Fourth Circuit Affirms Pre-Discovery Summary Judgment in Prisoner Shackling Case
Panel holds that requested video and witnesses could not alter outcome because alleged facts did not amount to constitutional violation.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Fourth Circuit Rules Stingray Tracking Is a Search but Grants Officers Immunity
A federal appeals court holds for the first time that cell-site simulators require a warrant, then shields the detectives who used one without one.
Fourth Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Excessive-Force Suit Over Broken Arm, Chokehold Allegations
The court held that Patrick Nichols plausibly alleged excessive force at the pleading stage and that a pro se civil-rights complaint can identify an intended defendant in its body even when the officer is omitted from the caption.
Fourth Circuit Finds Ruan-Based Plea Challenge Procedurally Defaulted
The court held that the legal basis for a physician’s claim under Ruan v. United States was reasonably available when he pleaded guilty, defeating cause for procedural default in his Section 2255 case.
Fourth Circuit Holds Hospital Not Joint Employer of CRNAs, Affirms Dismissal of Vaccine-Mandate Suits
Staffing-agency claims also fail due to unexhausted EEOC process, providing a roadmap for hospitals and vendors to defeat discrimination suits by contracted clinicians.
Fourth Circuit Grants Rhino Energy Petition in Black Lung Operator Dispute
The Fourth Circuit held that 125 working days can establish a year of coal-mine employment and that the absence of a required coverage statement supports a presumption of financial capability. The court remanded for further action directing payment from the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Fourth Circuit Revives Illinois Union’s Bid to Seek Arbitration Stay in AFFF MDL
The court vacated an order that blocked Illinois Union from filing a stay motion in the Bouvet case, holding that MDL case-management rules cannot make an insurer’s FAA remedy contingent on lead counsel’s consent.
Fourth Circuit Revives Illinois Union’s Bid to Seek Arbitration Stay in AFFF MDL
Published ruling says an MDL court’s case-management procedures cannot condition an insurer’s statutory right to pursue a stay pending arbitration on lead counsel’s consent.
Fourth Circuit Sets Two-Year Limitations Period for West Virginia Section 1983 Claims
The panel revived Ashley Cooper’s federal malicious-prosecution claim by holding that West Virginia’s two-year personal-injury period governs Section 1983 actions, but affirmed dismissal of the City of Wheeling because the complaint did not allege a municipal policy or custom.
Fourth Circuit Upholds Protective Order Barring Disclosure of Afghan Plaintiffs' Identities Under Strict Scrutiny
The en banc court ruled that a content-based prior restraint on defendants' speech survives the heavy presumption against its validity because it is narrowly tailored to the compelling national-security interest in protecting perceived foreign collaborators.
Fourth Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment for Skipping Pending Spoliation Sanctions Motion
The panel held that a district court abused its discretion by entering summary judgment for prison officials while a magistrate judge still had under advisement a sanctions motion over missing exculpatory video footage central to the inmate's claims.
Fourth Circuit: Late ERISA Appeal Decision Costs Insurer Its Deference
Affirming a disability benefits award against Reliance Standard, the court held that an untimely internal-appeal decision is not a valid exercise of fiduciary discretion—triggering de novo review even when the plan grants discretionary authority.
Fourth Circuit Bars Contractual Shortening of Title VII, ADEA Deadlines, Joining Sixth Circuit
In Thomas v. EOTech, a panel held that onboarding-paperwork limitations clauses cannot cut short the time Congress gave employees to sue under federal antidiscrimination law, though a parallel state-law claim still fell to the same clause.
Fourth Circuit Upholds 15-Year Sentence In Gun, Witness-Tampering Case
A published Fourth Circuit panel said a West Virginia marijuana-manufacturing conviction could count as a controlled substance offense under the sentencing guidelines despite the court's earlier Campbell ruling.
Fourth Circuit Keeps DMARC Injunction In Place After Abitron
A published Fourth Circuit panel said Abitron changed the Lanham Act analysis but did not spare a Dutch software company from a preliminary injunction in a cross-border trademark and trade secrets fight.
Fourth Circuit Keeps Dmarcian IP Injunction Alive After Abitron
A Fourth Circuit panel said the Supreme Court's Abitron trademark ruling did not undo an injunction against Dutch company DMARC Advisor because the record showed conduct directed at U.S. customers, not just overseas activity with domestic effects.
4th Circ. Revives Muslim Prisoner's Ramadan Diet Claim
A Fourth Circuit panel said a Virginia prisoner's Free Exercise damages claim must return to district court for a Turner analysis after officials denied him a diet that met both his Ramadan fasting and kosher-supervision beliefs.
4th Circ. Reopens Challenge To SC Race Curriculum Proviso
A published Fourth Circuit panel revived key parts of a challenge to South Carolina's race-related curriculum budget proviso, sending standing questions and an author's book-removal claim back to the district court.
4th Circ. Tosses Ex-BOP Official's Civil Rights Conviction
The Fourth Circuit said jurors should have been instructed that bodily injury under a federal civil-rights statute must be a proximate result of the defendant's conduct.
Fourth Circuit Vacates Ex-BOP Official's Civil Rights Conviction Over Causation Instruction
A split Fourth Circuit said jurors needed a proximate-cause instruction before finding that a former prison official's civil rights violation resulted in bodily injury, while leaving false-statement convictions intact.
4th Circ. Keeps Jail Death Suit Alive Against NC Officers
A Fourth Circuit panel said two detention officers were not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage over allegations they delayed checking on an inmate they suspected had been beaten.
Fourth Circuit Reverses Habeas Win For South Carolina Prisoner
The panel said federal courts owed AEDPA deference to state-court rulings rejecting K.C. Langford's speedy-trial and ineffective-assistance claims.
4th Circ. Says Kidney Disease Not Automatic Release Ground
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of compassionate release for a federal prisoner with end-stage renal disease, holding that courts must assess whether the condition is terminal on the defendant-specific record.