Appellants are a putative class of parents of children enrolled in the public elementary and middle schools of Newark, New Jersey, and an organization that represents them. They brought suit against appellees, Newark's public school system and various school administrators, under the No Child Left Behind Act ("NCLBA" or the "Act"), 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq., and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint alleges that because the Newark public school system has failed to live up to...  

William J. Morena appeals from the judgment on a verdict of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania finding him guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing that firearm, an unregistered sawed-off shotgun with a barrel of less than... ... ... eighteen inches in length. Morena also appeals the enhancement of his sentence for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony. We are asked to decide whether: (1) the government's...  

This appeal by Gary Johnson from the denial of his petition for habeas corpus by the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania requires us to decide an issue of first impression in this Circuit: Do the teachings of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), apply to a bench trial in a criminal proceeding? Bruton and its progeny established that in a joint criminal trial before a jury, a defendant's Sixth Amendment right of confrontation is violated by admitting a confession of a...  

Estelle B. Richman, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare (the Department), appeals the order of the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, enjoining the Department from denying Medicaid benefits to Robert A. James. The central issue to the appeal is whether an annuity, purchased by James's wife Josephine, may be treated by the Department as an available resource in calculating James's eligibility for Medicaid benefits. We agree with the...  

Louis P. Urcinoli was convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder by a New Jersey jury in 1996. The District Court on its own motion dismissed his subsequent habeas petition because it contained claims that had... ... ... not been properly exhausted in state court. Although Urcinoli returned to state court to exhaust those claims, by the time he filed a second habeas petition in federal court, the one-year statute of limitations for such petitions had lapsed. The...  

The Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq., imposes disclosure requirements on creditors, exposing them to such penalties as money damages, attorney's fees and recission for failure to disclose finance charges accurately. See § 1635(a) & (g); § 1640(a). However, in 1995, in an effort to prevent creditors from being subject to "extraordinary liability" for small disclosure discrepancies, Congress amended the Act to include a "tolerances for accuracy"...  

Keith Sanders, the Relator in this qui tam action brought on behalf of the United States, appeals the District Court's order dismissing his claim pursuant to the False Claims Act (the "FCA"), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, for failure to state a claim... I... ... ... Between 1996 and 2002, Sanders intermittently worked as a commissioned insurance agent for defendant American-Amicable Life Insurance Company ("American-Amicable"). Sanders alleges that American-Amicable,...  

In this immigration case, the Department of Homeland Security1 seeks to deport an alien based on misrepresentations she made in applying for an adjustment of status more than five years previously. We conclude that a subsequent amendment to the statute did not negate our earlier precedent that the government was required to rescind and begin deportation within five years. Accordingly, we will grant the petition for review... Appellant Rosalba Roa Garcia is a native and citizen of the Dominican...  

In this appeal we revisit the police power exception to the automatic stay in bankruptcy and consider the extent to which a bankruptcy court has exclusive subject matter jurisdiction... I... Factual Background and Procedural History... R.J. Guerrera, Inc., the predecessor in interest of appellant Mystic Tank Lines Corporation (hereafter "Mystic"), was one of a number of companies that delivered gasoline to a New York gas station. In 1997, the State of New York (hereafter "New...  

Daniel J. Goodson appeals from the sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, challenging a condition of supervised release requiring Goodson to consent to a search of his place of business. The government asserts that we are precluded from reviewing this issue because Goodson, pursuant to a plea agreement, waived his right to file a direct appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). In his reply brief, Goodson acknowledges for... ... ... the first...  

In this case we analyze the reach of the "domestic relations" exception to diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The Supreme Court has emphasized the narrowness of this exception, explaining that it "encompasses only cases involving the issuance of a divorce, alimony, or child custody decree." Ankenbrandt v. Richards, 504 U.S. 689, 704 (1992). Because the instant case does not involve the "issuance of a... ... ... divorce, alimony, or child custody decree,"...  

Vineland Fireworks Co., Inc. ("Vineland") appeals the decision of the Acting Director ("Director") of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives ("ATF") to revoke its... ... ... license to manufacture fireworks and to deny its application for the renewal of its license to import fireworks. The Director found that Vineland's failure to keep records of its daily summary of magazine transactions on thirty-six occasions over the course of many months constituted a...  

The four defendants in this case filed separate appeals that were consolidated upon motion by the Government. Although the defendants raise numerous arguments on appeal, only two questions warrant discussion.1 We address whether a... ... ... waiver in a proffer agreement that allows the Government to use a defendant's proffer statements2 as part of its case-in-chief at... ... ... trial is valid and enforceable. We also consider whether admission of that proffer statement violated the...  

Mark Levy filed a shareholder derivative suit on behalf of Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. ("Fairchild") against Sterling Holding Company, LLC ("Sterling") and National Semiconductor Corporation ("National") for disgorgement of short-swing profits, pursuant to section 16(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934. National and Sterling contend that two separate SEC Rules, 16b-3 and 16b-7, exempt them from section 16(b) liability. When this case was before us previously,...  

Rita Miller, a former employee of the Clinton County Probation office, brought this civil rights action against the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Richard Saxton, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Miller's complaint asserts that Judge Saxton terminated her employment in violation of her First Amendment right to free speech, and her Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.1... ... ... Judge Saxton moved to dismiss Miller's complaint for failure...  

Philmingo Jamison was sentenced to five to ten years imprisonment after pleading guilty to two separate criminal cases involving drug offenses. After unsuccessfully challenging his conviction in state courts, Jamison filed a pro se petition for... ... ... habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in which he challenged the voluntariness of his guilty plea. The Magistrate Judge to whom the petition was referred issued a thorough Report and Recommendation recommending that habeas relief be...  

Richard Cassin filed a claim for insurance with AGF Marine Aviation & Transport ("AGF") after his 85-foot charter yacht (the "Yacht") sank off the coast of Grenada. Upon reviewing the claim, AGF discovered that Cassin misrepresented the purchase price of the Yacht and sought a declaration from the District Court for the Virgin Islands that Cassin's insurance policy was void from its inception. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of AGF, applying the federal...  

Third-Party Defendant, Foreman Program & Construction Managers, Inc. ("Foreman"), appeals from a judgment entered in favor of Third-Party Plaintiff, Norwin School District ("Norwin"), on Norwin's breach of contract claim against Foreman. We vacate the District Court's judgment and remand to the District Court with directions to enter judgment in Foreman's favor... I. FACTS... Our trek through the factual morass from which this case arose begins in 2001, when Norwin undertook two...  

OPINION OF THE COURT... PER CURIAM... Petitioner Syed M. A. Hasan seeks review of the July 31, 2007, final decision and order issued by the Administrative Review Board for the United States Department of Labor ("ARB"), granting summary decision in favor of Enercon. For the following reasons, we will grant the petition for review, vacate the ARB's decision, and remand the case for further proceedings... ... ... I. Background... This case arises under the whistleblower protection...  

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that the Slip Opinion filed in this case filed on September 3, 2008, be amended as follows:... In the second paragraph on, the sentence which reads: "Accordingly, "the fugitive forfeiture rule... ... ... [did] not provide an adequate basis to preclude federal review of [Kindler's] habeas claims... ... ... "." should be changed to read as follows: "Accordingly, the district court held that "the fugitive forfeiture rule... ... ... [did] not provide an...