Britt Cagle Grant
How Judge Grant rules, drawn from 54 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Grant decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A retaliation theory required evidence that the decisionmaker knew of the protected complaint; suspicious timing and speculation could not fill that evidentiary gap.
“Because speculation about her boss’s knowledge cannot make up for the missing evidence, we affirm.”
When the parties committed employment disputes to arbitration, a possible legal error did not permit the district court to substitute its judgment for the arbitrators' decision.
“Citi does not get a mulligan in federal court because it identifies a possible legal error in arbitration.”
She applied statutory language to new communications technology without adding a personal-solicitation limitation absent from the text.
“Solicitation has long occurred through mass communications, and online videos are merely a new way of doing an old thing.”
Procedural preferences
At summary judgment she requires courts to draw reasonable inferences and resolve reasonable doubts in favor of the nonmoving party.
“In making this determination, we view the evidence, draw all reasonable factual inferences, and resolve all reasonable doubts”
Appellate finality cannot be manufactured by using Rule 41(a) to dismiss one count rather than the entire action; without a final judgment, the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
“Because the parties here attempted to use Rule 41(a) to dismiss a single count and not an entire lawsuit, a final judgment was never rendered.”
In a concurrence, she declined to decide a broader substantial-compliance question once full compliance independently resolved the immigration petition.
“I would save it for another day.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Because the district court applied a heightened standard for association-in-fact enterprises consisting of married couples when it granted summary judgment in Erika's favor, we must reverse that order. ... REVERSED, VACATED, AND REMANDED.”
“The district court thus committed plain error by applying the two-level increase for use of body armor in the commission of a drug trafficking offense. We vacate Bankston's sentence and remand for resentencing without the body-armor enhancement. VACATED AND REMANDED.”
“Because the content outlined in a properly designed IEP is a proxy for the IDEA's educational guarantee, we conclude that a material deviation from that plan violates the statute. Applying that standard to this case, we do not see a material deviation from L.J.'s IEP, and therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.”
“Because Hurst does not apply retroactively to Knight, any challenge to his death sentence on that basis is beyond our reach on federal habeas review. Nor can Knight find success in his other challenge ... We therefore affirm.”
“And because an injunction is not the right remedy, Rule 23(b)(2) is not the right path to class certification ... REVERSED AND REMANDED.”
“We affirm; courts lack jurisdiction to review either the process or the outcome of the no-risk decision.”
“The grant of summary judgment is AFFIRMED. The motion to certify a question of state law to the Georgia Supreme Court is DENIED.”
“we conclude that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reasonably applied Strickland v. Washington ... because he has failed to show a reasonable probability that his counsel's performance affected the outcome of his sentencing proceeding. We therefore affirm.”
“Because speculation about her boss's knowledge cannot make up for the missing evidence, we affirm.”
“That means Harris has not shown that his sentence is procedurally or substantively unreasonable, so we affirm the district court's judgment. AFFIRMED.”
“We affirm the district court's judgment in all respects.”
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