MARTIN , Circuit Judge : Jeremy Christian Nelson and Ted McCall Snow appeal sentences imposed under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1), after they each pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, id. 922(g)(1). In general, that crime carries a maximum sentence of 10-years imprisonment. 924(a)(2). But if a defendant has at least three prior "serious drug offense" or "violent felony" convictions, he instead faces a minimum of 15-years imprisonment...
JILL PRYOR , Circuit Judge : The City of Key West, Florida has barred Brad Buehrle from opening a tattoo establishment in the City's designated historic district, pursuant to an ordinance strictly limiting the number of tattoo establishments permitted to operate there. Mr. Buehrle contends that the act of tattooing is entitled to First Amendment protection and that the ordinance is an unconstitutional restriction on his freedom of expression. The district court granted summary judgment to...
MELLOY , Circuit Judge : Plaintiff Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida (the "Tribe") appeals from two orders and a final judgment in a fraud-and-embezzlement-related RICO suit against former tribal officials, several attorneys, a law firm, and investment firm Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC ("Morgan Stanley"). In a first order, the district court granted Morgan Stanley's motion to compel arbitration and dismissed Morgan Stanley from this suit. In a second order, the district court...
WALTER , District Judge : Defendant-Appellant Edgar Alexander Pirela Pirela ("Pirela Pirela") appeals the denial of his motion for a judgment of acquittal on his conviction for fraud and misuse of a visa, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1546(a). Pirela Pirela's appeal turns on the meaning of the phrase "procured by means of," as it is used in the first paragraph of section 1546(a). Following a review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we AFFIRM. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL...
PER CURIAM : Robert Liebman began working for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife") as a sales representative in 1985. When MetLife fired him in 2013, he brought this action, making an age discrimination claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. 623(a)(1), as well as a retirement benefits interference claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. 1140. Now before us on appeal, Liebman contests the district court's...
TJOFLAT , Circuit Judge : The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 43(d) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(d), provides: "A person shall be liable . . . by the owner of a mark . . . if . . . that person . . . has a bad faith intent to profit from that mark . . .; and. . . registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name that . . . is identical or confusingly similar to that mark." Id. 1125(d)(1)(A). In this case, the District Court granted Jysk Bed'N Linen an injunction...
ED CARNES , Chief Judge : Sonya Hunter appeals the district court's order denying her motion for remand and affirming the Social Security Commissioner's final decision to deny her application for disability insurance benefits. Hunter contends that the district court should have remanded the case to the Commissioner for further proceedings to consider new evidence. She also contends that the decision should be reversed because its finding that she was able to perform light work was not...
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING TJOFLAT , Circuit Judge : We sua sponte vacate and reconsider our revised opinion in this matter, reported at 797 F.3d 859 . We substitute in its place the following opinion. The Governor of the State of Florida, other Florida officials, and members of the Board of Medicine of the Florida Department of Health (collectively, the "State"), appeal from the District Court's grant of summary judgment and an injunction in favor of a group of physicians and physician-...
JULIE CARNES , Circuit Judge . For less than a year, Defendant Fausto Aguero Alvarado worked as an undercover confidential informant ("CI") for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") in Central America. Formalizing this role, he signed written agreements with federal DEA agents that set out the parameters of his duties, and thereafter assisted these agents with investigations into drug and weapons trafficking operations. After working with the agents for a few months,...
MARCUS , Circuit Judge : Plaintiff Beach TV Cable Co., Inc. d/b/a Key TV ("Key TV"), a local over-the-air broadcaster serving the Florida Keys, brought this action in federal district court against Comcast of Florida/Georgia, LLC ("Comcast"), which owns and operates a cable television system serving the same area. Pursuant to federal law, Key TV is entitled to lease access on a Comcast channel at a reasonable rate and free from editorial review. Key TV has alleged both that it was...
ROSENBAUM , Circuit Judge . "There's something wrong here, there can be no denyin'." 1 But it's not what Defendant-Appellant Wise Alloys, LLC (the "Company"), suggests in its appeal of two district-court orders. In the first of those orders, the district court compelled arbitration of a dispute between the Company and Plaintiffs-Appellees United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC, and its Local (...
PER CURIAM : Gables Insurance Recovery, Inc. ("Gables") appeals the district court's omnibus order denying its motion to remand and granting Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.'s ("Florida Blue") motion to dismiss. The district court held that because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B), completely preempts Gables's claims, the court had subject matter jurisdiction. The district court then dismissed Gables's claims without...
PER CURIAM : Cornelius Washington appeals the district court's judgment affirming the Commissioner of Social Security's (the "Commissioner") denial of his application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. On appeal, Mr. Washington primarily argues that the Appeals Council erred when it refused to consider additional evidence he submitted. After careful consideration, we hold that the Appeals Council committed legal error when it failed to consider materials from...
MARTIN , Circuit Judge : Richard Villarreal appeals the District Court's dismissal of his Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) lawsuit. He alleges that RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company discriminated against him on the basis of age when it rejected his application for employment. This appeal raises two important questions. The first is a question of first impression in this Circuit: whether 4(a)(2) of the ADEA, 29 U.S.C. 623(a)(2), authorizes disparate impact claims by applicants for...
WILLIAM PRYOR , Circuit Judge : The Supreme Court once predicted that "[t]here may be situations in which it is difficult to tell whether a government entity is speaking on its own behalf or is providing a forum for private speech." Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460, 470, 129 S.Ct. 1125 , 1132, 172 L.Ed.2d 853 (2009). This appeal presents one of those situations. David Mech complains that the School Board of Palm Beach County, Florida, violated his constitutional right to free...
PER CURIAM : Dereck Brown was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) by possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. In calculating Brown's sentence under the advisory guidelines, the district court applied certain enhancements because he qualified as an armed career criminal under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). Brown argues that the district court erred in applying the ACCA, but his arguments are without merit. After a confidential informant purchased crack cocaine...
BARTLE , District Judge : This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of an insurance company on a claim against it for bad faith. The question before the Court is whether the District Court erred in withholding evidence from the jury as a result of its grant of a motion in limine and thus ruling as a matter of law that the insurer had no duty to enter into a consent judgment in excess of the policy limits. I. The following facts are undisputed. On October 7, 2008, Robert Kropilak ("...
MARCUS , Circuit Judge : Petitioner Dean Kilgore was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, a consecutive life sentence for kidnapping, and an additional consecutive five-year sentence for armed trespass when he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for killing a fellow inmate, Emerson Robert Jackson. Kilgore now appeals from the district court's denial of habeas relief, arguing that he is intellectually disabled, and, therefore, ineligible for the death...
HULL , Circuit Judge : After a jury trial, Dr. Najam Azmat was convicted of 1 count of conspiracy to dispense controlled substances, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(2), and 846; 49 counts of unlawful dispensation of controlled substances, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), (b)(1)(E), and (b)(2); and 1 count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(h). After review and oral argument, we affirm Dr. Azmat's convictions and...
JORDAN , Circuit Judge : In the hierarchy of law, language is king. Words matter in constitutions, treaties, statutes, rules, cases, and contracts. And, as seen in this case, they matter in civil rights settlement agreements which, once judicially approved, become consent decrees. David Peery, on behalf of a class, asks us to award his counsel attorneys' fees for opposing modifications proposed by the City of Miami to such an agreement. We decline to do so because the parties' agreement...
