In this appeal, we address whether Section 901(b) of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules ("CPLR") — which prohibits a lawsuit seeking a statutory penalty from being brought as a class action — may be applied in a federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction and adjudicating claims under New York law. Plaintiff-appellant Shady Grove Orthopedic Associates brought a class action for statutory interest penalties under Section 5106(a) of New York Insurance Law...  

Petitioner Mamadou Aliou Diallo, a native and citizen of Guinea, seeks review of a July 25, 2007 order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the November 14, 2005 decision of Immigration Judge ("IJ") William Van Wyke denying Petioner's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). Diallo's claims were based on alleged political persecution, including multiple arrests and torture, that he suffered...  

Defendant Edwin Figueroa appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (David G. Larimer, Judge), following a jury trial, convicting him of unlawful possession of a firearm.1 At trial, the district court ruled that the defendant's counsel could not cross-examine a government witness about his swastika tattoos. We conclude that this restriction on the scope of cross-examination was a violation of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment....  

This case is one of many stemming from the so-called "contingent commission" arrangements between insurers and brokers that were prevalent prior to October 2004. "Contingent commissions" is a euphemism for kickbacks— insurance brokers would receive payments from insurers for steering business their way... Appellants purport to represent all persons who acquired common stock of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. ("The Hartford") during the period of August...  

Appellant Rupert Alleyne appeals an April 4, 2007 judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Irizarry, J.), dismissing his discrimination claim brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-17 (2006) ("Title VII"). The district court held that Alleyne had failed to file a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") within 300 days of the alleged unlawful...  

In these cases, which we heard in tandem and now consolidate for disposition, Petitioners Karen Nicola Alsol and Donald Overton Powell seek review of decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") vacating decisions by an Immigration Judge ("IJ") granting them cancellation of removal. In 07-2068-ag(L) and 08-1942-ag(CON), Petitioner Alsol appeals from orders of the BIA (1) sustaining the Department of Homeland Security's ("DHS") appeal and vacating the October 31,...  

Respondent Hans Walker, Superintendent of the Auburn Correctional Facility of the State of New York, appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Victor E. Bianchini, U.S.M.J.),1 which granted a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, setting aside Petitioner Jeremiah Brinson's New York State conviction of first degree robbery and third degree criminal possession of a weapon, in violation of N.Y. Penal Law §§ 160.15(3)...  

The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) provides for a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence for a defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), who "has three previous convictions... ... ... for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both." 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). ACCA defines a "serious drug offense" as "an offense under State law... ... ... for which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more...  

Albert Lopez appeals from a judgment of conviction entered on March 5, 2008. He had pled guilty in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Underhill, J.) to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced principally to 47 months' imprisonment... On appeal, Lopez contests the denial of his pretrial motion to suppress a firearm seized during a search by United States marshals. His live-in girlfriend had consented to the search. He contends...  

Petitioners Eiguenia Balachova and Igor Krasnoperov, wife and husband and natives and citizens of Russia, seek review of an April 30, 2007, order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the November 3, 2005, order of Immigration Judge ("IJ") Theresa Holmes-Simmons directing petitioners' removal to Russia and denying their requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief pursuant to the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). In re Eiguenia Balachova, No....  

Defendant Ricardo Lopez appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Sidney Stein, J.) convicting him at a bench trial of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 812, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), and possession of two firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). The court sentenced Lopez to ten months of imprisonment on the cocaine count,...  

On review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing petitioner's appeal, we are called on to determine whether first degree larceny in the form of "defrauding a public community," in violation of Connecticut General Statutes §§ 53a-122(a)(4) and 53a-119(6), is a crime involving moral turpitude for the purposes of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). We hold that it is and deny the petition for review... BACKGROUND... The petitioner, Tamara Mendez, a...  

Two years ago this Court examined the interplay of two federal statutes that govern the transport of goods from foreign shores to inland delivery points in the United States. See Sompo Japan Ins. Co. of Am. v. Union Pac. R.R., 456 F.3d 54 (2d Cir. 2006). We concluded that, when a rail carrier is charged with damage to the shipment, its liability is defined by the Carmack Amendment1 to the Interstate Commerce Act ("Carmack"), 49 U.S.C. § 11706, and that alternative contractual...  

The parties to this litigation are also parties to international maritime contracts that contain arbitration clauses. The contracts are silent as to whether arbitration is permissible on behalf of a class of contracting parties. The question presented on this appeal is whether the arbitration panel, in issuing a clause construction award construing that silence to permit class arbitration, acted in manifest disregard of the law. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New...  

In this case, petitioner-appellant Cibao Meat Products, Inc. seeks review of an order of the respondent-appellee National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holding that Cibao engaged in an unfair labor practice when it ceased payments to employee-benefit funds after the expiration of its collective-bargaining agreement with its employees' union. Cibao argues that it was excused from making those payments because the union's actions in seeking to review certain company records created an...  

Appellant, Zhaoxi Ma, appeals from a March 20, 2007 order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Kravitz, J.), denying his application for attorney's fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). We find that Ma is not a "prevailing party" within the meaning of the EAJA and thus affirm the judgment of the district court... Background... Ma, a native and citizen of China, filed the underlying suit in...  

Plaintiff Joseph Mathirampuzha appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Janet Bond Arterton, Judge). This appeal arises principally from an alleged physical assault at a postal facility on September 29, 2003, by Ron Sacco, a supervisor, against the plaintiff, a postal employee. The plaintiff asserts claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Federal Tort Claims...  

This appeal requires us to consider, at the threshold, whether we may exercise appellate jurisdiction over both of the district court's orders disposing of the plaintiffs' claims under... ... ... the circumstances presented even though the plaintiffs' notice of appeal specifies only one order that appears to resolve only one claim. We also consider the circumstances under which a district court may, sua sponte, convert a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) into a...  

Harold Bonime brought a putative class action in federal court in New York alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C § 227(b)(1)(C) ("TCPA"). Federal jurisdiction was grounded in diversity of citizenship. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2). The district court dismissed the complaint because New York law does not permit private actions for violations of the TCPA to be brought as class actions. See New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 901(b). We agree that...  

Regen Capital I, Inc. ("ReGen"), as authorized administrative agent of AT&T Corp. ("AT&T"), filed a general unsecured claim in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Robert D. Drain, Bankruptcy Judge) against U.S. Wireless Data, Inc. ("the Debtor"), based on pre-petition defaults arising from an executory contract for AT&T to provide the Debtor with telecommunications services. Having missed the bar date set by the bankruptcy court for...