s sentence on marijuana and cocaine distribution convictions for firearm possession, even though the firearms were discovered after defendant pled guilty to the original marijuana charge and defendant claimed the guns were ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A defendant who pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy count in the Eastern District of Virginia cannot be prosecuted in the Western District for a drug conspiracy involving the same two people from the first conspiracy conviction, the 4th Circuit ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

The 4th Circuit vacates an $11,747,510 judgment in a class action suit alleging defendant Experian Information Solutions Inc. failed to list a defunct credit card company, rather than the name of its servicer, as a source of information on a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A defendant who twice previously was convicted of taking indecent liberties with children committed “sexual exploitation of children” under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e) and the prior convictions could be used to enhance his current sentence for manufacturing child pornography; the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

An American man who was denied a Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, for admission of his wife, a UK citizen, because of the man’s prior criminal convictions for sexual offenses against minors, cannot have that denial reviewed in federal ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

Debtors may take the full National and Local Standard amounts for expenses in their chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding even though their actual expenses are less than the Standard amounts; the 4th Circuit upholds a bankruptcy court’s refusal to dismiss the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A U.S. Army Reservist and veteran hired as an elementary school teacher upon her return from deployment in Kuwait cannot sue defendant school board under USERRA for acts that occurred after her reemployment, including her discharge related to her post-traumatic ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

The 4th Circuit upholds dismissal of a toxic tort suit filed by the survivors of a man whose fatal lung cancer allegedly resulted from exposure to toxins during his employment at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore, built on a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker Tort