Justia U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

An officer responding to a report of gunshots, saw a Hispanic male running toward a building. A witness told the officer that her cousin had been shot by a black male and was hiding in an apartment in that building. Officers approached the apartment. Delgado, the Hispanic male, and the shooting victim, with a visible graze wound, emerged from the apartment. Officers detained Delgado and, without a warrant, searched his apartment, finding firearms. Delgado was indicted as a felon in possession and for possessing an unregistered firearm. The district court agreed that the search was not justified by exigent circumstances, but found that it was a valid protective sweep and denied a motion to suppress. Delgado entered a conditional plea. The government conceded that the search was not a valid protective sweep, but argued that a reasonable officer could have believed that the shooter was in the apartment. The Seventh Circuit vacated, holding that, absent any indication that anyone was in the apartment or had been subjected to violence inside the apartment, the mere fact that the shooter was at large was not enough for a reasonable officer to believe that the shooter was in the apartment. View "United States v. Delgado" on Justia Law

Northwestern sold an annuity to approximately 36,000 persons: about 3,000 live in Wisconsin. In 1985 Northwestern changed its calculation of the annual dividend. In a 2001 suit by annuitants in Wisconsin state court, the judge declined to certify the class, ruling that a claim for damages creates individual issues that make class treatment imprudent, and a national class is not manageable given differences in applicable state laws. A second suit initially proposed a class limited to Wisconsin annuitants and sought only a declaratory judgment that the 1985 change is invalid. The suit was certified as a class action and the judge declared that Northwestern violated the contracts, breached fiduciary duties, and should pay substantial damages. The class then amended to seek damages for annuitants in every state. Contending that the amendment implicated the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. 1332(d), 1453, Northwestern filed notice of removal. The district court remanded the suit. The Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded, reasoning that the doctrine of law of the case does not apply on appeal and that it will review the state trial court decision on the merits as it would, had the identical decision been made initially by the federal district judge. View "Laplant v. NW Mut. Life Ins. Co." on Justia Law

Foster sold crack cocaine to a paid confidential informant through a series of controlled buys facilitated by federal agent and was charged with several counts of knowingly and intentionally distributing cocaine base. He was convicted on four separate counts. The district court sentenced him to 240 months’ imprisonment and 10 years’ supervised release. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the district court improperly admitted evidence in violation of the Confrontation Clause and improperly rejected his request for a missing witness instruction and erred by not applying the Fair Sentencing Act in the imposition of his sentence. View "Unted States v. Foster" on Justia Law

Zheng, born in1984 in the People’s Republic of China, arrived in the U.S. illegally in 2001. After receiving a Notice to Appear, she filed applications for political asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, claiming persecution because of her practice of Falun Gong. An IJ rejected Zheng’s applications because her testimony was “rather inconsistent and almost completely unsubstantiated.” The Board affirmed and the Seventh Circuit denied an appeal. Zheng remained in the U.S. and, in 2010, married Jiang, with whom she has two children. In 2011, Zheng sought to reopen proceedings with the Board, based on the birth of her two children and increased enforcement of China’s family planning policy. The Department of Homeland Security opposed Zheng’s motion, arguing that it was not filed within 90 days of entry of a final administrative order of removal (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i)) and was based on changed personal circumstances rather than a change in country conditions. The Board denied the motion. The Seventh Circuit denied review. View "Zheng v. Holder" on Justia Law

Husband and wife, Pakistani citizens, entered the U.S. in 2006 and applied for asylum several months later. In 1984, wife had left her native India for an arranged marriage. Her new hometown of Karachi was full of violence, crime, and corruption spurred by political and ethnic rivalries. Wife and her first husband began supporting the MQM party in 1988. By 1991, she became disillusioned by the party’s involvement in illegal activities. She began an extramarital romantic relationship with her current husband, divorced and remarried, and began receiving threats from MQM members. She never reported the threats because she feared losing her job and the MQM controlled the police. The couple survived three targeted incidents of violence between 2002 and 2005. The immigration judge noted their “consistent credible testimony” but denied their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. He concluded that only the kidnapping incident rose to the level of persecution but did not occur “on account of” their political opinion and that they had not shown that the government of Pakistan was unwilling or unable to protect them. The Board dismissed their appeal. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. View "Shaikh v. Holder" on Justia Law

In 2007 Calumet City’s Mayor Qualkinbush appointed Embry commissioner, to oversee construction and repair of streets, paving, sidewalks, and other public improvements. Embry supervised day-to-day work, prepared the department’s annual budget, managed payroll and scheduling for 40 employees, and met with the mayor and other department heads to brainstorm improvements. During the 2009 municipal election, Embry campaigned for a team of candidates that included Mayor Qualkinbush and three of the four defendant-aldermen. The three broke party ranks to support Munda. Munda won, creating a rift between the defendant-aldermen and the mayor. Defendants urged Embry to stop supporting the mayor. Embry declined. After the election, the city council merged Embry’s department with the Sewer and Water Department; the Sewer Superintendent planned to retire, and Embry thought that he would be appointed commissioner of the new department. Defendant-aldermen vowed not to ratify Embry’s appointment, so the mayor nominated someone else. The city council approved the new appointment. Embry filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983. . Applying the Elrod-Branti line of political-patronage cases, the district court granted defendants summary judgment, concluding that the commissioner is a policy-making position and that Embry could be removed because of his political affiliation. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. View "Embry v. City of Calumet City" on Justia Law

Raybourne was a quality engineer for 23 years. The employer provided a long-term disability plan that paid benefits for up to 24 months if disability prevented him from performing the duties of his regular job. After 24 months, the plan paid benefits only if he was unable to perform all material duties of any occupation for which he was reasonably qualified. Raybourne suffered degenerative joint disease in his foot, with severe pain. In 2003, he stopped working and underwent the first of the four surgeries. From December 2003 through February 2006, Cigna paid benefits, then determined that he was not disabled under the more stringent standard. Raybourne exhausted administrative remedies, then sued under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B). The district court ruled in favor of Cigna. On remand the court rejected Cigna’s “unconvincing” explanation for how the company determined that Raybourne was not disabled. The court found that Cigna relied on the report of a non-treating physician and on the Social Security Administration’s initial rejections of Raybourne’s claim, failing to consider the SSA’s final determination of disability. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that denial of benefits was based on a conflict of interest rather than on the facts and the terms of the policy. View "Raybourne v. CIGNA Life Ins. Co. of NY" on Justia Law

Brown and Wilson began working as nurses at Advocate-Christ in 2005. Both are African-American. In 2008, the plaintiffs and 10 other nurses delivered a Petition for Change in Labor Practices to their human resources department, claiming that Advocate-Christ treated its Filipino nurses better than its African-American nurses by giving them easier assignments, more training, and more leadership opportunities. Human resources employees investigated and ultimately concluded that the claims could not be corroborated. Both plaintiffs resigned. In October 2008, they began working at Advocate South Suburban and became concerned that other nurses were sleeping on duty, that the culture was unprofessional, and that work assignments were unequal and unfair. When their supervisors failed to make changes that the plaintiffs recommended, they complained of race discrimination and started applying for positions at other Advocate facilities. Neither was hired. They filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and later filed suit. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Advocate. The Seventh Circuit affirmed.View "Brown v. Advocate S. Suburban Hosp. " on Justia Law

The insurers provided law enforcement liability coverage to the city of Waukegan and its employees acting within the scope of employment. In 2009, Starks filed a civil rights suit against the city and some current and former police officers, among others, alleging that each played a role in his wrongful conviction for a 1986 crime. The insurers obtained a declaratory judgment that they have no duty to defend or indemnify. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, noting that the policies were not in effect at the time of the crime, that Starks was not exonerated during the period when the policies were in place, and that any outrageous conduct that might be grounds for a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress also fell outside the policy dates. View "Northfield Ins.Co. v. City of Waukegan" on Justia Law

Pelletier admitted during a job interview with the FBI that he had pornographic pictures of children on his home computer, which he claimed were related to research. The admission occurred in an unlocked polygraph room, in the presence of an unarmed agent. Pelletier signed a form that provided: “I understand that I am not in custody, that my participation in the polygraph examination is voluntary, and that I may leave at any time.” Another agent, wearing his badge and sidearm, told Pelletier that “you don’t have to answer any questions.” Pelletier refused a request for a computer search, but admitted to “inadvertently” creating child pornography by recording himself having sex with a girl. The agent directed another agent to go to Pelletier’s home and freeze the premises, telling Pelletier that he was going to try to get a warrant. Pelletier signed a consent form. The FBI found more than 600 images of children on his computer. Pelletier conditionally pled guilty to possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(5)(B). The Seventh Circuit affirmed denial of a motion to suppress. Pelletier was never in custody; voluntarily consented to the search; and the contents of the computer inevitably would have been discovered with a search warrant. View "United States v. Pelletier" on Justia Law