Case Summaries
Military
[10/10]
Lamour v. Peake
Denial of a request to reopen a claim for survivor benefits as the spouse of a veteran is vacated and remanded where the issue of whether claimant and decedent had a valid marriage was not considered with application of the "deemed valid" criteria in the relevant regulation, and since this aspect was the sole basis of the rejection of claimant's petition to reopen her claim.
[10/09]
Hogan v. Peake
Denial of a veteran's claim for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder is affirmed where the Veterans Court did not adopt a rule that a medical opinion lacks credibility if it does not state definitively or with "absolute medical certainty" when a particular disorder or condition began.
[10/09]
Haas v. Peake
In a petition by a Vietnam veteran seeking benefits related to Agent Orange exposure, petition for rehearing is denied where the statutory phrase "in the Republic of Vietnam" was reasonably interpreted by the agency to apply only to those veterans who had actually set foot on land, not to those who had only served on ships within the territorial seas adjacent to the Vietnamese mainland.
[10/07]
Dibble v. Fenimore
In an action for administrative relief brought by plaintiff-state National Guard service technician who was denied reenlistment, grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant-Secretary of the Air Force is affirmed where: 1) the doctrine of intramilitary immunity does not preclude a federal court from reviewing a challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act to a decision by the Air Force Board for the Correction of Military Records; and 2) the district court correctly found that the Board's decision was not arbitrary, capricious, contrary to law, or unsupported by substantial evidence.
[09/29]
Conley v. Peake
In a claim for veterans' benefits, affirmation of Board of Veterans' Appeals decision denying claimant an earlier effective date for his service-connected major depressive disorder is affirmed where 38 U.S.C. section 105(a) requires a veteran to show the existence of a present disability and a causal relationship between the present disability and the injury, disease, or aggravation of a preexisting injury or disease incurred during active duty.
[09/26]
People v. Jasmin
Airman's conviction for first degree murder, attempted murder, second degree robbery, assault with a firearm and numerous off-base offenses is affirmed over claims that: 1) the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence that was the product of two warrantless searches of his on-base living quarters; and 2) the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct in closing argument by denigrating the reasonable doubt standard to a mere "reasonable decision."
[09/16]
NRDC v. Winter
The award of enhanced attorney's fees from an environmental case against the Navy is vacated and remanded for recalculation where: 1) co-counsel senior law firm partners and junior NRDC counsel did possess specialized experience needed in the litigation; but 2) co-counsel junior law firm associates did not qualify for enhanced fees due to lack of specialized experience; and 3) plaintiff had not shown that appropriate counsel could not be found at the statutory rate.
[09/16]
Ellington v. Peake
In an action by a veteran to claim service-related disability compensation, determination that claimant could not obtain an earlier effective date for his secondary conditions is affirmed where: 1) the effective date for a secondary condition arises no earlier than the date for which a veteran applies for service connection for that condition; and 2) the question of whether a form filled out by claimant in which he first raised the existence of his secondary conditions constituted an "informal claim" was one of law applied to fact, and thus beyond the court's jurisdiction.
[09/10]
Hanson v. Wyatt
In an action brought by an individual removed from the Oklahoma Army National Guard seeking reinstatement to his former position plus back pay and retirement points, summary judgment for plaintiff requiring his reinstatement is reversed where: 1) a servicemember can seek review of a decision by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), or can sue the U.S. under the Tucker Act or the Little Tucker Act; 2) nevertheless, there was no proper basis for this suit for violation of a National Guard regulation; and 3) plaintiff did not state a claim for denial of constitutional due process.
[09/05]
Townsend v. University of Alaska
In a case interpreting the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) as applied to state employers, dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is affirmed where: 1) USERRA does not unequivocally abrogate states' sovereign immunity from suits by citizens in federal court; and 2) USERRA creates no cause of action against individual state employee-supervisors.
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