Case law

Shelley Soniat v. Texas Real Estate Commission, et

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · May 9, 2018

“Federal courts lack jurisdiction over suits against a state, a state agency, or a state official in his official capacity unless that state has waived its sovereign immunity or Congress has clearly abrogated it.” … Congress has not clearly abrogated state agencies’ sovereign immunity from suits brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Will v.

77 Fair empl.prac.cas. (Bna) 1699, 74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,510 Julie Deffenbaugh-Williams, Plaintiff-Appellee/cross-Appellant v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Defendant-Appellant/cross-Appellee

156 F.3d 581 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 24, 1998

First, Deffenbaugh was required to establish a prima facie case; to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that she: (1) is a member of a protected class; (2) was qualified for the position; (3) was terminated; and (4) … (This ties in with the claim that she failed to prove one of the prima facie elements for her claim: being qualified for her position.

Bay Area Unitarian v. Ogg

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Apr 9, 2025

The district court granted the Houston Police Chief’s Rule 12(c) motion, ruling that Plaintiffs failed to allege facts establishing an injury. … They have established their Article III standing to press their First Amendment claims. Time Warner Cable, Inc., 667 F.3d at 635.

United States v. Perez

585 F.3d 880 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 16, 2009

“However, a finding will be deemed clearly erroneous if, based on the record as a whole, [the court is] ‘left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.’” Id. (quoting United States v. … We must determine, therefore, whether damage to a serial number that did not render it unreadable qualifies as an alteration for purposes of § 2K2.1(b)(4).

United States v. Whitehead

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 24, 2021

“[A] court abuses its discretion if it bases its decision on an error of law or a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence.” United States v. … But the district court determined that even if Whitehead’s medical conditions qualified as extraordinary and compelling reasons, it still would not grant a sentence reduction.

United States v. Grammas

376 F.3d 433 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 8, 2004

Grammas was sentenced to at least 7 and up to 19 months more time than he would have received had he pleaded guilty and qualified for a three point reduction under Guidelines § 3E1.1(b). … The majority opinion must use a separate basis for establishing prejudice.

Thomas Turner v. Kansas City Southern Railway

675 F.3d 887 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 23, 2012

While the defendant is not required to “persuade the court that it was actually motivated by the proffered reasons,” in order to satisfy its burden, “the defendant must clearly set forth, through the introduction of admissible … Nonetheless, we will not decide if the evidence Turner points to qualifies as direct evidence of discrimination taking this case out of the McDonnell Douglas framework because Turner did not raise this argument in his initial

Lubbock County Hospital District v. National Union Fire Insurance

143 F.3d 239 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 24, 1998

Whether the flight could qualify as an interstate flight as opposed to an intrastate flight is, therefore, irrelevant. … UMC produced sufficient summary judgment evidence to establish that its claim was based on a sudden and accidental escape of pollutants.

Engineering Dynamics, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee v. Structural Software, Inc., and S. Rao Guntur, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants

26 F.3d 1335 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 13, 1994

EDI argues that the findings of the special master, to the extent they were adopted by the district court, were clearly erroneous. … Testimony at trial established that both products were targeted at a fairly limited and sophisticated market. Moreover, the printed pages of both parties’ reports clearly identify the vendor as EDI or SSI.

Philip Landry v. Judge J. Robert Hoepfner and William Guste, Jr., Attorney General, State of Louisiana

840 F.2d 1201 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 17, 1988

See, e.g., Duncan, 88 S.Ct. at 1453 (“Crimes carrying possible penalties up to six months do not require a jury trial if they otherwise qualify as petty offenses.”). … Clearly Colts gave its approval to the holding of State v.

Gulf States Utilities Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

1 F.3d 288 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Oct 29, 1993

The CTOC agreement established a rather complex billing mechanism with regard to the ITS. … Striedel, see 59 F.E.R.C. at 61,140 n. 74, which establishes only the formula described above.

Harvey Clark v. Thibodaux City

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 19, 2019

It does not qualify for § 1983 liability unless its conduct can be “fairly attributable to the State.” Priester v. Lowndes County, 354 F.3d 414, 423 (5th Cir. 2004) (quoting Bass v. … He is being sued in both his individual and official capacities and has asserted qualified immunity in response.

United States v. Shah

95 F.4th 328 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Mar 8, 2024

Paragraph 7 clearly provides that the remedy is rebuttal. … But she was not qualified as an expert witness, and the surgeons did not establish that she had personal knowledge of the source of DOL funding.

McFarland & Tondre v. Texas General

40 F.3d 763 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jun 1, 1995

The approved Plan clearly gives the Liquidating Trustee the power to assert avoidance actions. … Furthermore, the Liquidating Trustee qualifies as a representative of the estate because the proceeds obtained from its actions benefit the unsecured creditors.

Zhu v. Gonzales

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Sep 5, 2007

The IJ also held that she did not qualify for an exception to the one-year filing deadline. … Furthermore, we agree with the [IJ]’s finding that the respondent failed to establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution.

Hall v. Quarterman

534 F.3d 365 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 9, 2008

established at the time a state court renders its final judgment of conviction.” 37 A state court decision is contrary to clearly established federal law in two instances — first, where it is “diametrically different, opposite … Under this rule Justice Powell’s opinion constitutes 'clearly established' law for purposes of § 2254 and sets the minimum procedures a State must provide to a prisoner raising a Ford-based competency claim.”

Carpenters Local Union No. 1846 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America v. Pratt-Farnsworth, Inc.

690 F.2d 489 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Nov 4, 1982

, but concludes that A has not been established and therefore declines to consider whether B has been established, a reviewing court that reverses the conclusion that A has not been established must remand to the agency to … Clearly section 9(b) refers only to cases pending before the Board under the NLRA.

United States v. Pittman

108 F.3d 333 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jan 28, 1997

Even assuming that Pittman has standing to claim a violation of that privilege on behalf of the non-immunized witnesses, see United States v. … The jury was aware that Cowart was a convicted felon and that he had been granted immunity on drug charges.

George v. SI Group

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 9, 2026

To the contrary, although Hall posits that SI Group could have forced Veolia to use matting, it clearly did not do 9 Case: 25-40286 Document: 95-1 Page: 10 Date … As to the marketing defect/failure-to-warn claim, the district court concluded that the summary judgment evidence established that foreseeable users of the tanker trailer would have special training and knowledge about the

United States v. Clark

260 F.3d 382 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Jul 26, 2001

The Court established a three-step inquiry to determine when new rules of criminal procedure apply retroactively on collateral review. Teague, 489 U.S. at 288 , 109 S.Ct. 1060 . … While Teague clearly counsels that we consider the need for finality in criminal matters, Apprendi dictates that criminal defendants not be convicted and sentenced for crimes more serious than those charged in their indictments