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Public Policy
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June 10, 2024
High Court To Review HHS Hospital Pay Formula
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a D.C. Circuit decision siding with the Department of Health and Human Services over how the agency applies a formula for calculating disproportionate share hospital payments for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
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June 10, 2024
High Court Won't Review FCC's Universal Service Fund
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review whether the country's fee-based telecom subsidy system unlawfully delegates taxing powers from Congress to the Federal Communications Commission and a privately run administrator.
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June 07, 2024
Fla. Urges Judge To Reconsider Block Of Immigration Law
Florida has urged a federal judge to reconsider an order blocking a state law that criminalizes the transportation of unauthorized immigrants, saying its argument that opposing parties failed to state the law is federally preempted was never addressed by the court.
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June 07, 2024
Ex-Prosecutors Join Effort To Free Imprisoned Binance Exec
More than 100 former federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents have called on the U.S. State Department to ramp up efforts to free Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance compliance executive and former IRS agent, from Nigerian custody over what they call false charges tied to money laundering and tax evasion.
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June 07, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives LA Schools Vaccine Policy Row
A split Ninth Circuit panel on Friday reversed a California federal court's dismissal of a proposed class action challenging a recently rescinded Los Angeles Unified School District policy requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their jobs, ruling that the district still has the potential to reinstate it.
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June 07, 2024
CFPB Urges 5th Circ. To Holster 'Weapon' In Late Fee Fight
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged the Fifth Circuit to refrain from using one of its "most potent weapons" to shoot down a Texas federal judge's order sending an industry challenge to the agency's credit card late fee rule to Washington, D.C.
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June 07, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Panel Calls Texas County 'True Library Police'
A Texas public library will have to reshelve several books that deal with issues such as racism and sexuality after a contentious majority ruling by a Fifth Circuit panel called the public officials and residents behind the book bans "the true library police."
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June 07, 2024
Conn. Judge Pushes State For Proof In $11M Kickback Case
The Connecticut state judge presiding over an $11 million false claims and kickbacks case against a compounding pharmacy appeared unconvinced Friday that the defendants submitted false claims for payment, peppering the government's counsel with requests to support assertions with case law and evidence that was put on at trial.
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June 07, 2024
DC Circ. Undoes Library Of Congress Win In Fair Use Fight
The D.C. Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's decision that had rejected two industry groups' challenge to a final rule that categorized medical device diagnostic procedures and repairs as fair use exemptions to U.S. copyright law.
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June 07, 2024
Trump Can Bring Atty To Presentence Interview
A New York judge ruled Friday that Donald Trump can bring his attorney with him when he sits down with a New York City probation officer for a presentence interview, granting an unusual accommodation to the former president before he is sentenced for his criminal conviction next month.
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June 07, 2024
Don't Delay In-House Handbags Case For Fed. Court, FTC Told
Federal Trade Commission staffers are urging the commission not to delay an in-house challenge to the planned $8.5 billion merger combining the parent companies of Coach and Michael Kors, arguing that a separate New York federal court fight won't automatically determine the deal's fate.
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June 07, 2024
'Why Are You Even Here?' Judge Prods Big Tobacco
A Washington state appellate panel on Friday criticized Philip Morris USA Inc. and other tobacco companies for attempting to pay the state less under a 1998 master settlement agreement, with one judge asking a Big Tobacco attorney why they were in court in the first place.
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June 07, 2024
Trade Commission Votes To Advance Solar Cell Investigations
The four heads of the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Friday to continue anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, finding evidence that the imports harmed domestic solar manufacturers.
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June 07, 2024
Cities, Cable Cos. Seek Reg Changes As FCC Studies Markets
Cities want the Federal Communications Commission to jettison rules that they say unduly restrict cable franchise fees, while the cable business says the FCC needs to back off on regulation, as the agency scrutinizes the competitive landscape across multiple industries.
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June 07, 2024
High Court's 'Narrow' Jack Daniel's Opinion Having Big Impact
When the U.S. Supreme Court decided a year ago that the maker of a squeaky dog toy that looks like a Jack Daniel’s whiskey bottle had no free speech protections against trademark infringement claims, the justices described their holding as narrow, but lawyers and academics are now suggesting the opinion is having broader implications.
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June 07, 2024
3 IPEF Agreements Done, But Still No Sign Of Trade Pillar
Three of the four "pillars" of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the initiative's overarching agreement are now complete, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced, but there's still no timeline for finishing the deal's trade pillar
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June 07, 2024
FCC Asks 6th Circ. To Transfer Net Neutrality Cases To DC
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday urged the Sixth Circuit to transfer a set of challenges to the FCC's recently passed net neutrality rules to the D.C. Circuit, where similar suits have previously played out.
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June 07, 2024
US Auto Regulator Finalizes New Fuel Economy Standards
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday finalized highly anticipated new fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks that envision boosting average efficiency to 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, marking the Biden administration's latest climate-focused endeavor to curb emissions in the transportation sector.
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June 07, 2024
NetChoice Challenges 'Onerous' Ga. E-Commerce Law
NetChoice LLC, an industry group representing some of America's largest e-commerce platforms, filed suit hoping to block a new Georgia law they say "jumps the tracks" from reasonable oversight and monitoring requirements to laying down "impermissible investigation mandates."
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June 07, 2024
DOE Reveals National Definition Of Zero-Emissions Building
The U.S. Department of Energy unveiled a federal definition for determining whether a residential or commercial building qualifies as a zero-emissions building as part of an ongoing effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions across the traditionally heavily emitting sector.
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June 07, 2024
Cherokee Man Asks High Court To Undo Tribal Tag Charges
A Cherokee Nation man is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Michigan Supreme Court order that denied him the chance to appeal his traffic stop convictions, arguing that the state must be barred from broadening the definition of "registration plate" in regard to tribal-licensed tags.
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June 07, 2024
Texas AG, Spirit AeroSystems Duel Over Safety Probe
Spirit AeroSystems Inc. and Texas Attorney General Kenneth Paxton each asked a federal court for an early win in their dispute over the state's probe into Spirit's management, with Spirit arguing the state's Request to Examine statute violates the Fourth Amendment, and Paxton arguing it is a constitutionally compliant subpoena.
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June 07, 2024
Texas Top Court Denies Roofer's Challenge To Adjuster Laws
The Supreme Court of Texas tossed on Friday a roofing company's challenge to the state's public adjuster licensing laws, saying that requiring a license or preventing certain conduct didn't violate the roofer's free speech rights.
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June 07, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Let Gov't Toss Sped-Up Timeline For Ally Visas
The D.C. Circuit on Friday refused to terminate a plan requiring the U.S. Department of State to speed up visa processing for Iraqi and Afghan nationals, ruling that some judicial involvement is still necessary to address delays.
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June 07, 2024
Judge Asks Impact Of New Border Policy On CBP App Suit
A California federal judge has asked for briefing on the impact of a new executive order on asylum seekers who enter between ports of entry on a pending lawsuit challenging a requirement that migrants use a smartphone app to submit applications.
Expert Analysis
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DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges
The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Aviation Watch: Mostly Smooth Landing For New FAA Law
The recently signed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act enhances air safety in several key ways, including strengthened passenger rights and cockpit voice recorder requirements, but an expansion of slot exemptions at Reagan National Airport is a notable misstep, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds
The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.
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FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling
As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.
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National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2
Strategy documents recently published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force confirm the importance of the commercial space sector to the DOD, but say little about achieving the institutional changes needed to integrate commercial capabilities in support of national security in space, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.
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FTC Hearing On Fake Review Rule Stressed Compliance Costs
The Federal Trade Commission is likely to finalize its proposed rule to prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices in their product reviews after an informal hearing covered arguments over whether costs of implementing the rule, such as review moderation and software maintenance, would be minimal, says Jeffrey Edelstein at Manatt.
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FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.
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3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up
Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.
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Perspectives
Justices' Repeat Offender Ruling Eases Prosecutorial Hurdle
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Brown v. U.S., clarifying which drug law applies to sentencing a repeat offender in a federal firearms case, allows courts to rely on outdated drug schedules to impose increased sentences, thus removing a significant hurdle for prosecutors, says attorney Molly Parmer.
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Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine
Psychedelic medicine is ready to have its breakthrough moment, and although it still faces political, legal and communications challenges, private equity investors can play a significant role in changing the public perception on psychedelics from taboo to acceptance, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, Charlie Panfil at the Daschle Group and Ethan Lutz at FTI Consulting.
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Opinion
Exec Liability Bill For Failed Banks Is Unnecessary, Unwise
A bill before the U.S. Senate, which would effectively empower the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to hold senior bank executives strictly liable for reasonable business decisions that lead to bank failures, needlessly overwrites the existing negligence standard and rewards counterproductive caution in management, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 1
The recently published U.S. Department of Defense space strategy represents a recalibration in agency thinking, signaling that the integration of commercial space capabilities has become a necessity and offering guidance for removing structural, procedural and cultural barriers to commercial-sector collaboration, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.