U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals - Daily Summaries - Justia

Planned Parenthood of WI v. Van Hollen Docket: 13-2726 Opinion Date: December 20, 2013 Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Health Law, Medical Malpractice In 2013, the Governor of Wisconsin signed into law a statute that prohibits a doctor, under threat of heavy penalties, from performing an abortion unless he has admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles from the clinic in which the abortion is performed. Wis. Stat. 253.095(2). Planned Parenthood and others challenged the law under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The district court entered a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the law. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The court noted that the seven doctors affected by the law had applied for, but after five months, had not been granted, admitting privileges; that all Wisconsin abortion clinics already have transfer agreements with local hospitals to facilitate transfer of clinic patients to the hospital emergency room. A hospital emergency room is obliged to admit and to treat a patient requiring emergency care even if the patient is uninsured, 42 U.S.C. 1395dd(b)(1). Had enforcement of the law, with its one-weekend deadline for compliance, not been stayed, two of the state’s four abortion clinics would have had to shut down and a third clinic would have lost the services of half its doctors. http://j.st/t36 View Case On: Justia  Google Scholar

Charleston v. Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of IL Docket: 13-2081 Opinion Date: December 20, 2013 Judge: Flaum Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Education Law Charleston began his fourth year at the College of Medicine in 2010, having finished his Obstetrics and Gynecology clinical rotation in June. In September, Charleston’s preceptors submitted a complaint, asking that Charleston be required to repeat the rotation, alleging that Charleston had committed errors in written work (including plagiarism), did not complete quizzes until after the rotation’s conclusion, did not have required signatures in his case log, spent four weeks without a preceptor, and he did not perform well enough to pass. The Student Progress Committee held a meeting; Charleston was not permitted to attend, but submitted a letter. The Committee recommended that Charleston be assigned a mentor in the future. Without notice to Charleston, the complaint and Charleston’s letter were forwarded to the Executive Committee with a new letter from Hall, Associate Dean for Student Affairs for the College of Medicine, alleging that in 2008, Charleston had acted “unprofessionally” while serving as a teaching assistant. Charleston had no opportunity to address Hall’s allegation, which, he claims, was false. The Executive Committee decided that Charleston should be dismissed. Internal appeals failed. His suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming procedural due process, substantive due process, and equal protection violations, was dismissed for failure to plead sufficient facts to establish a protected property interest in his continued education, nor to demonstrate that the university singled him out for unfavorable treatment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. http://j.st/t3Q View Case On: Justia  Google Scholar

Garcia v. Colvin Docket: 13-2120 Opinion Date: December 20, 2013 Judge: Posner Areas of Law: Health Law, Injury Law, Public Benefits Garcia, previously a construction worker and then age 40, applied for social security disability benefits in 2010, claiming abdominal pain caused by cirrhosis of the liver, severe low platelet count, hepatitis C, and an umbilical hernia, all of which had been diagnosed by several physicians that year. All were caused or exacerbated by alcoholism, but he stopped drinking and alcoholism is no longer a “contributing factor” barring him from obtaining disability benefits, 42 U.S.C. 423(d)(2)(C). An ALJ ruled that Garcia is capable of doing limited sedentary work. The district court affirmed. The Seventh Circuit reversed, noting that Garcia would be a candidate for a liver transplant, but was not on the list because he was too sick for surgery. His platelet count was too low to for even a liver biopsy. Garcia has been repeatedly hospitalized and treated for pain with morphine and other opium derivatives, with limited success. He has lupus, anemia, colitis, anxiety and other psychological problems, and chronic fatigue. One physician described Garcia’s condition as “chronic and terminal.” The court stated that Garcia is “one of the most seriously disabled applicants for social security disability benefits whom we’ve encountered in many years … We are surprised that the Justice Department would defend such a denial.” http://j.st/t3Y View Case On: Justia  Google Scholar

United States v. Doss Docket: 13-1001 Opinion Date: December 20, 2013 Judge: Ripple Areas of Law: Criminal Law Doss organized an identity theft ring, was indicted for, and pleaded guilty to, possessing with intent to use unlawfully or transfer unlawfully five or more identification documents, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1028(a)(3); possessing, with intent to defraud, 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized access devices, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1029(a)(3); and aggravated identity theft, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(1). The district court sentenced him to 78 months’ imprisonment on the first two counts and further sentenced him to a mandatory, consecutive two-year sentence on count three. The Seventh Circuit vacated his sentence. The district court committed plain error in imposing a sentencing enhancement under USSG 2B1.1(b)(11)(B), for “trafficking of any … unauthorized access device or counterfeit access device,” which resulted in an increased sentencing range on the grouped counts. Application Note 2 to section 2B1.6 precluded that increase for trafficking in unauthorized access devices because, under the facts presented here, that trafficking constituted a “transfer … of a means of identification.” http://j.st/t3N View Case On: Justia  Google Scholar