Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff appealed from the district court's dismissal of the counts in its amended complaint directed against the Vatican State. Plaintiff alleged fraud, negligence, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and conversion, in connection with a licensing program involving artwork and artifacts in the Vatican Library collection. The district court dismissed plaintiff's claims on the grounds of improper venue based on the forum selection clauses contained in the Sublicense Agreements. Plaintiff is a New York corporation with its principal place of business in Long Beach, New York. The Vatican State is the territory over which the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church exercised sovereignty. The court held that the Vatican State could invoke the forum selection clauses in the sublicense agreements because the licensee and the Vatican State were "closely related" parties and it was foreseeable that the Vatican would enforce the forum selection clauses. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Magi XXI, Inc. v. Stato della Citta del Vaticano" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, petitioned for review of a decision by the BIA finding him inadmissible because he made a false claim of United States citizenship in order to avoid being placed in removal proceedings. The BIA concluded that the false claim triggered the inadmissibility provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 212(a)(6)(C)(ii)(l). The court concluded that neither the BIA nor the court had previously issued a precedential opinion defining what counted as a "purpose or benefit" under federal or state law. Therefore, the court vacated the BIA's decision and remanded so that the BIA could determine in the first instance the scope of conduct encompassed by section 212(a)(6)(C)(ii)(l). View "Richmond v. Holder" on Justia Law

Plaintiff sued her former employer asserting claims of gender discrimination and retaliation under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), N.Y.C. Admin. Code 8-107(1)(a), (7). The district court granted summary judgment to the employer and dismissed the complaint. The court concluded, however, that the district court erred in granting summary judgment because the record presented genuine disputes of material fact regarding both plaintiff's claims under the NYCHRL. Accordingly, the court vacated the judgment and remanded for trial. View "Mihalik v. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux N. Am., Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit under Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), N.Y. Exec. Law 290 et seq., alleging that an affair that one of her brothers had with another worker in their family business created a hostile work environment and that both of her brothers retaliated against her for complaining about the affair. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the dismissal of her retaliation claim. The court examined all of plaintiff's arguments on appeal and found them to be without merit. Because there was no indication that plaintiff believed that her sex had anything to with her treatment or that defendants could have understood her statements as such, she failed to establish a prima facie case for retaliation under Title VII and the NYSHRL. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Kelly v. Howard I. Shapiro & Assocs. Consulting Eng'rs., P.C." on Justia Law

Plaintiff, a New York State prisoner who had been administratively confined since 2003, appealed the district court's dismissal of his amended complaint. The complaint, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleged that plaintiff's due process rights have been violated because the decisions to continue his confinement in a Special Housing Unit (SHU) have been based on evidence that should have been expunged from his record, the periodic reviews have been perfunctory and meaningless, and the reasons given for his continued confinement have been false or misleading. Because plaintiff had previously lost a similar suit, the district court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the present action was barred by principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court concluded that the district court's applications of claim preclusion and issue preclusion, which the court reviewed de novo and in light of Computer Associates International, Inc. v. Altai, Inc., were in large part erroneous. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded for further proceedings. View "Proctor v. LeClaire" on Justia Law

Plaintiff sued defendant and the Gagosian Gallery, alleging that defendant's series of paintings and collages infringed on plaintiff's registered copyrights in certain photographs from a book of classical portraits and landscape photographs that plaintiff took while living among Rastafarians in Jamaica. The district court concluded that, in order for defendant to use a fair use defense, defendant's work must comment on plaintiff, on plaintiff's photographs, or on aspects of popular culture closely associated with plaintiff or the photographs. The court concluded that the district court applied the incorrect standard to determine whether defendant's artworks made fair use of plaintiff's copyrighted photographs; that all but five of defendant's works did make fair use of the photographs; and with regard to the remaining five artworks at issue, the court remanded to the district court to consider whether defendant was entitled to a fair use defense. Accordingly, the court reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. View "Cariou v. Prince" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed from the district court's judgment revoking his supervised release and sentence. Defendant argued that the district court committed error in his sentencing by impermissibly basing the length of his sentence on his rehabilitative needs. The court agreed that when sentencing a defendant after revoking a term of supervised release, a district court may not sentence based on the defendant's need for rehabilitation pursuant to Tapia v. United States. The court concluded that the record made clear that the district court did not sentence defendant to further his rehabilitation where the sentencing colloquy demonstrated that the district court's primary considerations in sentencing defendant were promoting respect for the law and protecting the public from further crimes from defendant. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Lifshitz" on Justia Law

Petitioner, convicted in state court of attempted arson in the second degree in violation of New York law, petitioned for review of the BIA's order affirming the IJ's finding that he was removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal. The court held that the attempted arson in the second degree was a felony that, by its nature, involved a substantial risk of the intentional use of physical force against the person or property of another. Therefore, attempted arson in the second degree was a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. 16(b), and an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 101(a)(43)(F), (U). Therefore, the court lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the petition for review. View "Santana v. Holder" on Justia Law

NOM, a nonprofit advocacy organization, appealed the district court's dismissal of its amended complaint for lack of subject-matter-jurisdiction. NOM was seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing that New York Election Law 14-100.1, which defined the term "political committee" for the purposes of state elections, violated the First Amendment. The court determined that NOM's case presented a live controversy that was ripe for consideration and vacated the district court's determination that it lacked jurisdiction. Because that conclusion prevented the district court from reaching the merits of NOM's claims, the court declined to comment on the substance of NOM's claims in the first instance. Therefore, the court remanded for further proceedings. View "National Organization for Marriage, Inc. v. Walsh" on Justia Law

Plaintiff was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree and subsequently pled guilty to a lesser charge for which the penalty was a one-year sentence - a jail term that he had already served. Plaintiff then brought the instant action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging Brady violations against the officials who conducted his original investigation and prosecution. The district court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, ruling that plaintiff's section 1983 claims were barred under Heck v. Humphrey. The court concluded, however, that because plaintiff was no longer in custody, and therefore could no longer bring a federal habeas suit, Heck's narrow exception to section 1983's otherwise broad coverage did not apply. Plaintiff may bring suit under section 1983 regardless of any defenses which might arise based on his subsequent guilty plea to the lesser charge. Accordingly, the court vacated the district court's decision granting summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings. View "Poventud v. City of New York" on Justia Law