News

Case Summaries

Immigration Law

[11/19] Sow v. Mukasey
Petition for review of denial of applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) substantial evidence supported the adverse credibility findings of the IJ; and 2) petitioner did not produce evidence that he was likely to face persecution upon his return to Mauritania.

[11/19] Budiono v. Mukasey
Petition for review of denial of application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) Board of Immigration Appeals can adopt part of the Immigration Judge's decision and add its own analysis; 2) substantial evidence supported the determination that the harms Christian, ethnic Chinese-petitioner suffered in Indonesia did not constitute persecution; and 3) substantial evidence supported the IJ's and BIA's determination that petitioner failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution in light of the fact that her family continues to live in relative safety in Indonesia.

[11/19] Diallo v. US Dept. of Justice
Petition for review of decision denying native citizen of Guinea asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), is granted where: 1) given the presence of errors in the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision as to issues that were properly exhausted and the plausibility of other newly claimed errors, remand to the BIA would not have been futile; and 2) there were sufficient exhausted flaws in the reasoning of the Immigration Judge's adverse credibility determination to warrant a remand, and the court could not confidently predict the same outcome if there were further agency reconsideration.

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Agriculture

[11/10] Derickson v. US Dep't of Agric.
Petition for review of a decision of the Secretary of Agriculture finding that petitioners violated the Horse Protection Act by transporting and entering in a horse show a "sore" horse is denied where the judicial officer had substantial evidence to support his findings that: 1) petitioners were liable for transporting a horse; 2) one petitioner was liable for entering the horse in a horse show; and 3) agency's Horse Protection Operating Plan did not limit its ability to impose legal sanctions on petitioner.

[10/24] Jelovsek v. Bredesen
In a case involving whether certain Tennessee laws governing the wine industry violate the dormant commerce clause of the Constitution, a judgment upholding the laws is affirmed in part, and vacated in part where: 1) upholding a Tennessee law banning the direct shipment of alcoholic beverages to consumers, including wine, was proper; but 2) Tennessee's Grape and Wine Law is discriminatory on its face; and 3) a remand was required in order to fashion an adequate remedy and to allow in-state wineries an opportunity to intervene.

[10/21] Brothers v. New York State Elec. & Gas Corp.
In an action by a forestry worker injured on the job, alleging negligence by his employer for which defendant, which contracted with the employer to perform the work, should be held vicariously liable, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) a contractual obligation does not necessarily constitute a nondelegable duty in tort; and 2) on the facts of this case, liability could not be extended to defendant.

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Family Law

[11/07] Choose Life Illinois, Inc. v. White
In a suit by an interest group seeking on First Amendment grounds to force the state of Illinois to issue "Choose Life" specialty license plates, judgment in favor of plaintiffs is reversed where: 1) specialty license plates implicate the speech rights of private speakers, not government speech; 2) specialty plates are a nonpublic forum; and 3) the state could enforce a content-based but viewpoint-neutral ban disallowing any abortion-related message, whether pro-life or pro-choice, to be displayed on its license plates.

[11/06] Aguilar v. Aguilar
Denial of petition to undo a wife's withdrawal of trust property brought by a remainder beneficiary of the trust is reversed and remanded where: 1) even though the property the wife sought to withdraw was her share of the community property, it was too late for her to withdraw it; 2) irrevocable trusts are binding, even on their trustors; and 3) as the life beneficiary, the wife could continue to enjoy the property as held by the trust.

[11/05] In re A.E.
Order directing both parents to participate in Department of children and Family Services (DCFS)-approved "programs of parent education [and] individual counseling addressing all issues including anger management" is affirmed where the father did not object to the order directing him to participate in counseling sessions.

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