Latest 3 Cases: AMA Multimedia, LLC v. Wanat (Civil Procedure), Balbuena v. Sullivan (Civil Rights), Castillo v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. ...

#MeToo and What Men and Women Are Willing to Say and Do

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell Law professor Sherry F. Colb explores why people have such strong feelings about the #MeToo movement (whether they are advocates or opponents) and suggests that both sides rest their positions on contested empirical assumptions about the behavior of men and women. Colb argues that what we believe to be true of men and women generally contributes to our conclusions about the #MeToo movement and our perceptions about how best to handle the accusations of those who come forward.

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AMA Multimedia, LLC v. Wanat

Docket: 18-15051

Opinion Date: August 17, 2020

Judge: Ryan D. Nelson

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Internet Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of an action alleging copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. Plaintiff AMA is a Nevada limited liability company that produces and distributes "adult entertainment over the Internet." Defendant is a citizen and resident of Poland, who operated ePorner, an adult video website, through MW Media, a Polish civil law partnership. The panel agreed with the district court that AMA has not met its burden of showing that defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction in the United States under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(k)(2) (the long-arm statute). In this case, defendant lacks the requisite minimum contacts with the United States where the United States was not the focal point of the website and of the harm suffered. The panel also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying AMA certain jurisdictional discovery and declined to consider arguments about changes in European law for the first time on appeal that bear on AMA's entitlement to additional jurisdictional discovery.

Balbuena v. Sullivan

Dockets: 12-16414, 18-15432

Opinion Date: August 17, 2020

Judge: Bridget S. Bade

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Juvenile Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of petitioner's federal habeas petition and his Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) motion to set aside the judgment and amend his habeas petition to add a new claim. Petitioner was convicted of first degree murder, attempted murder, and street terrorism. In regard to the habeas petition, the panel applied the deferential standard in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and held that the state court's conclusion that petitioner's statements were voluntary was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of federal law. Under the totality of the circumstances, petitioner was advised of his Miranda rights; the state court did not unreasonably conclude that petitioner was sixteen years old and considered his age, experience, and maturity as part of the totality of the circumstances of his confession; and the state court did not unreasonably conclude that the circumstances of the interview were not coercive. Furthermore, the video recording of the interview refutes petitioner's argument that those tactics overbore his will and rendered his confession involuntary. In regard to the Rule 60(b) motion, the panel held that the district court properly denied that motion as an unauthorized second or successive petition under 28 U.S.C. 2244(b)(3)(A).

Castillo v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.

Docket: 19-56093

Opinion Date: August 17, 2020

Judge: Bridget S. Bade

Areas of Law: ERISA

29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3) does not authorize an award of attorney's fees incurred during the administrative phase of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims process. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of an ERISA action brought by plaintiff against MetLife. The district court granted MetLife's motion to dismiss the complaint, agreeing with MetLife that attorney's fees awards are not other appropriate equitable relief under section 1132(a)(3). In Cann v. Carpenters' Pension Trust Fund for Northern California, 989 F.3d 313 (9th Cir. 1993), the panel held that attorney's fees incurred in administrative proceedings are not recoverable under section 1132(g), ERISA's express fee-shifting provision. The panel was obligated to read section 1132(a)(3) in conjunction with section 1132(g). Under the expressio unius canon, section 1132(g)'s silence as to fees incurred in an administrative proceeding gives rise to the inference that section 1132(a)(3) does not authorize such fees.