JENNIFER WALKER ELROD , Circuit Judge : The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Act or ACA) is a monumental piece of healthcare legislation that regulates a huge swath of the nation's economy and affects the healthcare decisions of millions of Americans. The law has been a focal point of our country's political debate since it was passed nearly a decade ago. Some say that the Act is a much-needed solution to the problem of increasing healthcare costs and lack of healthcare...
PER CURIAM . * Background This is the second time that this case has reached the Fifth Circuit. Our previous opinion in Ariana M. v. Humana Health Plan of Texas, Inc., 884 F.3d 246 (5th Cir. 2018) (en banc) (" Ariana M. I "), and the district court's Memorandum and Opinion from which plaintiff Ariana M. now appeals discuss the case's facts at length, so we will provide only a brief summary. Ariana was partially hospitalized to treat an eating disorder. Her health-plan administrator,...
STEPHEN A. HIGGINSON , Circuit Judge . A few weeks after she was selected to be the head varsity cheerleader at San Benito High School, M.L., a minor, was stripped of her position and dismissed from the team when her cheerleading coaches discovered a series of posts on her personal Twitter account containing profanity and sexual innuendo. M.L.'s mother, Zulema Longoria, filed this lawsuit on behalf of her daughter under 42 U.S.C. 1983. She argues that the actions of the school district,...
JAMES L. DENNIS , Circuit Judge . The issue in this appeal is whether the investor plaintiffs have Article III standing to sue their former investment advisers for securities fraud under Louisiana law. To establish a securities fraud claim under Louisiana law a plaintiff must show that "(1) the defendant made an untrue statement of a material fact; (2) the plaintiff did not know of the untruth; and (3) the defendant knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care could have known, of the...
PER CURIAM . * Ramiro Rubi Ibarra was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. This court previously granted a certificate of appealability ("COA") under 28 U.S.C. 2254 from the district court's denial of relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim and denied his petition for a COA on his Atkins claim. Following briefing on the former claim, we AFFIRM. I. Background The facts about the crime need not be recited again. This court summarized the procedural history...
STUART KYLE DUNCAN , Circuit Judge : For the second time, we address whether we have appellate jurisdiction in this case. We previously recounted the case's convoluted history, see Williams v. Taylor-Seidenbach, Inc., 748 F. App'x 584 (5th Cir. 2018) (per curiam) (" Williams I "), and here provide only the relevant details. This case arises from a 2008 state court suit by Frank Williams, Jr., 1 alleging he contracted mesothelioma from asbestos while working at a NASA facility in...
PER CURIAM . * This case arises under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq. The law requires states accepting federal educational funding to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of the Act. See Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305 , 310 (1988). The plaintiffs are the parents of a dyslexic child. They claim that the Copperas Cove Independent School District violated the IDEA by failing to provide their son with an...
JERRY E. SMITH , Circuit Judge : Texas sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") and the Attorney General ("Defendants"), challenging EEOC's guidance on employers' use of criminal records in hiring. Texas alleged that guidance constituted an unlawfully promulgated substantive rule and sought to enjoin its enforcement. The state also asked for a declaration per the Declaratory Judgment Act ("DJA") that it could lawfully exclude felons from state employment. The district court...
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK , Circuit Judge : Carlos Manuel Ayestas is a prisoner on death row in Texas. We previously affirmed the district court's denial of his request under 18 U.S.C. 3599(f) for investigatory funding because he had not shown a "substantial need" that made the funds "reasonably necessary" to the representation. The Supreme Court held the statute does not require a showing of "substantial need" and remanded with...
PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM , Circuit Judge : The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in the Northern District of Texas against Robert Allen Stanford, the Stanford International Bank, and other Stanford entities, alleging "a massive, ongoing fraud." Invoking the court's long-held statutory authority, the Commission requested that the district court take custody of the troubled Stanford entities and delegate control to an appointed officer of the court. The court did so,...
JENNIFER WALKER ELROD , Circuit Judge : Jordany Pierre-Paul petitions for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), arguing that the immigration court lacked jurisdiction, that the BIA erred in denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and cancellation of removal, and that the immigration judge violated his due process rights. Because we reject Pierre-Paul's jurisdictional and due process arguments, we deny his petition in part. Because we lack...
DON R. WILLETT , Circuit Judge : Jose Cruz, a former Salvadoran police officer, fled his home country and illegally entered the United States with his son after receiving threats from the Revolutionaries—a faction of the Barrio 18 gang. Conceding his removability, Cruz requested asylum, withholding of deportation, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The Immigration Judge denied all relief, as did the Board of Immigration Appeals, which accepted the...
PRISCILLA R. OWEN , Circuit Judge , joined by KING, Circuit Judge, in Parts I, II, III, IV, V and VII. Pursuant to a provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 1 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) seeks to terminate a consent decree entered in 1977, which exempts Muslim inmates from the requirement that all religious gatherings and activities in Texas state prisons attended by more than four inmates must be directly supervised by either prison staff or a prison-...
PER CURIAM . * Elvia Hernandez Carbajal, acting on behalf of herself and her minor daughter, Yamilet Mayo Hernandez, seeks review of the dismissal by the Board of Immigration Appeals of their appeal from the denial of their applications for asylum and withholding of removal. Hernandez Carbajal testified that, in Mexico, she and the rest of the passengers on a bus were the victims of an armed robbery and that, although she moved to two different places in Mexico following the robbery, she...
STEPHEN A. HIGGINSON , Circuit Judge : Michael Angelo Ortiz pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. On appeal, he argues that the factual basis supporting his plea was insufficient. We disagree. The factual basis demonstrated that Ortiz's conduct satisfied all elements of the offense. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's acceptance of his guilty plea. I. Proceedings In June 2017, a grand jury indicted Michael Angelo Ortiz on one count:...
ON PETITION FOR REHEARING AND REHEARING EN BANC PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM , Circuit Judge : Treating the respondent-appellee's petition for rehearing en banc as a petition for panel rehearing, the petition is granted. We withdraw our prior opinion 1 and substitute the following. We deny the petitioner-appellant's petition for panel rehearing. Quintin Phillippe Jones was sentenced to death by a Texas court. He now appeals the district court's denial of his federal application for post-...
PER CURIAM . * Shari Howard, pro se in the district court and on appeal, sued the Lowe's defendants, under various theories of state and federal law, to recover damages arising out of two separate disputes: (1) a broken Whirlpool refrigerator and (2) the denial of a prepaid-account discount. The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment, explaining its decision in a thor-ough and well-reasoned eighteen-page order entered January 26, 2019. The district court...
EDITH H. JONES , Circuit Judge : Plaintiff-Appellant Bonnie O'Daniel ("O'Daniel") sued her former employers Defendants-Appellees Industrial Service Solutions ("ISS"), Plant-N-Power Services ("PNP"), Tex Simoneaux, Jr. ("Simoneaux"), and Cindy Huber ("Huber") for firing her allegedly because of "the Plaintiff's sexual orientation [heterosexual] and Ms. Huber's reaction to the Plaintiff's pr[o]-heterosexual speech." The magistrate judge, acting by consent, dismissed her complaint pursuant to...
PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM , Circuit Judge : Quintin Phillippe Jones was sentenced to death by a Texas court. He now appeals the district court's denial of his federal application for post-conviction relief, arguing that evidence was erroneously admitted at sentencing in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights and that the district court improperly denied him further investigative funding. We granted a certificate of appealability, and now affirm the district court's judgment and denial of...
PER CURIAM . * The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether the claimant-appellant, a cruise line operator, is entitled to membership in the class under the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement Agreement ("Settlement Agreement"). The claimant-appellant is NCL Corporation, Ltd., through its subsidiary Norwegian Spirit, Ltd. (collectively "Norwegian"), and BP is the appellee. 1 Norwegian's Business Economic Loss claim under the Settlement Agreement is based on...
