Articles Posted in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

The Supreme Court refused to review a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that California flight attendants are entitled to the protections of state labor laws on intrastate flights.


On Monday, September 9, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the compensatory damages award of $5.25 million in litigation stemming from author John Steinbeck's estate, brought by Steinbeck's stepdaughter, Waverly Scott Kaffaga. In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit vacated the $7.9 million punitive damage award against Steinbeck's daughter-in-law, Gail Knight Steinbeck.


On Wednesday, June 5, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Washington State police officers lacked reasonable suspicion to arrest Daniel Brown after the police received an anonymous report of a black man possessing a gun in Washington, a concealed-carry state. After the police received the anonymous report, the police saw Brown, activated their police lights, and then pursued him going the opposite direction down a one-way street. Brown ran for about a block before being arrested at gunpoint. Police found a gun in Brown's waistband, prompting a further search finding drugs and cash. The Ninth Circuit found that the officers lacked reasonable suspicion of criminal activity when they stopped and frisked Brown and, thus, granted Brown's motion to suppress the evidence of drugs and cash.


The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on Thursday that the constitutional guarantee of habeas corpus precludes US immigration authorities from deporting asylum seekers who had failed an initial screening. This ruling sets up a circuit split (with the Third Circuit, which came to the opposite conclusion in 2016), which makes review by the US Supreme Court likely.


California has implemented a Low Carbon Fuel Standard program since 2011, requiring sellers of oil, ethanol, and other fuels to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel within certain deadlines. (Alternatively, they can buy credits from other companies that meet the requirements of the program.) Entities in the ethanol and oil industries recently challenged the…


The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA permits approximately 600,000 unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the US as children to remain in the country legally by seeking permission from the Department of Homeland Security every two years. Though the Trump administration had asked the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the case pending in the 9th Circuit before the appellate ruling, now that the appellate court has issued its decision, it is even more likely that the Supreme Court will take up the matter in 2019.


The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled against President Trump's Executive Order punishing sanctuary cities. Read the full opinion on Justia.


On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a 2-1 ruling held that the Second Amendment grants the right to carry guns openly outside the home. With three federal appeals courts having found no right to carry guns openly in public, the issue seems ripe for United States Supreme Court interpretation.