Fifth Circuit's Ho Addresses 'Audition Trap' After Litigant Emailed Judge About Senate Connections
In a concurrence, Judge Ho responds to emails referencing a U.S. Senator sent to a magistrate under consideration for a district court seat.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Fifth Circuit Clarifies FDCPA Originator Exclusion Requires Collecting Another's Debt
The appeals court found the district court misread the statute but affirmed dismissal because plaintiffs failed to plead that a parking tech company collected debts for anyone other than itself.
Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Stapler-Death Suit Over Missing Presuit Notice
The appeals court held that Texas's presuit notification requirement is an element of warranty claims, not a procedural formality that can be cured after filing.
Fifth Circuit Affirms $825,000 Sanction Over Withdrawal Motion Filed Two Days Before Depositions
Panel finds clear and convincing evidence that fund filed baseless claim, then tried to escape discovery while preserving claims for another forum.
Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of First Amendment Challenge to Harris County Order Restricting Bail-Bond Data
The court held the order is a restriction on access to government information, not a prohibition on speech, and thus does not violate the First Amendment.
Fifth Circuit Applies Texas Law to Anadarko Indemnity Dispute With Alternative Env Solutions
The Fifth Circuit upheld the application of a Texas choice-of-law clause and most of a defense-and-indemnity ruling in Anadarko’s favor. It vacated the judgment to the extent it could require coverage for punitive or exemplary damages and remanded the treatment of fees from the underlying suit.
Fifth Circuit Vacates S.B. 4 Injunction, Rejects Advocacy Groups’ Standing
The Fifth Circuit held that advocacy organizations could not establish Article III injury by voluntarily redirecting legal-services resources in response to Texas’s immigration law, leaving the preemption question unresolved.
Fifth Circuit Revives Texas Councilwoman's Retaliatory Arrest Suit
A Fifth Circuit panel revived much of a former Godley, Texas, councilwoman's civil rights suit alleging city officials used a tampering charge to keep her from a key council vote.
5th Circ. Says Mississippi Expungement Still Counts At Federal Sentencing
The panel affirmed a 15-year methamphetamine sentence, holding that the state-law label on an expungement does not decide whether a prior conviction counts under the federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Fifth Circuit Keeps Texas Tuition Consent Judgment In Place
The panel said would-be intervenors could not plausibly defend Texas provisions giving in-state tuition access to students not lawfully present when out-of-state U.S. citizens did not receive the same benefit.
Fifth Circuit Tosses Helipad Nuisance Appeal As Premature
The Fifth Circuit said neighbors challenging a New Orleans hospital’s relocated helipad must wait for final judgment before appealing a ruling that blocked their requested permanent injunction.
Fifth Circuit Keeps Dissolved LLC’s Trade Secrets Suit Dead
The Fifth Circuit said a Louisiana LLC that dissolved before suing Vendera and BOKF lacked capacity to bring its trade secrets and contract claims, but sent a sealing order back for a public-access analysis.
Fifth Circ. Backs Louisiana 340B Contract-Pharmacy Law
A Fifth Circuit panel affirmed summary judgment for Louisiana in drugmakers’ challenge to a state law protecting 340B contract-pharmacy distribution.
5th Circ. Cuts Conditions From Revocation Judgment
The Fifth Circuit said a felon-in-possession defendant could keep challenging two supervised-release conditions tied to a later revocation, then struck them because they were not properly pronounced in court.