|
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JEFFREY LYNN DIAL, Defendant-Appellant. |
|
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Tennessee at Columbia.
No. 05-00008—Robert L. Echols, District Judge.
Submitted: November 2, 2007
Decided and Filed: April 9, 2008
Before: SILER, MOORE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Defendant-Appellant Jeffrey Lynn Dial (“Dial”) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy “to knowingly and intentionally manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine,” in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), Joint Appendix (“J.A.”) at 15 (Superseding Indictment at 3), and one count of possession of “one or more firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), J.A. at 17 (Superseding Indictment at 5). The district court sentenced Dial to imprisonment for 97 months and 60 months, on each count respectively, with the terms running consecutively. The district court applied an enhancement to Dial’s sentence for reckless endangerment during flight, United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 3C1.2. On appeal, Dial argues that there must be a nexus between the offense conduct for which he was convicted and the enhancement. For the following reasons, we hold that there is a nexus requirement embedded in § 3C1.2 and AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.
|
No. 06-5380 TIMOTHY MORRISON et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BOYD COUNTY et al., Defendants-Appellees. Nos. 06-5406/5407 TIMOTHY MORRISON et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants (06-5406)/ Cross-Appellees, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF BOYD COUNTY, Defendant-Appellee, WILLIAM CARTER et al., Intervenors-Defendants-Appellees/ Cross-Appellants (06-5407). |
|
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Ashland.
No. 05-00038—David L. Bunning, District Judge.
Argued: July 25, 2007
Decided and Filed: April 9, 2008
Before: MOORE and COOK, Circuit Judges; and ADAMS, District Judge.
COOK, Circuit Judge. This panel heard arguments in the matter before us on July 25, 2007, after which we filed an opinion, Morrison v. Board of Education of Boyd County, 507 F.3d 494 (6th Cir. 2007), reversing the judgment of the district court and remanding for further proceedings. Subsequently, the Board of Education of Boyd County (the “Board”) filed a petition for rehearing en banc. Review of the briefs and record counsels us to reconsider our previous holding, and as a result we vacate and amend Sections III and IV of the prior opinion. We now affirm the district court’s decision and set forth our opinion, as amended, below.
In this appeal, Timothy Morrison (“Morrison”) challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Board. Morrison is a student at Boyd County High School (“BCHS”). He is a Christian who believes that homosexuality is a sin. He further believes that part of his responsibility as a Christian is to tell others when their conduct does not comport with his understanding of Christian morality. During the 2004–05 academic year, BCHS had a written policy prohibiting students from making stigmatizing or insulting comments regarding another student’s sexual orientation. Wary of potential punishment, Morrison remained silent with respect to his personal beliefs, but challenged in federal court the Board’s right to stifle his speech.
After Morrison filed this lawsuit, the Board changed the BCHS policy, but Morrison’s litigation did not end. We must now decide whether Morrison’s claim for nominal damages premised upon a “chill” on his speech during the 2004–05 school year presents a justiciable controversy. We conclude that it does not, and accordingly AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Board.
|
ALBERTO RODRIGUEZ BENITEZ, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent-Appellee. |
|
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
Nos. 03-00088; 04-00627—Robert Holmes Bell, Chief District Judge.
Submitted: March 11, 2008
Decided and Filed: April 9, 2008
Before: KEITH, CLAY, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Alberto Rodriguez Benitez pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of marijuana and one count of conspiracy to launder money. He was subsequently sentenced to two concurrent terms of 120 months of imprisonment, four years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and a $200 special assessment. Benitez did not pursue a direct appeal. He did, however, file a motion to vacate his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Benitez raised five grounds for relief, all of which related to his counsel’s performance at sentencing and to the sentence itself. One of the claims raised by Benitez was that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel during the sentencing hearing.
The district court dismissed Benitez’s § 2255 motion on the basis that the motion was not timely filed, but did not consider whether Benitez was entitled to equitable tolling. In any event, the court did not rest its decision on the lack of timeliness. It instead proceeded to explain why Benitez’s claims were without merit. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
|
WAYNE CARLISLE, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CURTIS, MALLET-PREVOST, COLT & MOSLE, LLP, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
|
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Covington.
No. 05-00059—David L. Bunning, District Judge.
Argued: November 1, 2007
Decided and Filed: April 9, 2008
Before: DAUGHTREY and COOK, Circuit Judges; VINSON, District Judge.
MARTHA CRAIG DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judge. In this interlocutory appeal, the defendants seek to overturn an order of the district court that denied their motion for a stay pending arbitration of the dispute that brought the parties into court. To establish jurisdiction, they rely on Section 16(a)(1) of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 16(a)(1), which permits interlocutory review of orders denying motions to stay under Section 3 of the Act. See 9 U.S.C. § 3. However, none of the defendants involved in this appeal was a signatory to the written arbitration agreement in question. Instead, they based their effort to compel arbitration on a theory of equitable estoppel, a claim that the district court considered and rejected. In the absence of an applicable written agreement to arbitrate, the plaintiffs contend that Section 3 is inapplicable in this action and, consequently, that we are without jurisdiction to hear this appeal on an interlocutory basis. We agree.