By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 24, January 2018
Chris was awarded one of the highest honors in the Department of Justice, the Director's Award for Superior Performance in Criminal Matters, for his work as lead prosecutor in the national security matter United States v. Terrence McNeil. This case involved novel issues related to McNeil's use of social media in support of a terrorist organization and it has served as a model for several successful prosecutions of national security threats since it was charged.
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 08, January 2018
Downs v. United States, No. 16-5368 (KETHLEDGE, Suhrheinrich, Griffin). In 2010, Petitioner pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine. On August 2, 2010, the district court orally pronounced a sentence of ten years’ imprisonment for Petitioner, the mandatory-minimum sentence for that crime at the time, and entered its judgment on August 16, 2010. The day after the sentencing hearing, the President signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the mandatory-minimum for the crime Petitioner… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 04, January 2018
Allied Constr. Indus. v. City of Cincinnati, et al., Nos. 16-4248/4249 (BOGGS, Batchelder, Kathledge). The plaintiff challenged a Cincinnati ordinance—related to how the city is to select the “lowest and best bidder” on Department of Sewers projects—as preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The ordinance provisions (1) require each bidder to certify whether it provides or contributes to a healthcare plan and an employee pension or retirement program for its employees; (2) require each bidder… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 04, January 2018
Stimmel v. Sessions, et al., No. 15-4196 (GRIFFIN, White, Boggs). The plaintiff challenged a federal firearm statute—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)—that prevents people who have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from possessing firearms, arguing that the statute unconstitutionally burdens the plaintiff’s Second Amendment rights. The district court dismissed the plaintiff's complaint, and he appealed. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal, with the majority assuming, without deciding, that a domestic violence misdemeanant has Second Amendment rights to some degree, and then… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 03, January 2018
Richmond v. Huq (Amended Opinion), No. 16-2560 (DONALD, Stranch, Moore). The plaintiff sued a number of defendants, alleging that while she was incarcerated she received constitutionally inadequate treatment for a self-inflicted burn wound and that she was unconstitutionally deprived of her psychiatric medication for over two weeks, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants because the plaintiff had failed to show a constitutional violation. The plaintiff appealed. On September 20, 2017, the… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 02, January 2018
Heimer v. Companion Life Ins. Co., No. 16-2274 (COLE, Stranch, McKeague). The plaintiff was injured while playing a game of “chicken” on a motorbike with his friends in a Michigan field. The intoxicated plaintiff and one of his friends rode their bikes at one another, but neither swerved and they struck each other head-on. Thereafter, the plaintiff submitted a medical claim to his insurance provider. The insurance company denied the claim, citing a plan exclusion that disclaimed coverage for injuries… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 07, December 2017
Chris was interviewed by Fox News Report Matt Wright and News Channel 19 anchors Ramona Robinson and Mark Nolan as well as newscaster Harry Boomer regarding the December 6, 2017 night time raid of Cleveland City Hall by the FBI, IRS, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. An article written about one of the interviews was published on News Channel 19's website. Read the full article here.
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 16, November 2017
Kamar v. Sessions, No. 16-3750 (MERRITT, Moore, Rogers). Petitioner, who was born in Jordan but is a citizen of Lebanon, overstayed her student visa in the United States. She was charged removable in 2007, and filed an application for withholding of removal pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act and protection under the Convention Against Torture. She argued that if she returned to Jordan, under Islamic tradition she would be subject to an “honor killing” by her youngest male relative… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 15, November 2017
Gascho v. Global Fitness Holdings, LLC, et al., Nos. 17-3577/3578/3579/3804/3805/3821/3822/3825/3826/3827 (THAPAR, Sutton, Donald). Members of the gym Global Fitness sued the gym as a class, arguing that the gym misrepresented the terms of its membership. The gym settled, and agreed to pay $1.3 million to the class members, class counsel’s fees, and the claims administrator’s fees and costs. The payments owed to the class members had been put into escrow, but the gym funneled $10.4 million of sale proceeds to… Read more
By: Carrie Bennice / Date: 15, November 2017
Williams v. U.S., No. 17-3211 (ROGERS, Moore, Merritt). Petitioner pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, and was declared an Armed Career Criminal subject to a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence because he had three prior convictions for violent felonies, including a conviction for felonious assault in Ohio. He filed this habeas petition challenging his sentence in light of U.S. v. Johnson, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015), which struck down the residual clause of the Armed Career… Read more