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Public Policy
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October 08, 2024
NY Discharge Law Usurps Feds, Nuclear Plant Owner Says
The owner of the shuttered Indian Point nuclear power plant on Monday urged a federal judge to invalidate a New York state law banning discharges of radioactive material into the Hudson River, saying it's clearly preempted by federal nuclear safety authority and violates the Constitution's supremacy clause.
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October 08, 2024
Texas Looks To Sink Suit Challenging Anti-ESG Law
Texas officials have asked a federal court to toss claims brought against them over a law restricting state investments with financial firms and businesses that want to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, arguing they have sovereign immunity and the law doesn't violate the First Amendment.
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October 08, 2024
PetroSaudi Says US Not Entitled To All Of $380M Award
A PetroSaudi unit said it wants a California federal court to make clear that only 5% of funds should go to the Biden administration in a dispute over the proceeds of a nearly $380 million arbitral award allegedly tied to embezzled 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds.
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October 08, 2024
Wash. Families Claim Judicial Bias In Tribal Eviction Saga
A trial judge for Washington state's Nooksack Indian Tribe has paused a series of evictions against a group of families after they argued judges on a tribal appeals court were biased for ruling they can be removed from homes purchased using a federal tax credit program.
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October 08, 2024
Minn. County And Feds Must Meet In Person Over Land Fight
A Minnesota federal judge has ordered counsel for a county and two townships to meet in person with U.S. Department of the Interior representatives for settlement talks involving claims the DOI wrongly acquired about 3,239 acres of land into trust for an Ojibwe tribe.
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October 08, 2024
ND Secretary Of State Can Skip Arguments In VRA Row
The Eighth Circuit is excusing North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe from participating in upcoming arguments in his attempt to reverse a lower court's order that required state lawmakers to correct Section 2 Voting Rights Act violations against two tribes, according to a Monday order from the court.
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October 08, 2024
5th Circ. Urged To Seal Industry Win Over CFPB Exam Policy
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups on Monday defended their Texas federal court win against a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau policy to expand the agency's anti-discrimination oversight, telling the Fifth Circuit that the agency's effort to reverse its loss is revealingly substance-light.
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October 08, 2024
Dem Rep. Re-Introduces Death Row Appeal Bill
U.S. Representative Hank Johnson, D-Ga., announced Tuesday that he is re-introducing a bill that would ensure inmates on death row would have the opportunity to present new evidence pointing to their innocence.
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October 08, 2024
TMX Unit Can't Sue In Texas To Void $52M Pa. Fine, Court Told
The secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities has urged a Texas federal judge to toss a suit from an affiliate of consumer lending company TMX Finance, challenging an order from the department seeking more than $52 million in civil penalties over claims tied to loan agreements that allegedly carry interest rates up to 720%.
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October 08, 2024
Texas AG Says USCIS Must Hand Over Voter Citizenship Data
Texas is re-upping its demand that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services turn over any information it has regarding the citizenship status of nearly half a million people the state believes might be illegally registered to vote.
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October 08, 2024
SEC Texting Sweep: Message Received, Guidance Needed
After financial firms have paid billions of dollars in recordkeeping fines around employees' use of off-channel communications, recent criticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approach by its Republican members has drawn support from attorneys who worry the agency is pushing for an impossible standard of perfect compliance.
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October 08, 2024
Jackson, Kagan Target Loper Bright In Ghost Gun Case
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was uncharacteristically quiet during initial arguments Tuesday over the federal government's authority to regulate ghost guns. While her colleagues debated whether kits of unassembled parts qualify as firearms, she waited patiently to post a different question: Can courts now toss agency interpretations they don't like?
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October 08, 2024
FCC Chair Denounces Fla. Officials' Threat Over Abortion Ads
The head of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday blasted Florida officials for suggesting broadcast stations could be unlawfully airing ad claims by an abortion rights group.
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October 08, 2024
House Panel Probes FCC's Revoking Starlink's $885M Subsidy
The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee is investigating the Federal Communications Commission's 2022 decision to pull an $885.5 million broadband subsidy for SpaceX's Starlink, calling the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company an asset in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and accusing the agency of "partisanship," in a new letter Monday.
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October 08, 2024
GOP, Trade Groups Urge 6th Circ. To Void Highway GHG Rule
Republican lawmakers and construction trade groups are urging the Sixth Circuit to snuff out for good a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring states to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.
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October 08, 2024
Albertsons Exec Says No-Poach Deal Never Happened
An Albertsons labor executive Tuesday attempted to rebut Colorado's accusations that the company worked together with Kroger even before its proposed merger to not compete for workers or customers during a 2022 strike, saying any agreements were internal and had nothing to do with Kroger.
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October 08, 2024
Justices Cast Favorable Eye On ATF's Ghost Gun Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared to side with the federal government's position that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule regulating so-called ghost gun kits was wrongly invalidated by a lower appeals court, with several justices responding favorably to the feds' arguments.
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October 08, 2024
Enviro Groups Seek To Overturn Nuclear Plant Renewal Rules
Anti-nuclear power groups are challenging new nuclear power plant license renewal rules from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, telling the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the changes violate federal environmental protection law.
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October 08, 2024
Congress Urged To Prevent Stalking Via Smart Car
An auto technology trade group asked congressional leaders Tuesday to push through legislation that would allow car connectivity services to cut access to domestic abusers.
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October 08, 2024
DOJ Sues LA Fitness Over Nationwide Accessibility Issues
The U.S. Department of Justice sued gym chain LA Fitness on Tuesday, alleging that it mistreated patrons with disabilities at its nearly 700 locations across the country, including by failing to fix broken pool lift equipment and charging caretakers additional fees.
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October 08, 2024
Coolant Cos. Challenging HFC Rules Meet Skeptical DC Circ.
A D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday seemed dubious of coolant industry challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's omission of 2020 market data in calculating the agency's framework for phasing down climate-harming hydrofluorocarbons.
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October 08, 2024
Fulton County Sues Over Ga. Board's 'Hand-Picked' Monitors
Yet another front has opened in the fight over Georgia election law in the run-up to November, as the election board of the state's largest county sued its statewide counterparts over the attempt to impose a set of "hand-picked" monitors tasked with surveilling the county's performance.
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October 08, 2024
House Oversight Chair Targets Khan's 'Political Activities'
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., put Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan on blast Tuesday for participating in official events held by Democratic lawmakers running for reelection or higher office, castigating the leader of the FTC's Democratic majority for "partisan political activities."
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October 08, 2024
New Testimony Can't Revive Seattle Police Pursuit Crash Suit
A Washington state appeals court won't upend a verdict clearing the city of Seattle from liability in a suit by a woman injured in a car accident after the man driving her vehicle fled the police, finding that testimony taken after one of the officers involved died by suicide would not have altered the case's outcome.
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October 08, 2024
Mich. Judge Won't Halt EV Battery-Plant Build During Appeal
A Michigan federal judge said Monday she will not lift an order forcing a town's leaders to abide by a development agreement with battery manufacturer Gotion Inc. while the town seeks a Sixth Circuit review of the decision.
Expert Analysis
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The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging
More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.
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Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.
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Illinois May Be Gearing Up To Ban E-Verify
Recently passed amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act appear to effectively ban the use of E-Verify in the state, but ambiguity means employers will have to weigh the risks of continued use while also taking note of other work authorization requirements imposed by the updates, say Julie Ratliff and Elizabeth Wellhausen at Taft.
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Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal
By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.
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Mental Health Parity Rules: Tips For Plans And Issuers
Following federal agencies' release of final mental health parity rules, plan sponsors and health insurance issuers should develop protocols for preparing compliant nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron
The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exception salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.
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New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability
California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.
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Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'
The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Licensing And Protections For Voice Actors In The Age Of AI
While two recently enacted California laws and other recent state and federal legislation largely focus on protecting actors and musicians from the unauthorized use of their digital likenesses by generative artificial intelligence systems, the lesser-known community of professional voice actors also stands to benefit, says attorney Scott Mortman.
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Series
Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of the year, California continued to be at the forefront of banking regulation as it enacted legislation on unfair banking practices and junk fees, and the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation notably initiated enforcement actions focused on crypto-assets and student loan debt relief, say Stuart Richter and Eric Hail at Katten.