OPINION BERNICE BOUIE DONALD , Circuit Judge . This is an appeal from the district court's dismissal of a claim for money damages brought under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 , 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). The district court found that the existence of an alternate remedial scheme created by statute precluded a judicially-created damages remedy in this case. For the reasons stated herein, we AFFIRM. I. Plaintiffs-Appellants...
OPINION GREGORY F. VAN TATENHOVE , District Judge . Terry Clifton's habeas corpus petition was denied because he failed to file his appeal in the Davidson County Chancery Court within the sixty-day period allowed for filing such appeals. Clifton attempted to file during that timeframe, but the clerk returned it unfiled because of unpaid court costs from a previous matter. Tennessee Code 41-21-812 prohibits court clerks from filing claims while inmates have court costs and fees...
OPINION ROGERS , Circuit Judge . Jose Sierra-Villegas appeals his conviction and 325-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy. Sierra-Villegas was arrested shortly after the failure of a massive drug sale to an undercover officer that had been coordinated in part by a confidential informant. Sierra-Villegas allegedly played a leadership role in the attempted sale, coordinating the delivery of methamphetamine to his coconspirators and personally...
OPINION HELENE N. WHITE , Circuit Judge . Following a bench trial, the district court found Wright guilty on five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a), (e), and one count each of transporting images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(1) & (b)(1) (count 6), and possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252A (count 7). Wright appeals his convictions on counts 1 through 6. We AFFIRM. I. The sole witnesses were two agents of the...
OPINION ALICE M. BATCHELDER , Circuit Judge . Bradley J. Burdue petitions for review of a Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") order revoking his certification as an Airworthiness Representative-Maintenance ("DAR-T"). 49 U.S.C. 44702(d)(2) authorizes the FAA to rescind this designation "at any time for any reason." We decline to review the merits of Burdue's statutory claims because the FAA's decision to revoke Burdue's certification "is committed to agency discretion by law." 5 U.S.C....
OPINION CLAY , Circuit Judge . Defendant, EquipmentFacts, LLC ("Efacts"), appeals from the judgment entered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio imposing liability and damages in a civil suit brought by Plaintiffs, Yoder & Frey Auctioneers, Inc. (Yoder & Frey) and RealtimeBid.com, LLC ("RTB"). Specifically, Efacts appeals from the district court's denial of spoliation sanctions; denial of hearsay objections to various documents produced by internet service...
OPINION CLAY , Circuit Judge . Petitioner Darryl Gumm is mentally retarded and has an IQ of approximately 70. He was convicted by an Ohio jury for the kidnapping, attempted rape, and murder of ten-year-old Aaron Raines. For these crimes, Petitioner was sentenced to death. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal, and his state post-conviction petition was found to lack merit by the Ohio state courts. After he filed a petition for federal habeas corpus, the United States...
OPINION ROGERS , Circuit Judge . This case concerns the scope of the "direct action" proviso of the federal diversity jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. 1332(c)(1), and its application to suits brought under Michigan's no-fault automobile insurance laws. Elvira Ljuljdjuraj was driving a borrowed car when she drove over a patch of ice and collided with a negligently parked vehicle. The car she was driving was owned by a friend, Bardhyl Mullalli. Ljuljdjuraj filed a diversity suit in federal...
OPINION SUTTON , Circuit Judge . During a search and rescue gone awry, Deputy Anthony Clayton's dog sunk its teeth into the woman he was looking for. Up for debate is whether Clayton "sicked the dog" on Terry Greco (her words) or whether the attack was an "unintended byproduct of that search" (his). At this phase of the case, we need not choose whom to believe; the summary judgment standard picks the appropriate viewpoint for us. Looking at the situation in the light most favorable to...
OPINION ROGERS , Circuit Judge . The defendant, Joseph Michael Krul, appeals his sentence on the ground that the sentencing judge based the length of his sentence on rehabilitative goals, contrary to the holding of Tapia v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 2382 , 2392, 180 L.Ed.2d 357 (2011). That case, however, requires reversal only where there is an identifiable basis for concluding that the district court based the length of the sentence of incarceration in part on...
OPINION BOGGS , Circuit Judge . This case presents an important issue of first impression in the federal courts: whether a prohibition on the possession of firearms by a person "who has been committed to a mental institution," 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4), violates the Second Amendment. Twenty-eight years ago, Clifford Charles Tyler was involuntarily committed for less than one month after allegedly undergoing an emotionally devastating divorce. Consequently, he can never possess a firearm. Tyler...
OPINION ALICE M. BATCHELDER , Circuit Judge . Appellants in these consolidated cases contend that the Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") negligently failed to follow its flood protocols in operating Old Hickory Dam, exacerbating the property damage caused by a one-thousand-year flood event in Tennessee. The district court dismissed Appellants' claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), holding that Appellants' claims were barred by the...
OPINION SUTTON , Circuit Judge . Constitutional challenges to the enforcement of wage-and-hour laws are not new. By themselves, these cases could tell much of the story of the metes and bounds of federal and state power. As today's dispute shows, that history continues to unfold. Several corrections officers sued the Michigan Department of Corrections and its Director, claiming a right to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law. Two threshold defenses, the district...
OPINION SILER , Circuit Judge . The main issues in this case are (1) whether answering a phone call establishes personal jurisdiction in the state from which the phone call was made; and (2) whether a bank owes a duty of care to an identity theft victim who is not a customer. SFS Check, LLC (SFS), a Michigan financial services company, processed all its transactions through its account at Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third discovered that illegal gambling transactions were being processed...
OPINION SUTTON , Circuit Judge . Daniel Newman filed this malicious prosecution action under 1983 and state law, accusing Michigan police officer Eric Calhoun of deliberately misrepresenting a witness's statement when he presented an affidavit to a state judge in support of an arrest warrant for murder. The district court rejected Calhoun's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity, and Calhoun filed this interlocutory appeal. Because ample evidence of probable cause for...
OPINION GRIFFIN , Circuit Judge . David Miner was prosecuted and convicted under 26 U.S.C. 7212(a) for corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the "due administration" of federal income tax laws. He now appeals, claiming (1) that the district court reversibly erred in failing to instruct the jury that 7212(a) requires proof that he was aware of a pending IRS proceeding; (2) that his conduct was constitutionally and statutorily protected; and (3) that certain witness testimony was improperly...
OPINION COOK , Circuit Judge . In this dispute over the management of a joint venture, Defendants-Appellants James E. Arnold & Associates and the firm's eponymous partner (together the "Arnold Firm") challenge the district court's denial of their motion for Rule 11 sanctions against plaintiffs' counsel, Attorneys-Appellees Amelia A. Bower, Alvand A. Mokhtari, and Plunkett & Cooney, P.C. (collectively "P & C"). Although the district court found the sanctions motion a "close call," it...
OPINION JANE BRANSTETTER STRANCH , Circuit Judge . Mary Armbruster sued Burt Hoey in Michigan state court for negligence. Western World, Hooey's commercial general-liability insurer, agreed to defend Hoey but reserved the right to deny coverage. All parties then sought a declaratory judgment regarding whether Western World had a duty to defend Hoey and indemnify him if Armbruster won her negligence suit. The district court decided to take jurisdiction and construed the policy to exclude...
OPINION QUIST , District Judge . Raymond Welch pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Welch appeals the district court's sentence, which included an enhancement pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The district court held that Welch's previous Ohio conviction for attempted failure to comply with order or signal of police officer qualified as a "violent felony" under the ACCA, and...
OPINION SILER , Circuit Judge . This appeal concerns the extent to which the securitization of a mortgage note might affect the borrower's obligations to repay the loan or cloud the property's title. Lorrie Thompson was facing foreclosure. She asked Bank of America (BOA) to modify her repayment plan under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). BOA denied the modification on the grounds of insufficient documentation, even though she sent BOA the requested documents several...
