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Public Policy
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July 30, 2024
Immunity Bars Most Vaccine Challenges, Conn. Justices Rule
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday narrowed a challenge to a law that eliminated religious exemptions to the state's school vaccination mandates, ordering a trial judge to dismiss two parents' constitutional claims while leaving open for future proceedings a free exercise claim filed under a state statute.
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July 30, 2024
Texas' Meta Deal Signals Future Data Privacy Actions
While the announcement of an "astronomical" $1.4 billion settlement between Texas and Meta Platforms Inc. on Tuesday won't lead to a flood of consumer suits, it's "absolutely" a signal of future enforcement actions by the Lone Star State in the data privacy sphere, experts told Law360.
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July 30, 2024
FTC Seeks Temporary Kroger-Albertsons Block In Oregon
The Federal Trade Commission is formally seeking a temporary block against Kroger's proposed purchase of Albertsons, arguing in an Oregon federal court brief unsealed Tuesday that the planned divestiture of 579 stores to a "failed" supermarket boss won't adequately protect consumers or union labor facing dramatically increased concentration.
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July 30, 2024
SEC Ruling Calls For FCC Revamp, Ex-Agency Lawyer Says
Although the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that civil defendants must be allowed jury trials to contest government fines was focused on securities law, the ruling will also upend the Federal Communications Commission's in-house enforcement and require new legislation, warns an appellate lawyer and former FCC attorney.
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July 30, 2024
Prosecutors Say Bribery Ruling Won't Disrupt Madigan Trial
Prosecutors accusing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of corruption said Monday night his case is unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, saying the government's allegations do not rely on gratuities, so "this dog will not hunt."
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July 30, 2024
Miami Must Face Ex-Police Chief's Retaliation Suit
A Florida federal judge has denied Miami officials' bids to toss a retaliation lawsuit brought by the city's former police chief, rejecting claims that he hadn't exhausted his administrative remedies before filing his complaint and saying his attempts to do so would be considered futile.
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July 30, 2024
FTX Exec Gets Prison Report Date Delayed After Dog Attack
A New York federal judge on Tuesday allowed ex-FTX executive Ryan Salame to delay his surrender date to begin his prison term from August to October, as he was forced to undergo medical treatment and surgery after being mauled by a German shepherd while visiting a friend's house last month.
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July 30, 2024
Colo. Justices Step Into Boulder Climate Change Case
The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to defend its decision greenlighting the bulk of municipalities' attempts to make Suncor subsidiaries and Exxon pay for damages allegedly caused by climate change.
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July 30, 2024
Sens. Look To Break Down Federal Barriers To Broadband
Three senators think they have the solution for speeding up the broadband permitting process in the form of a bill that they say will cut red tape and ensure applications are dealt with within the nine-month window the federal government has to do so.
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July 30, 2024
Senate Sends Kids' Online Safety, Privacy Bills To House
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday easily approved a pair of bipartisan bills claiming to put more responsibility on social media platforms to ensure children's safety online and enhance data privacy protections for teens, although one of the proposals continues to face First Amendment opposition from consumer advocates as the measures move to the House.
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July 30, 2024
Judge OKs Deal Ending Asylum Seekers' Work Eligibility Suit
A Washington federal court signed off Tuesday on a preliminary settlement resolving asylum seekers' claims that federal immigration agencies have forced them to wait longer than the 180-day waiting period to apply for work permits.
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July 30, 2024
Sidney Powell Settles Dominion Exec's Election Lies Suit
Sidney Powell, a former attorney to Donald Trump, has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by a former executive for Dominion Voting Systems accused of taking part in unfounded 2020 election conspiracy theories.
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July 30, 2024
NYC Loses Injunction Bid In Texas Migrant Busing Suit
A New York state judge has denied New York City's bid to bar charter bus companies from transporting migrants from Texas, saying the state law the city leaned on is "essentially identical" to one the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 1941.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Finds NIH's Comment Restrictions Unconstitutional
The National Institutes of Health violated the First Amendment when the agency used keyword filters to hide comments from animal rights activists on its official Facebook and Instagram pages, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Army Bug Repellent Case Heads To Mediation
A qui tam case in which the government alleges a North Carolina maker of bug-repellent clothing skimped on the amount of insect control chemicals it applied to combat uniforms will go to mediation, with a former federal magistrate judge serving as mediator, according to an order issued Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Must Block EPA Mercury Rule, Challengers Say
Challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule tightening mercury and other toxic metal emission standards for some coal-fired power plants are hitting back against arguments by the agency and its supporters that their requested stay of the rule isn't warranted.
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July 30, 2024
Monsanto PCB Plaintiffs Say Expert Can Survive Appeals Loss
A group of families suing Monsanto alleging chemical poisoning urged a Washington state judge on Monday to reject the company's bid to derail their case nearing trial, arguing testimony from an exposure expert cannot be ruled out just because an appellate court struck some of his opinions in a different case.
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July 30, 2024
High Court Ruling Dooms EPA Smog Plan, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions across several states is reason enough for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate the rule, several states, industry groups and energy companies argued.
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July 30, 2024
10th Circ. Shields Feds From Fire Mismanagement Suit
The U.S. Forest Service doesn't have to face allegations it mismanaged the response to two Utah wildfires in 2018, the Tenth Circuit said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Legalization Foes Mount New Challenge To NY Pot Program
A group of anti-cannabis activists renewed their challenge to New York's proposal to use public funds to help marijuana retailers launch their businesses, alleging in a new state court lawsuit that the policy violates federal law.
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July 30, 2024
Student Loan Borrower Takes Debt Fight To High Court
A borrower is seeking the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the dismissal of his lawsuit alleging a state student-loan-servicing agency's misrepresentations ended a loan forgiveness opportunity, arguing a circuit court decision that shielded the agency from the suit conflicts with the prior rulings.
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July 30, 2024
Exxon Loses Bid For Avangrid Docs In Mass. Climate Suit
ExxonMobil will not gain access to potentially millions of documents from wind energy company Avangrid as part of the Massachusetts attorney general's long-running climate change suit, after a state court judge found it "inconceivable" that the sought-after material could be relevant to the case.
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July 30, 2024
Low-Power TV Stations Seek More Latitude From FCC
Low-power television stations believe it's time for the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to start operating at higher levels of power as long as they remain in their service contours.
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July 30, 2024
Ohio Bill Would Create Credit For Property Tax, Rent
Ohio would allow homeowners and renters to claim a refundable property tax credit or rebate if their property tax or rent-equivalent tax exceeds 5% of their household income under a bill introduced in the House of Representatives.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Tosses FERC's OK Of Northeast Pipeline Expansion
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday threw out the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion, ruling that the agency overlooked the project's "enormous" greenhouse gas emissions and failed to properly consider the lack of market need for the added natural gas capacity.
Expert Analysis
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Managing Legal Risks After University Gaza Protests
Following the protests sparked by the war in Gaza, colleges and universities should expect a long investigative tail and take steps to mitigate risks associated with compliance issues under various legal frameworks and institutional policies, say Wiley's Diana Shaw and Colin Cloherty.
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Live Nation May Shake It Off In A Long Game With The DOJ
Don't expect a swift resolution in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Live Nation, but a long litigation, with the company likely to represent itself as the creator of a competitive ecosystem, and the government faced with explaining how the ticketing giant formed under its watch, say Thomas Kliebhan and Taylor Hixon at GRSM50.
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How Act 126 Will Jump-Start Lithium Production In Louisiana
Louisiana's recent passage of Act 126, which helps create a legal and regulatory framework for lithium brine production and direct lithium extraction in the state, should help bolster the U.S. supply of this key mineral, and contribute to increased energy independence for the nation, say Marjorie McKeithen and Justin Marocco at Jones Walker.
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5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification
As the federal contractor affirmative action program certification deadline approaches, government contractors and subcontractors should take steps to determine their program obligations, and ensure any required plans are properly implemented and timely registered, say Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie and Joanna Colosimo at DCI Consulting.
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Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture
In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.
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A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule
A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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2 Regulatory Approaches To Psychedelic Clinical Trials
Comparing the U.S. and Canada's regulatory frameworks for clinical trials of psychedelic drugs can be useful for designing trial protocols that meet both countries' requirements, which can in turn help diversify patient populations, bolster data robustness and expedite market access, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.
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Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond
Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.
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How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving
Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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Best Practices For Responding To CBP's Solar Questionnaire
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's recently introduced questionnaire to solar importers imposes significant burdens, with the potential for supply chain disruptions and market consolidation, but taking certain steps can assist companies in navigating the new requirements, say Carl Valenstein and Katelyn Hilferty at Morgan Lewis.
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Exploring Alternatives To Noncompetes Ahead Of FTC Ban
Ahead of the Sept. 4 effective date for the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, employers should seek new ways to protect their proprietary and other sensitive information, including by revising existing confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, says Harvey Linder at Culhane.
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Parsing Controversial Del. General Corporation Law Proposals
In response to issues raised in three recent high-profile Delaware Court of Chancery decisions, many amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law were quickly proposed that, if enacted, would bring significant changes likely to be hotly debated — and litigated — for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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A Look At US-EU Consumer Finance Talks' Slow First Steps
The unhurried and informal nature of planned discussions between the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European commissioner for justice and consumer protection suggests any coordinated regulatory action on issues like AI and "buy now, pay later" services is still a ways off, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills
After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.