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

Defendant appealed from a conviction and sentence for the production and distribution of child pornography. The court held that the district court did not err in determining that defendant did not invoke his right to counsel during an interrogation and that the sentence was procedurally and substantively reasonable. View "United States v. Oehne" on Justia Law

The government appealed from the district court's order suppressing evidence found following the stop and subsequent search of a vehicle driven by defendant. The vehicle stop was executed by two officers of the St. Regis Mohawk Police Department (SRMPD), one of whom was also cross-designated as a U.S. customs officer by ICE. The district court held that the vehicle stop violated the Fourth Amendment because the officers lacked the authority to act as law enforcement officers at the time of the stop. The court held that the violation of the ICE policy requiring prior authorization did not affect the constitutionality of the stop under the Fourth Amendment and that the stop and subsequent search comported with the Fourth Amendment because they were justified by probable cause. Accordingly, the court reversed the decision of the district court. Because the court determined that the stop was a constitutional exercise of designated customs authority, the court did not decide whether the stop was also a constitutional exercise of New York police authority. View "United States v. Wilson" 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

Defendant, the Superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System, renewed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that she was entitled to qualified immunity in this 42 U.S.C. 1983 action in which defendant was alleged to have deprived plaintiff of her right to procedural due process. The district court denied the motion after concluding that there existed a dispute of material fact as to whether plaintiff received sufficient notice before the elimination of her position as a guidance counselor at a Connecticut high school. The court held that defendant's conduct in this case, even when viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, did not violate plaintiff's clearly established rights. Therefore, defendant was entitled to qualified immunity. The court reversed and remanded. View "Coollick v. Hughes" on Justia Law

These appeals, heard in tandem, challenged awards of summary judgment entered in the district court in favor of Starbucks on plaintiffs' complaints that Starbucks violated New York Labor Law 196-d in the distribution of tip pools maintained at stores in New York State. These appeals presented unresolved questions of New York law. Because these unresolved questions implicated significant New York state interests, and are determinative of these appeals, the court deferred decision and certified them to the New York Court of Appeals. View "Barenboim, et al. v. Starbucks Corp." on Justia Law

The EEOC appealed from a post-judgment order by the district court denying its request for injunctive relief against defendant following a jury verdict finding defendant liable for sexual harassment and fostering a sexually hostile work environment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., and New York State law. The court held that the district court abused its discretion in denying any injunctive relief to the EEOC. At minimum, the district court was obliged to craft injunctive relief sufficient to prevent further violations of Title VII by the individual who directly perpetrated the egregious sexual harassment at issue in this case. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded for further proceedings. View "Equal Employment Opportunity v. KarenKim, Inc." on Justia Law

Intervenor appealed from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff. Plaintiff sued as surviving spouse of a same-sex couple that was married in Canada in 2007 and was resident in New York at the time of her spouse's death in 2009. Plaintiff was denied the benefit of the spousal deduction for federal estate taxes under 26 U.S.C. 2056(A) solely because Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 1 U.S.C. 7, defined the words "marriage" and "spouse" in federal law in a way that barred the IRS from recognizing plaintiff as a spouse or the couple as married. The court held that plaintiff had standing in this action; plaintiff's suit was not foreclosed by Baker v. Nelson; Section 3 of DOMA was subject to intermediate scrutiny under the factors enumerated in City of Cleburn v. Cleburn Living Center, and other cases; and the statute did not withstand that review because it violated equal protection and was therefore unconstitutional. View "Windsor v. United States" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's dismissal of his complaint against defendant Justin Korn. Plaintiff, a former shareholder and officer of defendant GVC, sought indemnification from GVC after successfully defending a suit brought by GVC in Delaware, and also sought to pierce the corporate veil to hold Korn accountable for any resulting judgment. The district court entered a stipulated judgment against GVC, but dismissed the complaint against Korn. Because the district court erroneously held that plaintiff could not pursue both indemnification and an alter-ego veil-piercing theory, the court vacated the order of dismissal and remanded for further proceedings. View "Kertesz v. General Video Corp." 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

The State of New York appealed from the district court's grant of defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, vacating his convictions for robbery and burglary, and barring the State from retrying him. The state argued that, because defendant has a full and fair opportunity to litigate his Fourth Amendment claim in state court, federal habeas relief was not available. Because the State failed to raise this non-jurisdictional argument in the district court, the court declined in the exercise of its discretion to consider it for the first time on appeal. The court agreed with the district court that the state court's determination that the victim's in-court identification derived from a source independent of a tainted lineup constituted an unreasonable application of, and was contrary to, clearly established Supreme Court law. Finally, although the court concluded that the in-court identification substantially and injuriously influenced the jury's deliberations, and while the court shared the district court's doubt whether the circumstantial evidence was legally sufficient to convict defendant without it, such doubt must be resolved if at all by the state court. Accordingly, the court vacated that portion of the district court's judgment barring the State from retrying defendant, but affirmed its vacatur of defendant's convictions. View "Young v. Conway" on Justia Law