Sixth Circuit Cases

6th Cir. Published Decisions With Links to Full Text for Week of Feb. 19 - 22, 2007

Opinion	Pub Date	Short Title/District
07a0068p.06	2007/02/20	Nichols v. Moore               Eastern District of Michigan at  Detroit    SUMMARY JUDGMENT:  Claiming factual determinations by court in error TORTS:  Defamation, public figure, and actual malice
07a0069p.06	2007/02/20	Bio-Ethical Reform v.  City of Springboro               Southern District of Ohio at Dayton          SECTION 1983: Municipal liability, immunity, 1st           Amendment, 4th amendment, etc.
07a0070p.06	2007/02/21	USA v. Winkle               Northern District of Ohio at Toledo          CRIMINAL:  Booker waived, and evidentiary and           counsel issues re experts, gov't rec'ds
07a0071p.06	2007/02/22	In re: Cardizem v.     Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit          ATTORNEY FEES:  Rev'd award to class action           counsel of atty fees
07a0072p.06	2007/02/22	USA v. Funk               Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland          CRIMINAL:  Booker
07a0073p.06	2007/02/22	First Amer Title Co v. DeVaugh, et al               Eastern District of Michigan at   Detroit          ANTITRUST:  Suit arising unde MICH law           prohibiting resale by title company copies of unofficial gov't deed records
07a0074p.06	2007/02/23	Gore v. El Paso Energy Corp               Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville          ERISA:  Appeal of dismissal of breach of           fidcuary duty claim
07a0075p.06	2007/02/23	Garcia-Flores v. Gonzales               Board of Immigration Appeals          IMMIGRATION
07a0076p.06	2007/02/23	Harrison   v. Motley               Eastern District of Kentucky at LEXxington          INEFFECTIVE COUNSEL CLAIM: GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. Appellant James Harrison, a Kentucky state prisoner convicted of Murder With Aggravating Circumstances, appeals a district court judgment dismissing his petition for habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Harrison was represented by two attorneys at his criminal trial, and argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial due to conflicts that arose between his attorneys, due to his attorneys’ alleged failure to call certain  witnesses to testify at trial, and due to his attorneys’ alleged failure to fulfill promises made to the  jury during opening statements. For the reasons below, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Harrison’s habeas petition.
07a0067p.06	2007/02/20	Godleski v. First Energy  Corp               Northern District of Ohio at Akron          ERISA: Denial of severance benefits
07a0077p.06	2007/02/23	USA v. Flores               Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit          Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), 18 U.S.C. § 924 and sentencing guidelines

6th Cir's 2007 Court Session Calendar

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has posted the 2007 Court Session Calendar for the arguments to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

6CA Orgal Arguments for Mar 5 - 16, 2007

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has oral arguments scheduled in Cincinnati, Ohio for the two weeks of March 5, 2007 thru March 16, 2007

Some Kentucky cases are:

March 5, 2007

   4  06-5619    Bouggess v. Mattingly
                 Western District of Kentucky at Louisville   C. Simpson

            Defendant Mattingly appeals the order in this civil rights  
            action denying his motion for summary judgment based upon   
            claims of qualified and official immunity.  (15 Minutes Per 
            Side)
   3  05-6414    USA v. Jones
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at London   D. Reeves

            Defendant appeals the preliminary judgment of forfeiture    
            entered pursuant to her plea of guilty to charges of        
            conspiracy to distribute marijuana and money laundering of  
            drug proceeds. (15 Minutes Per Side) 

   1  05-6357    USA v. Simpson
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at London   D. Reeves

            Defendant appeals his jury conviction and sentence for      
            conspiracy to distribute marijuana, distribution of         
            marijuana and possession with intent to distribute          
            oxycontin.  (15 Minutes Per Side)  

March 6, 2007 

   2  06-5777    Peoples Bank & Trust v. Burns
                 Western District of Kentucky at Bowling Green   J. McKinley

            Plaintiff appeals the order in this remanded action         
            affirming the decision of the bankruptcy court, rejecting   
            the earmarking doctrine under the facts of this case. (15   
            Minutes Per Side)   
March 8

   1  06-5722    Macy v. Hopkins Cnty School
                 Western District of Kentucky at Owensboro   E. Goebel

            Plaintiff appeals the summary judgment for defendant in     
            this action for wrongful termination under the ADA.  (15    
            Minutes Per Side)   

   3  06-5531    Noble v. Social Security
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington   J. Coffman

            Plaintiff appeals the denial of attorneys' fees under the   
            Equal Access to Justice Act in this action for review of    
            the denial of Social Security benefits.  (15 Minutes Per    
            Side)  

  1  06-5763    West v. Comm Social Security
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington   J. Coffman

            Plaintiff appeals the summary judgment affirming the denial 
            of his application for social security disability and       
            supplemental security income benefits.  (15 Minutes Per     
            Side)     
March 9

   3  06-5769    Matilla v. So KY Rural Elec
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at London   D. Reeves

            Plaintiff appeals the summary judgment for defendant in     
            this diversity action for negligence.  (15 Minutes Per      
            Side)   
   5  06-5594    USA v. Cohen
                 Western District of Kentucky at Louisville   C. Simpson

            The government appeals the order granting defendant's       
            motion to suppress.  (15 Minutes Per Side)   

   2  06-5579    USA v. Cherry
                 Western District of Kentucky at Louisville   J. Heyburn

            The government appeals the sentence imposed following       
            defendant's guilty plea to four counts of distribution of   
            child pornography, nine counts of receipt of child          
            pornography, one count of possession of child pornography   
            and forfeiture.  (15 Minutes Per Side)  
   
   3  05-6397    USA v. Douglas
      05-6458    USA v. Mundy
                 Eastern District of Kentucky at Covington   W. Bertelsman

            Defendants appeal their convictions and sentences following 
            guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine      
            (both), possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine  
            (Mundy), and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug  
            trafficking (both)  (05-6397, To Be Submitted On Briefs;    
            05-6458, 15 Minutes Per Side)    

 

6th Cir. Published Decisions for Feb. 12-16, 2007 (One Ky Decision)

Opinion	Pub Date	Short Title/District
07a0059p.06	2007/02/12	Gencorp Inc v. Olin Corp     Northern District of Ohio at Akron CERCLA:  Potentially responsible parties, contribution, and clean up costs
07a0060p.06	2007/02/13	Roger Miller Music v. Sony/ATV Publishing     Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville COPYRIGHTS:  Renewal rights following assignment
07a0061p.06	2007/02/13	Pollett v. Rinker Materials     Western District of Kentucky at Louisville ERISA: STD, and no discretionary authority to interpret contract BALDOCK, Circuit Judge. The issue in this appeal is whether an employee, while suspended without pay, was “actively at work” and thus qualified to receive short-term disability benefits under his employer’s ERISA plan. The plan administrator said no. The district court also said no and dismissed the action on undisputed facts. We exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because the ERISA plan does not provide the administrator discretionary authority to construe its terms, we review the prior construction of the plan de novo. See Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 115 (1989). Applying this standard, we affirm.
07a0062p.06	2007/02/14	Teen Ranch v. Udow     Western District of Michigan at Lansing DISCRIMINATION:  Claim based on religion and residential services in child care
07a0063p.06	2007/02/16	Chesher v. Neyer     Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati TORTS; IMMUNITY:  Claim arising from photos taken of decedents in Hamilton County morgue without families' consent
07a0064p.06	2007/02/16	Petty v. Franklin Cnty Oh     Southern District of Ohio at Columbus 1983 ACTION: Prison's delay in med treatment to inmate injured in fight
07a0065p.06	2007/02/16	Crockett Colleries v. Barrett     Benefits Review Board BLACK LUNG:  Benefits review
07a0066p.06	2007/02/16	Taveras v. Taveraz     Southern District of Ohio at Columbus ALIEN TORT CLAIMS ACT:  Jurisdiction and child abduction See, Divorce Law Journal Summary and Analysis of this decision!

Oral Argument in Case 06-2095/2140 ACLU vs. NSA available on-line at 6th Cir.

To access the audio recording of the January 31, 2007 oral argument in the above case click here. (To download the file right click on the link and select "save target as".)

6th Cir. Published Decisions for Feb. 5 - 9, 2007 (No Ky Decision)

 

Opinion	Pub Date	Short Title/District
07a0054p.06	2007/02/06	USA v. McCreary-Redd     Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville Criminal Sentencing
07a0055p.06	2007/02/06	USA v. Sanford USA v. Hill     Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga Search and Seizure; vehicular stop and search
07a0056p.06	2007/02/07	Livermore v. Lubelan     Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids Torts; government qualified immunity
07a0057p.06	2007/02/08	Colvin v. Barnhart     Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati Social Security disability
07a0058p.06	2007/02/09	Black v. Surface Transportation Board     State of Ohio Agency Labor Law, arbitration and relief from agreement

   

6th Cir. Published Decisions for Jan. 29 - Feb. 2, 2007 (No.Ky Decision)

Opinion	Pub Date	Short Title/District
07a0043p.06	2007/01/29	Davis v. Coyle     Southern District of Ohio at Columbus CRIMINAL: death penalty case
07a0045p.06	2007/01/30	Randhawa v. Gonzales     Board of Immigration Appeals IMMIGRATION
07a0046p.06	2007/01/30	USA v. Stover     Northern District of Ohio CRIMINAL:  Waiver of right to testify; suppression motion; confrontation
07a0046p.06	2007/01/30	USA v. Hinton     Northern District of Ohio CRIMINAL:  Waiver of right to testify; suppression motion; confrontation
07a0047p.06	2007/01/30	Sault Ste Marie v. Granholm     Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids TRIBAL:  Jurisdiction; enforcement of gaming agreement
07a0048p.06	2007/01/30	Servo Kinetics, Inc. v. Tokyo Precision     Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit BUSINESS:  Veil piercing; breach of contract; tortious interference w/business
07a0049p.06	2007/01/30	McLiechey v. Bristol W Ins Co     Western District of Michigan at Lansing INSURANCE: Mich. 'Essential Insurance Law'
07a0050p.06	2007/02/01	Wilson v. Morgan     Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville TORTS:  1983 claim; qualified immunity; police officers
07a0051p.06	2007/02/02	Leonard v. Robinson     Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit TORTS:  1983 Claim; uttering words only  enough?
07a0052p.06	2007/02/02	Slagle v. Bagley     Northern District of Ohio EN Banc denial in death penalty case and propriety of remarks by prosecutor
07a0053p.06	2007/02/02	Carroll v. Renico     Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit CRIMINAL:  Improper jury contact;co-counsel standing in during reinstruction
07b0004p.06	2007/02/02	In re: Albion Health v.     Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids UNEMPLOYMENT LAW: Applied Mich. law