Justia U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Dearborn hosted Arab International Festival, 1995-2012, attracting 250,000 people with entertainment and food. The 2012 Festival had 85 vendors and information tables, including several affiliated with Christian and other groups. Bible Believers attended in 2011, bearing “Christian signs, banners, and t-shirts” that provoked confrontations. Their attorney asserted that the sheriff sided with “violent Muslims” and demanded protection. Counsel responded that the sheriff “owes a duty to the public as a whole and … cannot protect everyone from the foreseeable consequences that come from speech that is ... perhaps intended to elicit a potentially negative reaction.” The sheriff claims to have allocated more personnel to the Festival than to “the World Series or the President.” In 2012, Believers displayed messages including: “Islam Is A Religion of Blood and Murder,” a severed pig’s head on a stick, and references to a “pedophile” prophet. The crowd threw debris, and shoved a Believer to the ground. Officers detained debris-throwers and attempted crowd control. Believers continued to preach until officers escorted the Believers out. In a suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the county defendants. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, but later reversed, reasoning that “Speech is often provocative,” and the defendants impermissibly cut off the Believers’ protected speech, placed an undue burden on their exercise of religion, and treated them disparately from other speakers at the Festival, solely on the basis of the views that they espoused. View "Bible Believers v. Wayne County" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs received internet and cable services from TWC in Chardon, Ohio. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), conducting an online investigation to identify individuals possessing and sharing child pornography, located a suspect using a public IP address of 173.88.218.170 and found images and movie files titled consistent with child pornography. The IP address of plaintiffs’ computers was 173.88.218.70. Responding to a subpoena for subscriber information for the .170 address, TWC indicated that it was assigned to plaintiffs. While executing a search warrant for plaintiffs’ residence, BCI agents determined that the IP address assigned to plaintiffs was the .70 address, not the .170 address. The search was terminated without discovery of any evidence of criminal activity. Plaintiffs alleged that the search was extensive, destructive, and in plain sight of neighbors; that TWC’s conduct was intentional and fraudulent; that disclosure of their subscriber information without authorization violated the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. 2707(a)); and state-law claims. The Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of TWC’s claim of immunity under section 2703(e), but found that 18 U.S.C. 2707(e)’s “good faith reliance” defense barred the claims and that the state-law claims failed because the factual allegations were insufficient to establish that TWC disclosed the information intentionally, wrongfully, or in breach of contract. View "Long v. Insight Commc'ns of Cent. Ohio, LLC" on Justia Law

Fans of the musical group Insane Clown Posse, who call themselves “Juggalos,” frequently display, on person or property, insignia representative of the band. In 2011, the National Gang Intelligence Center—an informational center operating under the Federal Bureau of Investigation—released a congressionally-mandated report on gang activity that included a section on Juggalos. The report identified Juggalos as a “hybrid gang” and relayed information about criminal activity committed by Juggalo subsets. Juggalos allege that they subsequently suffered violations of their First and Fifth Amendment constitutional rights at the hands of state and local law enforcement officers who were motivated to commit the injuries in question due to the identification of Juggalos as a criminal gang. They filed suit against the Department of Justice and FBI under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act. The SIxth Circuit reversed dismissal for lack of standing. The Juggalos sufficiently alleged that the reputational harm and chill was caused by the 2011 Report and, where reputational harm and chill will likely be alleviated by the relief sought, redressability exists. View "Parsons v. Dep't of Justice" on Justia Law

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits companies from making automated calls to a person’s cellphone without that person’s prior express consent, 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). Hill claims he received more than 100 prohibited phone calls from his creditor, Homeward, in connection to a debt he owed. Hill had given the company his cell number and knew that this number would be used if Homeward needed to reach him about his mortgage. He also listed the number on a loan modification document. While behind on his payments, Hill told Homeward not to call him at work anymore, instructing Homeward to call his cellphone instead. He also provided express written consent for Homeward to call his cellphone. The district court rejected Hills’s claims under the Act. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. A person gives his “prior express consent” when he gives his creditor his cellphone number in connection with a debt he owes. View "Hill v. Homeward Residential, Inc." on Justia Law

In 1996 (Free Press I), the Sixth Circuit held that the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, requires government agencies to honor requests for the booking photographs of criminal defendants who have appeared in court during ongoing proceedings. Despite that holding, the U.S. Marshals Service denied the Free Press’s 2012 request for the booking photographs of Detroit-area police officers indicted on federal charges. The district court, bound by Free Press I, granted summary judgment to the newspaper in the ensuing lawsuit. A Sixth Circuit panel affirmed, while urging the full court to reconsider the merits of Free Press I. The court noted FOIA Exemption 7(C) which protects a non-trivial privacy interest in keeping “personal facts away from the public eye,” and that individuals do not forfeit their interest in maintaining control over information that has been made public in some form. Criminal defendants do not forfeit their interest in controlling private information while their cases remain pending. View "Detroit Free Press, Inc v. Dept. of Justice" on Justia Law

After obtaining terrorism convictions, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Convertino came under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). An unidentified DOJ source leaked information about that investigation to Ashenfelter, a reporter. The Detroit Free Press published details, including allegations that Convertino withheld Brady materials and threatened a defense lawyer with a baseless criminal investigation. DOJ’s attempts to find the source were unsuccessful. The terrorism convictions were vacated. The defendants’ claims against Convertino under 42 U.S.C. 1983 were dismissed based on prosecutorial and qualified immunity. Convertino was found not guilty of obstruction of justice. Convertino sued DOJ, alleging that the investigation, leak, and disciplinary measures were in retaliation for his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. Ultimately, a single claim remained--that DOJ violated the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, when its unidentified official leaked confidential information to Ashenfelter. The district court granted the motion to compel production from Ashenfelter. Ashenfelter asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege at two depositions. The district court found that Ashenfelter had a reasonable basis for fearing that answering the questions would entail self-incrimination, sustained the assertion of privilege, and reduced its ruling to two written opinions—one public, and one sealed. Convertino unsuccessfully moved for reconsideration, citing a statement by then-Attorney General Holder that the DOJ “will not prosecute any reporter.” The Sixth Circuit affirmed, upholding the claims of privilege. View "Convertino v. Dep't of Justice" on Justia Law

After obtaining terrorism convictions, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Convertino came under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). An unidentified DOJ source leaked information about that investigation to Ashenfelter, a reporter. The Detroit Free Press published details, including allegations that Convertino withheld Brady materials and threatened a defense lawyer with a baseless criminal investigation. DOJ’s attempts to find the source were unsuccessful. The terrorism convictions were vacated. The defendants’ claims against Convertino under 42 U.S.C. 1983 were dismissed based on prosecutorial and qualified immunity. Convertino was found not guilty of obstruction of justice. Convertino sued DOJ, alleging that the investigation, leak, and disciplinary measures were in retaliation for his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. Ultimately, a single claim remained--that DOJ violated the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, when its unidentified official leaked confidential information to Ashenfelter. The district court granted the motion to compel production from Ashenfelter. Ashenfelter asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege at two depositions. The district court found that Ashenfelter had a reasonable basis for fearing that answering the questions would entail self-incrimination, sustained the assertion of privilege, and reduced its ruling to two written opinions—one public, and one sealed. Convertino unsuccessfully moved for reconsideration, citing a statement by then-Attorney General Holder that the DOJ “will not prosecute any reporter.” The Sixth Circuit affirmed, upholding the claims of privilege. View "Convertino v. Dep't of Justice" on Justia Law

Avio claimed that Alfoccino violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(C), (b)(3), by hiring B2B to send unsolicited facsimile advertisements to Avio and a class of similarly situated persons. The district court dismissed for lack of Article III standing and found that Avio could not prove Alfoccino was vicariously liable for B2B’s transmission of the faxes. The Sixth Circuit reversed. Avio demonstrated standing. Though the TCPA does not expressly state who has a cause of action to sue under its provisions, its descriptions of prohibited conduct repeatedly refer to the “recipient” of the unsolicited fax, and in enacting the TCPA, Congress noted that such fax advertising “is problematic” because it “shifts some of the costs of advertising from the sender to the recipient” and “occupies the recipient’s facsimile machine so that it is unavailable for legitimate business messages while processing and printing the junk fax.” FCC regulations define “sender” with respect to the TCPA’s prohibition of unsolicited fax advertisements as being “the person or entity on whose behalf a facsimile unsolicited advertisement is sent or whose goods or services are advertised or promoted in the unsolicited advertisement,” indicating that primary, not vicarious liability attaches to Alfoccino. View "Imhoff Inv., LLC v. Alfoccino, Inc." on Justia Law

Pharmacy benefit manager Medco is an intermediary between health plan sponsors (often employers) and prescription drug companies, enabling plans to offer less expensive prescription drug benefits to their members. Medco keeps an updated list of available medicines (formulary) available and sends that list to prescribers and to plan sponsors so they can keep costs down for members. Sandusky provides chiropractic services and prescribes medications to patients who are members of prescription drug plans contracted with Medco. Medco faxed part of its formulary to Sandusky in June 2010, asking Sandusky to “consider prescribing plan-preferred drugs” to “help lower medication costs. Other than listing Medco’s name and number, the fax did not promote Medco’s services and did not solicit business. Three months later, Medco sent Sandusky another fax that informed Sandusky that a certain respiratory drug brand was preferred over another brand, and could save patients money. Sandusky, on behalf of a proposed class, sued Medco, claiming that the faxes were “unsolicited advertisements” prohibited by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(C). The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Medco, finding that the faxes were not advertisements as a matter of law because their primary purpose was informational rather than promotional. View "Sandusky Wellness Ctr., LLC v. Medco Health Solutions, Inc." on Justia Law

U.S. Congresswoman Miller received a letter threatening to kill her family if she did not send money. The letter was in distinctive handwriting, bearing a Pontiac, Michigan return address. FBI Agent Herrera interviewed a woman (Hiller) at the address. She denied writing the letter, which, she believed was sent by her neighbor, Harris. Hiller provided Herrera with letters that Harris had written and hand-delivered to her a year earlier. After Hiller to Harris to stop writing to her, Orsette, the area’s postal carrier, gave Hiller a threatening letter that was addressed to Senator Stabenow and bore Hiller’s return address. Hiller received several letters that she did not write but that listed her return address. The letters had similar distinctive and nearly illegible writing. She also received unsolicited magazine subscriptions. Orsette was familiar with Harris, who often handed Orsette magazine subscription cards bearing another person’s name. Harris denied writing the letters. Herrera obtained a warrant and recovered envelopes, stamps, and a notepad matching those used in the Miller letter. No fingerprints or DNA were found on the Miller letter, but other letters bore salivaand were written in the same handwriting as the Miller letter. A third such letter contained Harris’ fingerprint. Harris was convicted of mailing threatening communications, 18 U.S.C. 876(c). The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to testimony from witnesses that identified Harris as the author of the letter based on familiarity with his handwriting. View "United States v. Harris" on Justia Law