United States Ninth Circuit - Opinion Summaries

ARMSTRONG v. DAVIS

Attorney's Fees, Civil Rights
Award of attorneys' fees to a class of disabled prisoners and parolees is affirmed as 1) work performed in a separate case before the U.S. Supreme...

PLANS, INC. v. SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCH. DIST.

Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Education Law, Tax Law
A non-profit corporation had taxpayer standing to bring a suit challenging a "Waldorf" school's curriculum as a whole, and has shown that a measurable...

US v. LEASURE

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
At sentencing, the district court erred in imposing on a convicted narcotics laboratory operator the burden of proving non-participation in an...

MILENBACH v. COMM'R OF INTERNAL REVENUE

Banking Law, Property Law & Real Estate, Sports Law, Tax Law
In challenges to Tax Court decisions regarding transactions related to the relocation of a professional sports team, a settlement represented recovery...

PORTER v. JONES

Constitutional Law, Cyberspace Law, Elections
Claims by web site creators and users, accused of brokering an exchange of votes under California law, were not moot, unripe, or barred by the...

MOLSKI v. GLEICH

Civil Procedure, Class Actions, Constitutional Law, Contracts
Certification of a mandatory class was violative of class members' due process rights, where a broad release provision released claims of members and...

JORGENSEN v. CASSIDAY

Attorney's Fees, Contracts
An oral joint venture agreement was enforceable under Hawaii law, and a jury could reasonably find that plaintiff breached the agreement by not...

WILSON v. TERHUNE

Criminal Law & Procedure, Habeas Corpus
The presumption of collateral consequences does not apply to prison disciplinary proceedings, and where petitioner has not alleged collateral...

IN RE: STERN

Bankruptcy Law, ERISA, Labor & Employment Law
Although a pension plan was properly included within a bankruptcy estate, the pension plan assets were exempt from distribution to debtor's creditors.

MIRANDA v. CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA

Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Government Law
The administrative head of a county public defender's office qualified as a state actor under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, for a policy leading to denial...