Ninth Circuit – Page 77

This case represents a gross abuse of the judicial process. Just when Defendants-Appellees United States Forest Service and Joseph P. Stringer (USFS), and Intervenor-Defendant Arizona Snowbowl Resort Limited Partnership (ASRLP) had successfully defended an agency decision to allow snowmaking at a ski resort on federal land all the way to the United States Supreme Court, “new” plaintiffs appeared.

Here are the briefs:

Save the Peaks Opening Brief

Federal Response Brief

Arizona Snowbowl Response Brief

Save the Peaks Reply Brief

Oral argument audio here.

Lower court decision here.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Prop 8

February 7, 2012February 7, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion, thanks to How Appealing. The Ninth Circuit’s server seems to have crashed.

Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Petition in Miranda v. Anchondo (BIA & Pascua Yaqui)

February 6, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials (the order denying review is here):

Miranda En Banc Petition

Combined Opposition to En Banc Petition

The panel materials and opinion are here.

Ninth Circuit Holds that Indian Juveniles Convicted of Sex-Related Delinquency Crimes Must Register under SORNA

January 25, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s opinion in United States v. Juvenile Male.

An excerpt:

Three juvenile defendants, each of whom is a member of an Indian Tribe and who pleaded true to a charge of aggravated sexual abuse with children, appeal their conditions of probation or supervision requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. § 16901 et seq. Defendants argue that SORNA’s registration requirement contravenes the confidentiality provisions of the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA), 18 U.S.C. § 5031 et seq., and also challenge its constitutionality. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742. Because we conclude that Congress, in enacting SORNA, intentionally carved out a class of juveniles from the FJDA’s confidentiality provisions, and that SORNA’s registration requirement is constitutionally sound, we affirm the district courts’ imposition of the sex offender registration conditions.

Ninth Circuit Allows Bivens Action against FBI Agent that Failed to Properly Investigate Murder of Indians

January 10, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

Here is today’s unpublished opinion in Cole v. Oravec. An excerpt:

Defendant-Appellant Matthew Oravec, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, appeals from the district court’s denial of his qualified immunity motion in this Bivens action brought on behalf of two deceased Native American men. The Appellees are relatives of the two deceased men – Steven Bearcrane and Robert Springfield. The Appellees allege that Oravec violated their right to equal protection when he failed to conduct a sufficiently thorough investigation of the two deaths out of an alleged animus toward Native Americans.

Here are the briefs:

Oravec Appellant Brief

Cole Appellee Brief

Oravec Reply