Petition for Review of Jehovah's Witness Deportation Order Granted, and Criminal and Environmental Matters

Kamalyan v. Holder, No. 05-76408, involved a petition for review brought by an Armenian Jehova's Witness challenging the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) order adopting and affirming a decision of an immigration judge removing petitioner from the U.S.  The court granted the petition on the ground that any reasonable adjudicator would agree that the government did not establish a fundamental change in country conditions by a preponderance of the evidence.

In Northern Cal. River Watch v. Wilcox, No. 08-15780, an action claiming that defendants violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by digging up and removing endangered plant species, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendants on the ground that "areas under Federal jurisdiction" in section 9 of the ESA did not include the privately-owned land at issue.

In US v. Ali, No. 07-10529, the court affirmed in part defendants' mail and wire fraud convictions and sentences, holding that 1) defendants were properly convicted of mail and wire fraud, because a right to payment of money for the sale of software was "money or property" as defined in 18 U.S.C. sections 1341 and 1343, and neither statute required a transfer directly to the defendant from the party deceived by the defendant; and 2) the evidence was sufficient to support their convictions.  However, the court reversed in part on the ground that there was insufficient evidence to support two defendants' convictions for promotion money laundering.

Related Resources

• Full Text of Kamalyan v. Holder, No. 05-76408
• Full Text of Northern Cal. River Watch v. Wilcox, No. 08-15780
• Full Text of US v. Ali, No. 07-10529