Free US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case summaries from Justia.
If you are unable to see this message, click here to view it in a web browser. | | US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit February 5, 2020 |
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Click here to remove Verdict from subsequent Justia newsletter(s). | New on Verdict Legal Analysis and Commentary | The Real Insidious Part of Dershowitz’s Impeachment Defense | VIKRAM DAVID AMAR, EVAN CAMINKER | | Illinois law dean Vikram David Amar and Michigan Law dean emeritus Evan Caminker discuss Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz’s explanation of why he stands (virtually) alone in his views on impeachment—that all the scholars who disagree with him are biased partisans. Amar and Caminker explain why this claim is so insidious, with effects lasting well beyond the span of the current presidency. | Read More |
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US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Opinions | Calvary Chapel Bible Fellowship v. County of Riverside | Docket: 17-56857 Opinion Date: February 4, 2020 Judge: R. Nelson Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use | The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Riverside County in an action brought by Calvary Chapel, alleging a facial challenge to a county zoning ordinance under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The panel held that Calvary Chapel has failed to establish a prima facie violation of RLUIPA's equal terms provision on a facial challenge. The panel stated that, consistent with Riverside County's representations both in its briefs and at oral argument, Calvary Chapel was not prohibited from pursuing its religious practices under the zoning ordinance. In this case, Riverside County's zoning ordinance permits religious assemblies as special occasion facilities, and thus the ordinance does not treat religious assemblies on less than equal terms with secular assemblies. Finally, the panel declined to consider Calvary Chapel's new nondiscrimination claim on appeal in the first instance. | | United States v. George | Docket: 18-50268 Opinion Date: February 4, 2020 Judge: Miller Areas of Law: Criminal Law | USSG 2B1.1(b)(2) requires the sentencing court to determine whether the victims suffered a loss that was significant in light of their individual financial circumstances. The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence for mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Defendant co-owned and operated companies that defrauded nearly 5,000 homeowners out of millions of dollars. The panel affirmed the district court's imposition of a six-level sentence enhancement for an offense that resulted in substantial financial hardship to 25 or more victims under USSG 2B1.1(b)(2)(C). In this case, some of the victims lost their homes, some filed for bankruptcy, and many others borrowed money to avoid foreclosure, fell further behind on mortgage payments, renegotiated their loans on worse terms, or paid additional penalties and fines. The panel also held that the district court did not have to identify specific victims by name even if it had been asked to do so. Furthermore, it was sufficient for the government to produce evidence for enough of the victims to allow the sentencing court reasonably to infer a pattern. Finally, the panel held that the sentence was not substantively unreasonable and the restitution order did not violate Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). | |
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