OPINION ALICE M. BATCHELDER , Circuit Judge . A federal jury convicted four co-defendants of robbery, conspiracy, and firearms charges stemming from two jewelry store robberies in Michigan on April 22, 2014, and the district court imposed lengthy prison sentences. The defendant/appellants—Nathaniel Pembrook, Shaeed Calhoun, David Briley, and Orlando Johnson—are African-American males, between the ages of 36 and 47, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first robbery was at 12:30 p.m. at...
OPINION ALICE M. BATCHELDER , Circuit Judge . Appellant Arnetia Joyce Robinson is a stockholder in the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"; collectively, the "Companies"). During the economic recession in 2007-2008, Congress enacted the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 ("HERA"), which created an agency, Appellee Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA"), and authorized FHFA to place the Companies in...
OPINION THAPAR , Circuit Judge . The contempt power ensures that the judiciary's mandates are authoritative rather than advisory. But an imperious judiciary is just as problematic as a powerless one. So the contempt power is limited: A party cannot be held in contempt unless it has violated a definite and specific court order. Exactly when a court order becomes definite and specific is the question of this appeal. I. Global Fitness Holdings ("Global Fitness") owned and operated a...
OPINION SUHRHEINRICH , Circuit Judge . The state of Michigan mandates that school-age children be vaccinated prior to entering the public school system. It also offers exemptions from this requirement for certain medical and nonmedical reasons. However, in order to get an exemption, a parent must first visit a local health department and explain the basis for his or her objection. A devout Catholic, Plaintiff-Appellant Tara Nikolao ("Nikolao") sought a vaccination waiver for her children...
ORDER McKEAGUE , Circuit Judge . At a campaign rally in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 1, 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump responded to protesters by stating, "Get `em out of here," followed closely by, "Don't hurt `em — if I say go `get `em,' I get in trouble with the press." Apparently, the latter admonition either went unheeded or came too late. Allegedly in response to Trump's initial statement, three protesters were assaulted by three Trump supporters. Those three...
OPINION PER CURIAM . Victor L. Smith, represented by counsel, appeals the district court's judgment granting summary judgment to the defendants on his claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12132. The parties have waived oral argument, and the panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a). Smith has epilepsy. On the morning of February 11, 2014, he began experiencing a seizure while...
OPINION McKEAGUE , Circuit Judge . Relators Joseph Ibanez and Jennifer Edwards, former employees of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS), bring this qui tam action alleging that BMS, together with Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (Otsuka), engaged in a complex, nationwide scheme to improperly promote the antipsychotic drug Abilify. Relators assert that this scheme caused claims for reimbursement for the drug to be submitted to the government, in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA),...
OPINION SUTTON , Circuit Judge . A jury convicted Maqsood Haroon for "knowingly procur[ing]" his citizenship "contrary to law" by lying to immigration authorities about his prior marriage and two children from that marriage. We affirm. I. Born in Pakistan, Haroon came to the United States on a visitor's visa in September 2002. Six months later, the visa expired and Haroon returned to Pakistan. Upon his return, he married Farzeena Bano, and the couple gave birth to a son. One week after...
OPINION THAPAR , Circuit Judge . Bad weather causes turbulence. As it turns out, so does merging two luxury airlines. A few years ago, Flight Options announced that it would acquire and merge operations with Flexjet. The airlines and their pilots' union have been fighting ever since — and have become frequent fliers in this circuit. This is the second time the parties have been before us this year. Their first appeal was about how to combine the pilots' seniority lists. See Flight Options,...
OPINION ROGERS , Circuit Judge . Defendants appeal their criminal convictions arising out of a kickback scheme at a now-defunct community school in Dayton, Ohio. Defendant Shane Floyd was superintendent at the school and defendant Christopher Martin was the chair of the school's board of directors. Both used their positions to ensure that the school paid over $400,000 in consulting fees to Global Educational Consultants ("Global"), a company owned by defendant Carl Robinson. Robinson, in...
OPINION BERNICE BOUIE DONALD , Circuit Judge . Plaintiff Melisa Richmond was incarcerated in the Wayne County Jail from December 26, 2012 through February 13, 2013. While in the custody of the Jail, Richmond received treatment for a self-inflicted burn wound on her chest as well as for psychological needs. Richmond contends that she received constitutionally inadequate treatment for her burn wound, which necessitated skin grafting surgery shortly after her release from the Jail's custody....
OPINION RONALD LEE GILMAN , Circuit Judge . This case arises out of the drinking-water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The Plaintiffs are residents of the City of Flint who represent themselves and seek to represent a class of similarly situated individuals. They allege that they have been harmed since April 2014 by the toxic condition of the Flint water supply. The Plaintiffs filed suit against several City and State officials in the Genesee County Circuit Court, asserting various state-law...
OPINION GRIFFIN , Circuit Judge . Since the founding of our Republic, Congress, state legislatures, and many municipal bodies have commenced legislative sessions with a prayer. Consonant with this historical practice, defendant Jackson County Board of Commissioners opens its public meetings with a prayer that is generally solemn, respectful, and reflective. Plaintiff Peter Bormuth claims that this custom violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution 1 because the...
OPINION RONALD LEE GILMAN , Circuit Judge . Gary Roell, who suffered from chronic mental illness, caused a disturbance at his neighbor's condominium while experiencing a condition known as excited delirium. Hamilton County sheriff's deputies arrived to find Roell half-naked, muttering unintelligibly, and standing next to a broken window holding a hose and the remnants of a hanging plant. While attempting to subdue Roell, the deputies physically struggled with him and unsuccessfully tased...
OPINION KETHLEDGE , Circuit Judge . The Plaintiffs in this case — now only two organizations that represent migrant farmworkers — claim that the United States Border Patrol allows agents at its Sandusky Bay, Ohio station to target persons of Hispanic appearance for questioning. After a bench trial, the district court found that the Plaintiffs had not proved their claim. We affirm. I. The Border Patrol's mission includes enforcing the Nation's immigration laws, as well as preventing...
OPINION GRIFFIN , Circuit Judge . Pretrial detainees must tolerate some invasion of their privacy in order to accommodate the important government interests necessary for the operation of the detention facility. For instance, detainees may be subjected to suspicionless strip searches as part of the jail's intake process. See Florence v. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders of Cty. of Burlington, 566 U.S. 318, 328, 132 S.Ct. 1510 , 182 L.Ed.2d 566 (2012). The issue we face is whether periodically...
OPINION RONALD LEE GILMAN , Circuit Judge . Hemlock Semiconductor Operations, LLC (Hemlock) and SolarWorld Industries Sachsen GmbH (Sachsen) are both involved in manufacturing components of solar-power products. They entered into a series of long-term supply agreements (LTAs), by which Hemlock in Michigan would supply Sachsen in Germany with set quantities of polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) at fixed prices between the years 2006 and 2019. The market price of polysilicon was initially...
OPINION SUTTON , Circuit Judge . In this habeas case, Larry Stewart claims that a Confrontation Clause violation and prosecutorial misconduct undermined the fairness of his murder trial. But because the state court did not unreasonably reject these claims, we must reject his petition. We reverse the district court's contrary decision. I. On the morning of December 19, 2011, Kevin Brown arrived at an apartment to pick up Reynatta Hamilton for what he thought was a date. Unbeknownst to...
OPINION JANE B. STRANCH , Circuit Judge . These two cases arise from the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan. Plaintiffs, residents of Flint affected by the contaminated city water, bring suit against various state and local officials and entities, alleging violation of their constitutional rights, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, along with other claims. In Boler, the district court determined that the 1983 claims were preempted by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and...
OPINION ROGERS , Circuit Judge . Laquinton Perry, having conditionally pled guilty to conspiring to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, appeals the preserved evidentiary issue of whether a search warrant for Perry's apartment was supported by probable cause. Perry contends that the activities indicating drug sales that were observed over the seven weeks before the issuance of the search warrant were stale evidence because the activities were not individually dated. The...
