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

The ACLU made requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, seeking information from government agencies regarding drone strikes. In this appeal, the ACLU challenges responses to the FOIA requests made to the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the CIA, and the DOD. The ACLU’s appeal challenges the district court’s ruling to the extent it upheld nondisclosure of 52 documents, and the government’s cross-appeal challenges the ruling to the extent it ordered disclosure, in whole or in part, of seven documents. The court concluded that none of the 52 withheld documents must be disclosed, and that the seven documents ordered disclosed may also be withheld. Accordingly, the court affirmed the appeal, reversed the cross-appeal, and remanded for entry of a revised judgment. View "ACLU v. US DOJ" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The district court sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison, entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $2.4 million, and ordered restitution in the amount of $2.4 million. The court concluded that the district court erred in applying the two sentencing enhancements for receiving gross receipts in excess of $1 million from a financial institution pursuant to U.S.S.G. 2B1.1(b)(16)(A) and for abuse of a position of trust pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3B1.3. In a summary order published contemporaneously with this opinion, the court affirmed the district court’s judgments on the indictment and sentencing enhancement for a loss figure of $8.1 million, and declined to resolve defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. View "United States v. Huggins" on Justia Law

In 2008, Leonard pled guilty to conspiracies to distribute 100 or more kilograms of marijuana, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), 846; and to launder the proceeds of that illegal trafficking, 18 U.S.C. 1956(h). While serving a 114‐month prison term, Leonard unsuccessfully sought a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The court reasoned that an amended, retroactive, 97‐121‐month Sentencing Guidelines range was not lower than the 97-121‐month range agreed to in the Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement. The Second Circuit reversed and remanded. Leonard is eligible for a section 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction because his original sentence was “based on” the Sentencing Guidelines as that statutory phrase was construed by the Supreme Court in 2011, but the extent of the reduction for which Leonard is eligible is narrower than he urges because his “applicable” Guidelines range, as defined by U.S.S.G. 1B1.10 was the 121‐151‐month range calculated by the district court before accepting what was effectively a downward variance to the 97‐121‐month range prescribed in the 11(c)(1)(C) agreement. Leonard is eligible for a reduction of his sentence, but to no less than 97 months’ incarceration. View "United States v. Leonard" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, trustees of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., pension fund, filed suit against its investment manager and principals alleging that defendants knew by 1998 that investing with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) was imprudent; that these defendants breached their fiduciary duty by failing to warn the fund of this fact; that if warned, the fund would have withdrawn the full sum appearing on its 1998 BLMIS account statements; and that prudent alternative investment of that sum would have earned more than the fund’s actual net withdrawals from its BLMIS account between 1999 and 2008. Plaintiffs also filed suit against Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, which acquired the investment manager in 2000, alleging that it knowingly participated as a non‐fiduciary in the fiduciary breach. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) and for failure to allege an actual injury sufficient to establish Article III standing under Rule 12(b)(1). The court concluded that plaintiffs failed to allege facts sufficient to show Article III standing where plaintiffs have not plausibly alleged losses in excess of their profits; the increase in pension funds does not constitute a cognizable loss; the court rejected plaintiffs' claim of disgorgement of Simon and Wohl; and the complaint fails to state a claim against BNY Mellon for participation in a breach of fiduciary duty by Ivy, Simon, and Wohl. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Trustees of the Upstate New York Engineers Pension Fund v. Ivy Asset Management" on Justia Law

This appeal arises out of a dispute between Century and Global over the extent to which Global is obligated to reinsure Century pursuant to certain reinsurance certificates. The district court held that the dollar amount stated in the “Reinsurance Accepted” section of the certificates unambiguously caps the amount that Global can be obligated to pay Century for both “losses” and “expenses” combined. Century contends that Global is obligated to pay expenses in addition to the amount stated in the “Reinsurance Accepted” provision and that, at a minimum, the district court erred in concluding that the certificates were unambiguous. The court certified to the New York Court of Appeals the following question: Does the decision of the New York Court of Appeals in Excess Insurance Co. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Co., impose either a rule of construction, or a strong presumption, that a per occurrence liability cap in a reinsurance contract limits the total reinsurance available under the contract to the amount of the cap regardless of whether the underlying policy is understood to cover expenses such as, for instance, defense costs? View "Global Reinsurance Corp. of America v. Century Indemnity Co." on Justia Law

Jarquez Dancy and Jayvon Elting, two high school students, were stopped by Police Officer Gregg McGinley while they were walking on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York. A confrontation ensued that left Elting bruised, scraped, and swollen, and Dancy with a broken jaw. Elting and Dancy brought a civil rights action in federal district court alleging, inter alia, false arrest and use of excessive force. The district court entered judgment as a matter of law in favor of Elting on liability as to his claims against McGinley for false arrest and use of excessive force, and thereafter the jury awarded him $215,000, which the district court remitted to $196,500. The jury found in favor of Williams on Dancy's claim for false arrest, but was unable to reach a verdict on Dancy's excessive force claim. At a second trial, the jury found in favor of Williams on Dancy's excessive force claim. The district court denied Dancy's motion for a new trial. The court affirmed the judgment in favor of Elting and the amount of damages. However, the court vacated the judgment in favor of Williams and remanded for a new trial on Dancy's excessive force claim. In this case, the court concluded that there was a lack of clarity in the district court's instructions that improperly placed the burden on Dancy to prove intent, not only as to the seizure but as to the injury as well. The error was not harmless. View "Dancy v. McGinley" on Justia Law

In these consolidated appeals, defendant Virginia K. Sourlis challenges the district court's judgment in an enforcement action brought by the SEC in connection with public offerings of unregistered shares of stock of defendant Greenstone. The district court granted a motion by the SEC for summary judgment on issues of liability, holding Sourlis--an attorney who wrote a January 11, 2006 opinion letter ("Sourlis Letter") relating to one of the offerings--liable for violating section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), 15 U.S.C. 77e; violating 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5; and aiding and abetting violations of section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, in violation of section 20(e) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. 78t(e). The Superseding Final Judgment orders Sourlis to pay a total of $57,284.83 as a civil penalty, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest, and permanently bars her from participating in so-called "penny stock" offerings. The court found no error in the district court's determinations of liability and no abuse of discretion in its remedial order. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment in Nos. 14-2301 and 15-3978. The court dismissed as moot the SEC's cross-appeal in No. 14-2937. View "SEC v. Sourlis" on Justia Law

Defendant John B. Frohling appeals the district court's judgment in an enforcement action brought by the SEC in connection with public offerings of unregistered shares of stock of defendant Greenstone. The district court granted a motion by the SEC for summary judgment on issues of liability, holding Frohling--who as Greenstone's securities counsel in 2006-2008 wrote, approved, or concurred in 11 opinion letters relating to all of the relevant offerings--liable for violating section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), 15 U.S.C. 77q(a); section 5 of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 77e; and section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"), 15 U.S.C. 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5. The Superseding Final Judgment orders Frohling to pay a total of $204,161.86 as a civil penalty, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest, and permanently bars him from participating in so-called "penny stock" offerings. The court found no basis for reversal and affirmed the judgment. View "SEC v. Frohling" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of offenses concerning sex trafficking of a minor and was sentenced to 240 months in prison. The principal issue on appeal is whether information from a GPS can be obtained and used without a warrant to locate a suspect. The court concluded that exigent circumstances justified obtaining and using GPS location information without a warrant. In this case, Sprint had a good faith basis for believing that the disclosure of defendant's cell phone location was necessary to protect a missing child from being prostituted and subject to serious physical injury. The court rejected defendant's remaining claims and affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Gilliam" on Justia Law

Defendants Ahmed A. Algahaim and Mofaddal M. Murshed appealed their convictions for offenses concerning the misuse of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). The court affirmed the convictions and sentence. The court remanded to permit the sentencing judge to consider non-Guidelines sentences in view of the significant effect of the loss enhancement in relation to the low base offense level. View "United States v. Murshed (Algahaim)" on Justia Law