It was not arbitrary or capricious for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to reject special immigrant juvenile status for a Salvadoran girl on the basis of a state court order that lacked a factual basis for permanent custody with her ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Domestic Relations Immigration Per Curiam Opinion

Animal rights groups sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact to support their standing to challenge a recent North Carolina statute allowing employers to hold their employees civilly liable for damage caused by unauthorized access to nonpublic areas. Background The North Carolina Property ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Per Curiam Opinion Standing

The court of appeals granted two petitions for writs of actual innocence, based on another person’s confession to both robberies for which the petitioner was convicted. Background In 2007, Petitioner Gary Bush was convicted in the City of Petersburg Circuit ...

Tagged with: Criminal Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

When a jury asked whether they could award “legal fees” as compensatory damages, the circuit court abused its discretion by declining to answer the question and simply telling them they had to enter a numeral on the verdict form. Background ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Constitutional Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia

This litigation arises out of the tragic death of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia student who died in 2010. Another student, George Huguely, was convicted of her murder. His petition for a writ of habeas corpus is pending. Yeardley’s mother, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Per Curiam Opinion

Appellant James Landry pled guilty to possession of images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The district court determined that Landry’s 2004 Virginia conviction for taking indecent liberties with children, in violation of Code § 18.2-370, qualifies as a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Per Curiam Opinion

Even if the circuit court erred in admitting a psychological evaluation that had not been considered by the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, the totality of evidence supporting termination of parental rights made any such error harmless. Background In 2003, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Domestic Relations Evidence Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

During a traffic stop based on the size of the defendant’s car air freshener, officers found a substantial amount of drugs, hundreds of dollars in loose cash, a loaded gun – and the defendant’s toddler. Background In 2013, Officer R. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Evidence Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia

Despite her negative drug tests and employment, the circuit court did not err in terminating a mother’s parental rights when she still had not obtained stable housing and had made little to no effort to see her children in several ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Family Law Parental Rights Per Curiam Opinion Virginia Court of Appeals

After unsuccessfully requesting a foreseeability instruction to the jury, the plaintiff – attempting to avoid numerous objections during the defense’s closing argument – obtained permission to enter a continuing objection, but failed to object with sufficient specificity as to any ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Medical Malpractice Negligence Per Curiam Opinion Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia Tort