HAMILTON, Circuit Judge. In this bankruptcy appeal, creditor Dawn Marie Adams appeals from the bankruptcy court's denial of her claim against the estate of James Gregory Adams, her former husband and business partner. (Since the parties have the same last name, we refer to them here as Dawn and Greg.) The state courts of Georgia decided three times in three final judgments that Greg still owed money to Dawn after they divorced and unwound their "monster truck" business. The bankruptcy court...
POSNER, Circuit Judge. As motions judge for the week during which motions to seal the settlement agreements in these two appeals were filed, I ordered the motions consolidated and now rule on them. In Goesel the parties agreed to settle a personal injury suit, but because the suit was on behalf of a minor they were required by Local Rule 17.1 of the Northern District of Illinois to obtain the district judge's approval of the settlement. See Elustra v. Mineo, 595 F.3d 699 , 709-10 (7th...
POSNER, Circuit Judge. A commodity pool is an investment fund made up of contributions by a number of different investors. The contributions are commingled and used by the commodity pool operator to buy and sell futures contracts. Because commodity pools are common vehicles for fraud, including Ponzi schemes, the Sentencing Commission has ordained a 4-level guidelines sentencing enhancement for fraud committed by a commodity pool operator. U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(18)(B)(iii). Brant Rushton, who...
HAMILTON, Circuit Judge. Brian Swetlik is a police detective in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Swetlik sued the City of Manitowoc, its mayor, and members of its Common Council, alleging that they violated his First Amendment rights by voting to file a termination charge against him with the Manitowoc Police and Fire Commission. The voted after an outside investigation recommended Swetlik's termination based on its finding that he had been untruthful in statements about the police chief. Swetlik...
POSNER, Circuit Judge. On July 5 of this year, the Governor of Wisconsin signed into law a statute that the Wisconsin legislature had passed the previous month. So far as relates to this appeal, the statute prohibits a doctor, under threat of heavy penalties if he defies the prohibition, from performing an abortion (and in Wisconsin only doctors are allowed to perform abortions, Wis. Stat. 940.15(5)) unless he has admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles from the clinic in...
HAMILTON, Circuit Judge. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to try to negotiate an end to an employer's unlawful employment practices before suing for a judicial remedy. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b).Mach Mining, LLC, the target of an EEOC lawsuit for sex discrimination in hiring, sees in this statutory instruction an implied affirmative defense in its discrimination case. Mach Mining seeks dismissal of the EEOC's suit on the ground that the...
POSNER, Circuit Judge. The plaintiff applied for social security disability benefits in 2010, when he was 40 years old. He claimed to be disabled from full-time employment because of abdominal pain caused by cirrhosis of the liver, severe thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), hepatitis C, and an umbilical hernia — ailments that had been diagnosed by several physicians that year. All of his ailments had been either caused or exacerbated by alcoholism. But he stopped drinking in 2010 and so far...
HAMILTON, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Immunosciences Lab, Inc. and its owner, Dr. Aristo Vojdani, were in the business of developing and selling medical tests and testing materials. In 2007, Pharmsan Labs, Inc. and NeuroScience, Inc. — sister companies offering medical testing to consumers — wanted to expand their offerings. Vojdani and Immunosciences (we refer to them collectively as "Vojdani") and Pharmsan and NeuroScience (collectively "NeuroScience") decided to collaborate, but the business...
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. This is Roger Loughry's second visit to the Seventh Circuit. In his first appeal, we reversed his convictions for various child pornography offenses because the district court erred in admitting certain "hard core" child pornography videos found on Loughry's computer. United States v. Loughry (" Loughry I "), 660 F.3d 965 , 973-75 (7th Cir.2011). Following our decision, the government re-tried Loughry without introducing the unduly prejudicial videos at issue in...
EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge. Rockford Products Corp. (Debtor) leased a building from Harrison Kishwaukee (Landlord). During its liquidation in bankruptcy, Debtor assumed the lease, 11 U.S.C. 365, and sold the leasehold interest (and many other assets) to Rockford Acquisition, which later renamed itself as Rockford Products, LLC (Tenant). The bankruptcy judge approved the transaction in 2007, see 11 U.S.C. 363, after Landlord did not object to Debtor's assertion that Landlord did not have...
FLAUM, Circuit Judge. Daniel Hanson appeals from the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which challenges his state conviction for fleeing and eluding a Wisconsin traffic officer. At his trial, Hanson sought to introduce testimony that the police officer from whom he fled had a "confrontational, aggressive and hot-tempered" character, but the trial court excluded the evidence under Wisconsin's analogue to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(a). Hanson was convicted...
BAUER, Circuit Judge. A grand jury returned an indictment charging Christian Gonzalez with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 kg or more of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846, and possession with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kg of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). At trial, Gonzalez moved for judgment of acquittal at the close of the government's case and again at the close of the evidence. The district court denied both motions. The jury...
BAUER, Circuit Judge. Phusion Projects, Inc. and Phusion Projects, LLC are the business entities responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of an alcoholic beverage called "Four Loko." In addition to alcohol, the original Four Loko formula contained energy stimulants, such as caffeine, guarana, taurine, and wormwood. Phusion purchased a commercial general liability insurance policy from the Netherlands Insurance Company and a commercial umbrella liability insurance policy from Indiana...
FLAUM, Circuit Judge. Charles White, Felicia Ford, and Norton Helton were three players in a major mortgage fraud scheme. Charles White was the scheme's mastermind and principal. Through fraudulent mortgage loan applications, he obtained financing for straw purchasers to buy properties from homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. Unbeknownst to the owners, White's goal was not to save their homes, but instead to strip the properties of their equity for his own gain. Felicia Ford was the...
BAUER, Circuit Judge. Gonzalo Garcia-Avila ("Garcia") was charged with two counts: conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and attempted distribution of methamphetamine. 21 U.S.C. 846 and 841(a)(1). A jury convicted Garcia of both counts, and he now appeals. He contends that the district court erred when it (1) allowed expert testimony to taint the jury and (2) admitted evidence of his prior ecstasy transactions. He also argues that the prosecution's...
ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Dennis Norem, M.D., is the current owner of a variable life insurance policy issued by Lincoln Benefit Life Company. Dr. Norem filed this putative class action on behalf of himself and other similarly situated policyholders. Specifically, Dr. Norem claimed that Lincoln Benefit breached the terms of its insurance policies with him and other policyholders in its method of calculating what is known as the cost of insurance ("COI") rate on its policies. Before deciding...
TINDER, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Kenny A. Jones, Sr., alleges that Defendants-Appellees violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. From the first, however, counsel for Jones stated his claims broadly and vaguely. He listed a series of irrelevant facts untethered to any legal claims, and asserted constitutional injury without specifying what provisions of the Constitution were violated and how. Defendants — the City of Elkhart, Indiana and individual...
KANNE, Circuit Judge. Malvin Washington filed a civil suit alleging that the officer who arrested him during a double homicide investigation used excessive force. The jury found in favor of the officer. Washington now appeals, arguing that the district court abused its discretion in denying Washington's challenge for cause to one of the jurors who heard his suit. But Washington waived this challenge, and we reject his argument. I. BACKGROUND Washington was arrested on January 30, 2007, as a...
TINDER, Circuit Judges. Michael Henderson was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon. The only contested issue at trial was whether he possessed the gun; that the gun had been in interstate commerce and Henderson's status as a felon were undisputed. See 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). This appeal also presents a single issue: whether the district court abused its discretion in excluding an out-of-court statement of an unavailable declarant regarding the gun that Henderson was charged with...
WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. In 2012, Bryan Craig self-published a short book of adult relationship advice entitled "It's Her Fault." And when we say "adult," we mean it in every sense of the word — in his book, Craig repeatedly discusses sexually provocative themes and uses sexually explicit terminology. Eventually, Craig's employer, a school district located in Chicago's south suburbs, learned of the publication of Craig's book and decided to terminate his employment because of it. Craig sued...
