What Should Democrats Do About Republicans’ Insistence on Lining Their Own Pockets With the Stimulus Plan?

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan discusses the ongoing negotiations in Congress over the stimulus bill that would purportedly start to address the present economic crisis. Buchanan argues that while Democrats are right to try to stop Republicans from writing a huge unrestricted corporate handout into the bill, they will have to agree to something quickly—and the sooner the better.

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Will Coronavirus Stop America from Carrying Out Executions?

AUSTIN SARAT

Guest columnist Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—points out one unusual effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: deferring the executions of death row inmates. Sarat observes that while past pandemics have not affected the rate at which states have executed inmates, last week the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted 60-day stays in the execution sentences of two men, and other states seem poised to follow suit.

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Brown v. Barclay

Docket: 18-60029

Opinion Date: March 23, 2020

Judge: Mary Murphy Schroeder

Areas of Law: Bankruptcy

After debtor made unauthorized and fraudulent transfers of funds during the Chapter 13 proceeding, the bankruptcy court converted the proceedings to Chapter 7 in response, and then debtor argued that the transferred funds were no longer in the estate. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the Bankruptcy Court and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's determination that the transferred funds should remain property of the Chapter 7 estate, which would mean that the Chapter 7 trustee had authority to recover them. The panel held that debtor transferred the funds with the fraudulent purpose of avoiding payments to creditors and those funds remained within his constructive possession or control. Therefore, the funds should be considered property of the converted estate under 11 U.S.C. 348(f)(1)(A).

Walker v. Life Insurance Company of the Southwest

Dockets: 19-55241, 19-55242

Opinion Date: March 23, 2020

Judge: Richard C. Tallman

Areas of Law: Class Action

Plaintiffs filed a class action against LSW, a life insurance company, alleging that it violated California law concerning policy investment information. Plaintiffs argued that LSW's illustrations of potential earnings violate California's Unfair Competition Law. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's class certification order, holding that any misapplication of Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., 844 F.3d 1121, 1133 (9th Cir. 2017), did not meaningfully influence the district court's predominance analysis. Furthermore, the panel held that there was no separate error related to the class definition. The panel also held that plaintiffs' attempted appeals of the district court's certification and reconsideration orders are untimely and procedurally improper. Therefore, the panel did not reach the merits of plaintiffs' arguments regarding the certification decision. Finally, the panel denied plaintiffs' motion to take judicial notice of the petition to appeal and the insurer's answer.

Winter v. Gardens Regional Hospital & Medical Center, Inc.

Docket: 18-55020

Opinion Date: March 23, 2020

Judge: Bennett

Areas of Law: Government Contracts, Health Law

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of a qui tam action brought by relator under the False Claims Act, alleging that defendants submitted, or caused to be submitted, Medicare claims falsely certifying that patients' inpatient hospitalizations were medically necessary. After determining that it had jurisdiction, the panel held that a plaintiff need not allege falsity beyond the requirements adopted by Congress in the FCA, which primarily punishes those who submit, conspire to submit, or aid in the submission of false or fraudulent claims. The panel wrote that Congress imposed no requirement of proving "objective falsity," and the panel had no authority to rewrite the statute to add such a requirement. The panel held that a doctor’s clinical opinion must be judged under the same standard as any other representation. The panel explained that a doctor, like anyone else, can express an opinion that he knows to be false, or that he makes in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Therefore, a false certification of medical necessity can give rise to FCA liability. The panel also held that a false certification of medical necessity can be material because medical necessity is a statutory prerequisite to Medicare reimbursement.