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SAGINAW CHIPPEWA INDIAN TRIBE OF MICHIGAN;
WELFARE BENEFIT PLAN,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN,
Defendant-Appellee. |
No. 21-1226 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Bay City.
No. 1:16-cv-10317—Thomas L. Ludington, District Judge.
Argued: October 26, 2021
Decided and Filed: April 25, 2022
Before ROGERS, STRANCH, and DONALD, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and its Benefit
Plan brought federal and common law claims against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
(BCBSM or Blue Cross) for failing to fulfill its fiduciary duties in administering tribal health
insurance plans. When we first encountered this dispute three years ago, we reversed the district
court’s dismissal of the Tribe’s claims based on Blue Cross’s alleged failure to insist on
“Medicare-like rates” for care authorized by the Tribe’s Contract Health Services1 program and
provided to tribal members by Medicare-participating hospitals. On remand, the district court
granted summary judgment to Blue Cross, concluding that the Tribe’s payments for qualified
CHS care through the Blue Cross plans were not eligible for Medicare-like rates. The district
court interpreted the relevant federal regulations as limiting the requirement of Medicare-like
rates to payments for care that was authorized by CHS, provided to tribal members by Medicare participating hospitals, and directly paid for with CHS funds. Based on the plain wording of the
applicable regulations, we REVERSE and REMAND the case to the district court for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
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GEORGIA-PACIFIC CONSUMER PRODUCTS LP; FORT
JAMES CORPORATION; GEORGIA-PACIFIC LLC,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
NCR CORPORATION,
Defendant,
WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee,
INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellant. |
No. 18-1806 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
No. 1:11-cv-00483—Robert J. Jonker, District Judge.
Argued: October 28, 2021
Decided and Filed: April 25, 2022
Before: MOORE, KETHLEDGE, and DONALD, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Decades of pollution in western Michigan
led the EPA to designate the Kalamazoo River and Portage Creek as a high priority for cleanup.
Decades of litigation followed, including many actions filed under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”). In this
dispute, two parties found liable on a CERCLA contribution claim raise a statute of limitations
defense. Holding that defense to be meritorious, we REVERSE the judgment of the district
court. |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
DONALD BERNARD GARDNER (20-1118);
MARTINELLUS NIX (20-1170); RYAN RASHAD
BROWN (20-1260); DOUGLAS EMMANUEL CAREY,
III, (20-1265); MARVIN QUANTEZ NIX (20-1266);
SALENA E. KOLARICH (20-1272),
Defendants-Appellants. |
Nos. 20-1118 /1170 /1260 /1265 /1266 /1272 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
No. 1:18-cr-00167-8—Paul Lewis Maloney, District Judge.
Argued: October 21, 2021
Decided and Filed: April 25, 2022
Before: McKEAGUE, NALBANDIAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. This case is about a drug-trafficking conspiracy that
distributed more than 100 kilograms of powder and crack cocaine in Southwest Michigan from
2017 to 2018. The conspiracy involved dozens of actors across the states of Michigan, Texas,
and Arkansas. But only eight members of the operation play a relevant role here. The first,
Howard Mayfield, served as the Grand Rapids-based ringleader of the drug-trafficking
organization. The second, Wilbert Gentry, supplied Mayfield from Houston, Texas, with
kilogram quantities of cocaine. The next six players—Donald Gardner, Martinellus Nix, Ryan
Brown, Douglas Emmanuel Carey, Marvin Nix, and Salena Kolarich—acted as money couriers,
wholesale distributors, and street-level dealers in the Grand Rapids area.
Federal prosecutors indicted a grand total of 27 coconspirators in 2018. And all were
convicted for their various roles in the conspiracy. These appeals are brought by six of those
coconspirators—Gardner, Brown, Carey, Kolarich, Marvin Nix, and Martinellus Nix. Together,
their consolidated appeals present 17 issues, ranging from the denial of their motions to suppress
wiretap evidence to sentencing errors. We take each in turn, affirming the district court on all
but one issue. |
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