Debra Ann Livingston
How Judge Livingston rules, drawn from 74 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Livingston decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A pre-enforcement challenge adequately alleged standing when the plaintiffs identified intended conduct arguably covered by the rule and a credible threat that the rule would be enforced.
“We conclude that Cerame and Moynahan have standing to seek pre-enforcement relief because they have pleaded sufficient facts to plausibly allege that they intend to engage in conduct that is arguably proscribed by Rule 8.4(7) and face a credible threat of enforcement.”
Parties supplied clear evidence that an arbitral tribunal should decide arbitrability when they knowingly submitted jurisdictional questions to the tribunal, warranting deferential review of its decision.
“Consequently, we hold that the record supplies ‘clear and unmistakable’ evidence of the Parties’ intent to arbitrate issues of arbitrability.”
A conspiracy conviction required proof of a knowing agreement to pursue the charged unlawful objective; association with participants in unlawful conduct did not establish that agreement.
“His ‘mere association with those implicated in an unlawful undertaking is not enough to prove knowing involvement.’”
An otherwise valid appeal waiver may yield to a miscarriage of justice, but an ordinary Guidelines-calculation challenge does not meet that demanding exception.
“Whatever else the miscarriage-of-justice exception to an otherwise valid appeal waiver may cover, it does not extend to run-of-the-mill challenges to a district court’s allegedly erroneous calculation of a Guidelines range, or to other such Guidelines errors.”
In the categorical analysis of a crime involving moral turpitude, a specific retaliatory purpose can make even threatened minimal property damage reprehensible because it targets the justice system itself.
“Thus, even a threat of minimal property damage, if done for the purpose of retaliating against a witness, party, or any individual participating in official proceedings or seeking to provide information to law enforcement about possible violations of law, interferes with the ‘administration of justice’ and ‘our society[“s] . . . morale.””
Procedural preferences
An excessive-fee complaint needed context about the services received and meaningful comparators rather than a price disparity standing alone.
“A buyer cannot determine if he has paid too much for an item without knowing what it is that he purchased.”
A plaintiff seeking the Fair Labor Standards Act's longer limitations period had to plead facts supporting a plausible inference of willfulness, not merely label the violation willful.
“We hold that the mere allegation of willfulness is insufficient for a plaintiff to secure the benefit of the three-year exception to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s general two-year statute of limitations at the pleadings stage. Rather, for the three-year exception to apply at the pleadings stage, a plaintiff must plead facts that plausibly give rise to an inference of willfulness.”
A discretionary resentencing statute does not permit a court to use nonretroactive changes to evade a congressionally required minimum sentence.
“It does not authorize a district court to vary from an applicable mandatory minimum imposed by Congress.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court's dismissal of Reddington's claims under section 741, and we also affirm the district court's refusal to award attorneys' fees to the Hospital.”
“For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court.”
“Because we find the relevant provision to be unambiguous and Dobrova's interpretation of ‘previously,’ as used in Section 212(h), to be in error, we deny Dobrova's petition for review.”
“We conclude that this Court's order granting without limitation L-3's motion to tax costs pursuant to Rule 39(a)(4) entitled L-3 to seek from the district court any and all permissible items of appellate costs properly taxed by that court pursuant to Rule 39(e). Accordingly, we affirm the order of the district court.”
“For all of the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the bankruptcy court is therefore VACATED and the case is REMANDED to the district court with instructions to remand to the bankruptcy court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.”
“Because we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence of Favreau's pending appeal and that Favreau's other arguments are also without merit, we affirm the judgment of conviction.”
“The order of suppression entered by the district court is VACATED, and this case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.”
“Petitioner has provided no convincing reason why this exception applies to the Article 78 filings in this case. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“Because the district court's 3292 order was supported by sufficient evidence; because 3292 does not require that the foreign evidence sought be necessary for an indictment, nor that it be obtainable only through an official request to a foreign government; and because district courts may rely on ex parte proceedings in issuing 3292 orders, we Affirm.”
“With these questions decided, we lack jurisdiction to further review the order of removal in this case. Accordingly, we dismiss Morris's petition for review.”
“We find no other error in the prosecutor's summations and no procedural defect rising to the level of plain error. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court's judgment of conviction and sentence.”
“Because the government is seeking to admit the state court order for a non-hearsay purpose and because the district court's analysis pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 403 did not account for the order's probative value if offered to show knowledge, we vacate the district court's order and remand for the district court to conduct a Rule 403 analysis consistent with this opinion.”
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