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

The NRC granted Entergy an exemption from compliance with certain fire safety regulations at its Indian Point nuclear plant operating unit No. 3. Plaintiffs alleged that the NRC's award of the exemption to Entergy violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq., the Atomic Energy Act (AEA), 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq., and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Entergy on all of these claims except in one respect. Insofar as plaintiffs contended that the NRC granted the challenged exemption in violation of NEPA's regulations, which allowed for public involvement where appropriate and practicable, the court concluded that the agency record did not permit a reviewing court to determine whether a reasoned basis existed for the NRC's decision not to afford any such public involvement in the exemption decision. View "Brodsky v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, in two separate appeals, challenged the grant of motions to dismiss in favor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The court affirmed the district courts' conclusion that 12 U.S.C. 4617 precluded judicial review of a Directive issued by the FHFA to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The court also held that plaintiffs have failed to show that it was likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that their claims against the OCC would be redressed by vacatur of the Bulletin at issue, and therefore, the claims against the OCC were properly dismissed for lack of standing. View "Town of Babylon v. Federal Housing Finance Agency; Natural Resources Defense Council v. Federal Housing Finance Agency" on Justia Law

This opinion sets out a procedure for all immigration cases pending in this Court that will enable an interested petition and the Government to evaluate whether remand to the BIA, according to terms specified, is appropriate. View "In the Matter of Immigration" on Justia Law

This case arose when plaintiffs submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, requests to defendants for "any and all documents containing guidance" provided by the OLC to any representatives of HHS or USAID "relating to the enforcement" of the pledge requirement purporting to require all organizations that receive funds for HIV/AIDS and anti-trafficking work to have "a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking." Defendants subsequently appealed from the district court's order granting summary judgment for plaintiff, denying defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment. The court ordered disclosure by defendants of three memoranda prepared by the OLC because they were not covered by the deliberative process exemption, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5), from the general requirement of disclosure contained in the FOIA. The court concluded that one such memorandum was incorporated by reference in a USAID document such that the protection of the exemption was surrendered, but that the other two were not and retained their exempt status. View "Brennan Center for Justice v. United States Department of Justice" on Justia Law

Plaintiff sued defendants, Queens County Assistant District Attorneys, alleging that defendants' interrogation of her following the arrest of her boyfriend, former New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate, violated her civil rights. Defendants appealed from the denial of absolute immunity in an action brought under, inter alia, 42 U.S.C. 1983. The court concluded that, viewed through the eye of a reasonable prosecutor, defendants' acts in the present case were well within their legitimate functions as prosecutors. Because the objective circumstances triggered absolute immunity, the court vacated the district court's order denying absolute immunity and remanded for further proceedings. View "Giraldo v. City of New York" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs appealed from two orders of the district court granting in part and denying in part each side's motion for summary judgment resolving the applicability of Exemption 6 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6), to a federal agency's decision to withhold names and duty-station information from personnel records for over 800,000 federal civilian employees. The court held that the district court correctly found that the names could be withheld, but erred insofar as it found that the agency must disclose all of the duty-station information. View "Long v. Office of Personnel Management" on Justia Law

Defendants appealed from the district court's denial of their motion for judgment as a matter of law and their motion for a new trial following a jury verdict partially in favor of plaintiff on his claims regarding the misuse of a research training grant brought on behalf of the government pursuant to the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq., and awarding principally $855,714 in treble actual damages. The court concluded that: (1) where the government had provided funds for a specified good or service only to have defendant substitute a non-conforming good or service, a court could, upon a proper finding of False Claims Act liability, calculate damages to be the full amount of the grant payments made by the government after the material false statements were made; (2) there was sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could determine that the false statements at issue were material to the government's funding decision; and (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of inaction on the part of the NIH in response to plaintiff's complaint regarding the fellowship program in which he had been enrolled. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States ex rel. Daniel Feldman v. Van Gorp" on Justia Law

Applicants for and recipients of Medicaid home health Services claimed that the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and the New York State Department of Health, violated their statutory right, enforceable under 42 U.S.C.1983, to an opportunity for Medicaid fair hearings. They claimed that this right, as construed by federal regulation, entitles them to “final administrative action” within 90 days of their fair hearing requests. The district court declared that “final administrative action” includes the holding of Medicaid fair hearings, the issuance of fair hearing decisions, and the implementation of any relief ordered in those decisions and permanently enjoined the state agencies to ensure that “final administrative action” implemented within 90 days of fair hearing requests. The Second Circuit affirmed in part, holding that the plaintiffs have a right to a Medicaid hearing and decision ordinarily within 90 days of their fair hearing requests, and that such right is enforceable under section 1983. The permanent injunction was, however, overbroad because “final administrative action” refers not to the implementation of relief ordered in fair hearing decisions, but to the holding of fair hearings and to the issuance of fair hearing decisions. View "Shakhnes v. Eggleston" on Justia Law

In 2002, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Loretto-Oswego Residential Health Care Facility for violating employee safety standards. At the time, Loretto Management oversaw a number of non-profit corporations that operated nursing homes in upstate New York, including Loretto-Oswego; nearly all used the “Loretto” name. Loretto-Oswego reached an agreement with OSHA officials settling all matters related to the citations except whether several violations were “repeated” under 29 U.S.C. 666(a), which depends on whether Loretto- Oswego and a pair of other entities operated as a single employer for purposes of the OSH Act. If the violations were repeated, Loretto-Oswego must pay a penalty of $56,250, and if they were not, then Loretto-Oswego must pay only $11,250. An administrative law judge found that the three entities did operate as a single employer. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission reversed. The Second Circuit denied a petition for review, rejecting the Secretary of Labor’s variation of the “single employer test, which considers”: interrelated operations, common management, centralized control of labor relations, and common ownership. The Commission also considered the factor “common worksite.” View "Solis v. Loretto-Oswego Residential Health Care Facility" on Justia Law

In 2009, the Board of Health of the City of New York adopted a resolution requiring all tobacco retailers to display signs bearing graphic images showing certain adverse health effects of smoking. The district court held that the resolution is preempted by federal labeling laws. The Second Circuit affirmed, citing the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, 15 U.S.C. 1331-41, a comprehensive program to deal with cigarette labeling and advertising, which includes a preemption provision, limiting the extent to which states may regulate the labeling, advertising, and promotion of cigarettes. View "23-34 94th St. Grocery Corp. v. NY City Bd. of Health" on Justia Law