Barbara Milano Keenan

How Judge Keenan rules, drawn from 55 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Position
circuit
Appointed by
Barack Obama (Democratic)
Commissioned
2010-03-09
Education
Cornell University (B.A., 1971); George Washington University Law School (J.D., 1974); University of Virginia School of Law (LL.M., 1992)
Signed orders read
55

How Judge Keenan decides

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

What persuades

A statutory claim failed where its unambiguous requirement of a monetary loss did not extend to nonredeemable virtual resources used only inside a game.

“The statutory term ‘money,’ as employed in the Loss Recovery Statute, is unambiguous and does not encompass virtual resources available and used only within Game of War.”

A land-use burden was not attributable to the government when the applicants knowingly chose a nonconforming property without a reasonable preexisting expectation of approval.

“A self-imposed hardship generally will not support a substantial burden claim under RLUIPA, because the hardship was not imposed by governmental action altering a legitimate, pre-existing expectation that a property could be obtained for a particular land use.”

Procedural preferences

Each alleged debt-collection violation carried its own limitations period; earlier similar conduct did not time-bar later actionable communications.

“Accordingly, we conclude that Section 1692k(d) establishes a separate one-year limitations period for each violation of the FDCPA.”

A party could not preserve removal as a fallback after substantial state-court litigation; the forum choice had to be made promptly.

“Both the 30-day removal deadline and the waiver doctrine require that a party defending claims filed against it make a timely choice, either to defend the case in state court or to remove promptly to a federal forum.”

A post-dispute concession could not save an arbitration clause whose essential choice-of-law terms prospectively waived federal statutory rights.

“In essence, BMO Harris seeks to rewrite the unenforceable foreign choice of law provision in order to save the remainder of the arbitration agreement.”

Signed rulings

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

American Steamship Owners Mutual Protection & Indemnity Ass'n v. Dann Ocean Towing, Inc.
13-1495 · 2014-06-26
Appeal (Plaintiff-appellant marine insurer (the Club), which sued a member and its tugboat for reimbursement and unpaid premiums and appealed after the district court applied New York's statute of limitations to time-bar most of its claims) Denied

“Accordingly, we hold that the district court correctly applied New York’s six-year statute of limitations to the Club’s claims arising under its maritime insurance contract with Dann. We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

Robert Cherry, Jr. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
13-1007; 13-1115; 13-1116 · 2014-08-06
Appeal (Cross-appeals: the City of Baltimore appealed the finding that it violated the Contract Clause; the plaintiff police/firefighter retirees and their unions cross-appealed the rejection of their other Contract Clause claims and the mootness dismissal of their Takings Clause claim.) Granted in part

“In conclusion, we vacate the district court’s judgment finding the City in violation of the Contract Clause with respect to the Tiered COLA, affirm the court’s judgment upholding the remaining portions of the Ordinance challenged in the Contract Clause claim, vacate the court’s order dismissing the Takings Clause claim, and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED”

United States v. Fatih Sonmez
13-4577 · 2015-02-02
Appeal (Defendant-appellant Fatih Sonmez, convicted by a jury of marriage fraud under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c), challenging the jury instructions on the elements of the offense.) Denied

“In conclusion, we hold that because Sonmez’s proposed jury instructions are not correct statements of law, the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to give those instructions to the jury. We affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

United States v. Anthony Wynn
14-4599 · 2015-05-20
Appeal (Defendant-appellant challenging the grading of his supervised-release violations and the resulting revocation sentence) Denied

“For these reasons, Wynn’s revocation sentence is not unreasonable, and we affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

Jose Hernandez-Nolasco v. Loretta Lynch
Nos. 14-2036, 14-2346 · 2015-12-04
Petition for review (Petitioner Jose Hernandez-Nolasco) Denied

“For these reasons, we dismiss in part, and deny in part, Hernandez-Nolasco’s petitions for review. PETITIONS FOR REVIEW DISMISSED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART”

Andon, LLC v. The City of Newport News, Virginia
14-2358 · 2016-02-09
Appeal (Plaintiffs-appellants, a property owner and a congregation, who appealed the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal with prejudice of their RLUIPA substantial-burden claim challenging the denial of a zoning variance) Denied

“For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment dismissing with prejudice the plaintiffs’ complaint against the City. AFFIRMED”

United States v. Jamaal Evans
16-4094 · 2017-02-02
Appeal (Defendant-appellant convicted of carjacking and a firearm offense, challenging that federal carjacking is a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)) Denied

“For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

Luz Cantillano Cruz v. Jefferson Sessions III
15-2511 · 2017-03-13
Petition for review (Petitioner Luz Marina Cantillano Cruz (and her minor son), a Honduran national seeking review of the BIA's denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection.) Granted

“In sum, we conclude that Cantillano Cruz established that any past persecution by Avila was ‘on account of’ her membership in the nuclear family of Martinez. We therefore grant Cantillano Cruz’s petition for review, reverse the BIA’s determination that she failed to meet the statutory nexus requirement, and remand the case to the BIA for further proceedings regarding Cantillano Cruz’s requests for relief from removal. PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS”

United States v. Juan Elias Lara
15-4767 · 2017-03-14
Appeal (Defendant-appellant convicted of a SORNA registration violation, who appealed his sentence arguing the district court erred by considering at sentencing incriminating admissions he made in a sex-offender treatment program) Denied

“For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

Mia Mason v. Machine Zone, Inc.
15-2469 · 2017-03-17
Appeal (Plaintiff-appellant, a putative class representative who paid to play a mobile game's virtual casino and sued the developer under Maryland's gambling loss recovery statute) Denied

“For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

United States v. Donald Hill
· 2017-03-30
Appeal (Defendant-appellant Donald Hill, who pleaded guilty (conditionally) to felon-in-possession and appealed the denial of his motion to suppress statements and a firearm from a traffic stop.) Denied

“For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment. AFFIRMED”

Jeisson Uribe v. Jefferson Sessions III
No. 16-1427 · 2017-05-03
Petition for review (Petitioner Jeisson Humberto Uribe) Denied

“For these reasons, we deny Uribe’s petition for review. PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED”

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