In US v. Maggi, No. 08-30223, the court of appeals vacated defendants' convictions for, respectively, sexual abuse of a minor and assault, holding that 1) there was no evidence that one defendant had any blood from a federally recognized Indian tribe; and 2) the other defendant lacked sufficient government or tribal recognition as an Indian.
Tamang v. Holder, No. 08-73550, concerned a petition for review of the denial of petitioner's asylum application. The court of appeals denied the petition, holding that 1) the ineffectiveness of petitioner's former counsel's assistance was not plain on its face; 2) petitioner did not suffer any personal persecution, and his claim for asylum was time-barred; and 3) substantial evidence supported the Immigration Judge's finding that changed conditions in Nepal mitigated against any fear of persecution if petitioner returned to Nepal.
Alcazar v. Corp. of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, No. 09-35003, involved an action seeking pay for the overtime hours plaintiff worked as a seminarian in a Catholic church in Washington. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the action, on the grounds that the ministerial exception barred the claim because 1) the First Amendment strongly circumscribed legislative and judicial intrusion into the internal affairs of a religious organization; 2) awarding damages would necessarily trench on the Church's protected ministerial decisions; and 3) plaintiff's complaint demonstrated that plaintiff was a minister for purposes of the ministerial exception.
Related Resources
- Full Text of US v. Maggi, No. 08-30223
- Full Text of Tamang v. Holder, No. 08-73550
- Full Text of Alcazar v. Corp. of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle, No. 09-35003
