Robert D. Sack

How Judge Sack rules, drawn from 51 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Position
circuit
Appointed by
Bill Clinton (Democratic)
Commissioned
1998-06-16
ABA rating
Unanimously Qualified
Education
University of Rochester (B.A., 1960); Columbia Law School (LL.B., 1963)
Signed orders read
51

How Judge Sack decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

A claimed future harm required concrete record support; family circumstances alone did not turn a speculative fear into a well-founded one.

“Wang has, however, presented no evidence to show the likelihood that a person in his situation would be subject to persecution if he returned to China with children born in the United States.”

Denying a bankruptcy discharge required recordkeeping failures tied to the administration of the bankruptcy, not unrelated professional misconduct already addressed elsewhere.

“it does not exist to police the debtor’s legal and ethical obligations more generally.”

Procedural preferences

The habeas savings clause did not become available merely because the ordinary collateral-review statute's gatekeeping provisions barred the claim.

“Because the section 2255 gatekeeping provisions are not responsible for Love’s inability to raise his Apprendi claim, there can be no ‘serious constitutional question’ raised by requiring him to proceed under that section.”

A voluntary dismissal filed before an answer or summary-judgment motion remained without prejudice unless the plaintiff clearly stated otherwise.

“In the absence of any indication by the plaintiff, Rule 41(a)(1) presumes that a voluntary dismissal under these circumstances is without prejudice.”

Appellate jurisdiction required a live dispute at every stage; termination of the underlying action made the remand dispute moot.

“It is not enough for an actual dispute to exist at the outset of the litigation; the dispute must remain live throughout every stage of the litigation.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

United States v. Castano
99-1660 · 2000-12-08
Appeal (appellant (defendant Elizabeth Castano)) Denied

“Because the district court's decision was not clearly erroneous, we affirm the judgment.”

Stichting Ter Behartiging Van De Belangen Van Oudaandeelhouders In Het Kapitaal Van Saybolt International B.V. v. Schreiber
01-7811 · 2003-04-21
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff assignee, the shareholders' foundation)) Granted

“We vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Love v. Menifee
02-2224 · 2003-06-16
Appeal (appellant (petitioner Ronald Love)) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the order of the district court.”

Maiwand v. Gonzales
05-6055-ag · 2007-09-28
Petition for review (petitioner (Mohammad Homayun Maiwand)) Denied

“Petition denied in part and dismissed in part.”

Jian Wen Wang v. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service
04-4113-ag · 2006-01-31
Petition for review (petitioner (Jian Wen Wang)) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Wang's motion to reopen. The petition for review is therefore denied.”

Ramchair v. Conway
08-2004-pr · 2010-04-02
Appeal (appellant (respondent James Conway, Superintendent / the State)) Denied

“We therefore affirm.”

City of New York v. Mickalis Pawn Shop, LLC
09-2035-cv · 2011-05-04
Appeal (appellants (defendants Mickalis Pawn Shop and Adventure Outdoors)) Granted in part

“However, because we agree with the defendants that the injunctions issued by the district court violate the requirements of Rule 65(d), we vacate the injunctions and remand to the district court for it to craft appropriate injunctive relief.”

Barclays Capital Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, Inc.
10-1372-cv · 2011-06-20
Appeal (appellant (defendant Theflyonthewall.com, Inc.)) Granted

“We therefore reverse the judgment of the district court with respect to that claim.”

Amalfitano v. Rosenberg
06-2364-cv · 2008-07-15
Appeal (appellant (defendant Armand Rosenberg)) Moot / procedural

“For the reasons that follow, we certify to the New York Court of Appeals two questions regarding whether section 487 permits recovery of damages based on an attempted, but unsuccessful, deceit.”

Mathirampuzha v. Potter
06-4287-cv · 2008-11-03
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Joseph Mathirampuzha)) Granted in part

“That portion of the judgment of the district court is affirmed. ... We therefore vacate that portion of the district court's judgment. On remand, the district court should reinstate the FTCA claim and stay proceedings pending a final determination by the Secretary of Labor regarding FECA coverage.”

Cortlandt Street Recovery Corp. v. Hellas Telecommunications
13-2853-cv · 2015-06-24
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Cortlandt Street Recovery Corp.)) Denied

“Because we agree that the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue its stated claims, and because we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to allow ratification, joinder, or substitution under Rule 17(a)(3), we affirm.”

Youssef v. Tishman Construction Corp.
12-4147-cv · 2014-03-10
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Magdy M. Youssef)) Granted

“For the foregoing reasons, we VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case with instructions for the court to dismiss the action without prejudice.”

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