United States Seventh Circuit - Opinion Summaries

US v. BRUMFIELD

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
Calculation of drug quantity supporting a sentence was based on reliable testimony, and sentencing of one defendant based on drug quantities...

DRIEBEL v. CITY OF MILWAUKEE

Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure
Police officers ordered to report for questioning at an internal affairs investigation were not seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment, where...

BOUVAGNET v. BOUVAGNET

Family Law, International Law
Where a mother removed her children from France to the US, Hague Convention petition did not implicate either the Younger or Colorado River abstention...

MORLAN v. UNIVERSAL GUARANTY LIFE INS. CO.

Bankruptcy Law, Class Actions, Insurance Law
Claims for welfare benefits, not limited to health-care benefits, are assignable provided that the ERISA plan itself permits assignment; dismissal of...

NEVEL v. VILLAGE OF SCHAUMBURG

Constitutional Law, Property Law & Real Estate
Because plaintiffs cannot show an equal protection violation in the government's denial of their request to install vinyl siding on their home, a...

LIVERMORE v. AMAX COAL CO.

Administrative Law, Government Benefits, Health Law, Labor & Employment Law
An administrative law judge gave appropriate weight to expert opinions in finding that a miner's death was not caused or contributed to by...

US v. PEARMAN

Bankruptcy Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing, Property Law & Real Estate
A sentence enhancement for bankruptcy fraud, based on level of intended loss, was improperly imposed where no basis existed for a finding that...

TE-TA-MA TRUTH FOUND. v. WORLD CHURCH OF THE CREATOR

Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property, Trademark
Use of the phrase "Church of the Creator" as a trademark is descriptive, rather than generic, and recognition of the mark does not violate the First...

LABORER'S PENSION FUND v. BLACKMORE SEWER CONSTR., INC.

Civil Procedure, Contracts, Labor & Employment Law
An employer was bound to make contributions to pension and welfare funds, where it signed the final version of a relevant collective bargaining...

US v. MCLECZYNSKY

Criminal Law & Procedure
An indictment adequately set forth a Hobbs Act conspiracy violation, and any prejudice from the government's alleged reference to defendant's failure...