Aug 20-25, 2007 6th Circuit Published Decisions ( NO Ky Published Case)

Opinion	Pub Date	Short Title/District
07a0329p.06	2007/08/21	Lacey v. Gonzales     Immigration & Naturalization Service KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Vincent Lacey (“Lacey”), a native and citizen of the United Kingdom (“UK”), petitions this court to vacate the removal order entered against him and remand his case to the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) for an administrative hearing. Lacey argues that the agency violated his procedural due process rights by denying him an administrative hearing prior to denying his application for an adjustment of status and entering the removal order. For the reasons set forth below, we DISMISS Lacey’s petition for want of jurisdiction.
07a0330p.06	2007/08/21	Mikulski v. Centerior Energy Corp     Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. The issue to be decided in the present case is whether the substantial-federal-question doctrine provides federal subject-matter jurisdiction over a state law claim on the basis that an embedded element of the claim concerns 26 U.S.C. § 312(n)(1), an accounting rule in the federal tax code. We hold that it does not.
07a0331p.06	2007/08/21	Bass v. Comm Social Security     Southern District of Ohio at Columbus KENNEDY, Circuit Judge. Paul W. Bass II (“plaintiff”) seeks review of the district court’s decision upholding the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ’s) denial of disability insurance benefits. He makes two primary arguments. First, he argues that the ALJ’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence, essentially because it did not give proper weight to a treating physician’s opinion. He also argues that he has submitted new and material evidence, and therefore his case should be remanded to the ALJ for a rehearing. We find that the ALJ’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and that plaintiff has not provided good reason for previously failing to submit the allegedly new and material evidence and therefore has not met the standard for a remand.
07a0332p.06	2007/08/21	Raymond v. Moyer, et al     Southern District of Ohio at Columbus KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Douglas J. Raymond (“Raymond”) appeals from the district court’s judgment dismissing his claims filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Raymond filed suit against the seven then-members of the Ohio Supreme Court—Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, Justice Alice Robie Resnick,1 Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Justice Maureen O’Connor, Justice Terrence O’Donnell, and Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger (collectively, “the defendants”)—alleging that their decision denying him admission to practice law in Ohio without examination violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the First Amendment, and the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The district court concluded that the defendants were entitled to judicial immunity on all of Raymond’s claims and dismissed his suit. Because the lower federal courts lack jurisdiction over Raymond’s claims under the Rooker- Feldman doctrine, however, we DISMISS the case for lack of jurisdiction.
07a0333p.06	2007/08/21	O'Hara v. Brigano     Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati R. GUY COLE, JR., Circuit Judge. Henry O’Hara, an Ohio prisoner, filed a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, challenging his conviction on numerous grounds. The district court denied O’Hara habeas relief on all nine of his claims. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the denial of O’Hara’s petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.
07a0334p.06	2007/08/21	USA v. Gooch     Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge. Brett Fitzgerald Gooch was charged in a singlecount indictment with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a). The district judge denied Gooch’s motion to suppress. Thereafter, Gooch pled guilty but reserved the suppression issue, which is now before this court. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Gooch’s motion to suppress.
07a0335p.06	2007/08/22	USA v. Catalan     TNM - Middle District of TN at Nashville COOK, Circuit Judge. Salviano Catalan was convicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and for the underlying possession. Catalan appeals his convictions, arguing that it was based on insufficient evidence, and his sentence, arguing that the district court should have neither applied a two-level enhancement for possessing a firearm nor imposed a tolling condition of supervised release. We affirm Catalan’s conviction, but vacate his sentence and remand for removal of the tolling condition in light of United States v. Ossa-Gallegos, ___ F.3d ___, No. 05-5824, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 14708 (6th Cir. June 21, 2007) (en banc).
07a0336p.06	2007/08/23	Compuware Corp v. Moody Inv     MIE - Eastern District of MI at Detroit ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Compuware Corporation (“Compuware”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant- Appellee Moody’s Investors Services Inc. (“Moody’s”) on Compuware’s claims of defamation and breach of contract. The district court found that Compuware needed to establish actual malice to succeed on both claims, and that Compuware failed to make the requisite showing of actual malice. On appeal, Compuware argues that it presented sufficient evidence of Moody’s actual malice to withstand summary judgment and that, in any event, the actual-malice standard should not apply to its breach of contract claim. After careful consideration, we AFFIRM.
07a0337p.06	2007/08/24	Weisbarth v. Geauga Park District     OHN - Northern District of OH at Cleveland RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Denise Weisbarth, a park ranger for the Geauga Park District (GPD) in Geauga County, Ohio, was fired from her job in September of 2004. Following her termination, Weisbarth filed a First Amendment retaliation action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting that the GPD fired her due to comments she had made to a consultant hired by the GPD to interview employees as part of a departmental evaluation. The district court dismissed her complaint for failure to state a claim that she had engaged in speech protected by the First Amendment. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
07a0338p.06	2007/08/24	USA v. Kennedy     TNE - Eastern District of TN at Greenville COOK, Circuit Judge. Ritchie G. Kennedy, who pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, now appeals his 87-month sentence and life term of supervised release. Kennedy asserts that the district court violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by drawing a negative inference from his refusal to complete a psychosexual examination prior to sentencing, and he urges that his life term of supervised release is unreasonable. We affirm.
07a0339p.06	2007/08/24	S.H.A.R.K. v. Metro Parks Serving     OHN - Northern District of OH at Akron KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs-Appellants S.H.A.R.K. (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) and Stephen Hindi (“Hindi”) (collectively “the plaintiffs”) appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the Defendants-Appellees Metro Parks Serving Summit County (“Metro Parks”); Dave Rankin (“Rankin”); Justin Simon (“Simon”); White Buffalo, Inc. (“White Buffalo”); Anthony DeNicola (“DeNicola”); and John Doe (collectively “the defendants”). The plaintiffs sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000aa et seq., and state-law tort, alleging that the defendants violated their First Amendment rights. Although we disagree with the district court’s analysis, its decision to grant summary judgment to the defendants was correct; accordingly, we AFFIRM.