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Public Policy
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October 04, 2024
Justices Won't Block EPA Methane Control Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected pleas by Republican-led states and fossil fuel industry groups to block implementation of an Environmental Protection Agency rule strengthening methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure.
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October 04, 2024
Justices Won't Freeze EPA's Mercury Rule During Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement its recent rule strengthening mercury air emission standards while red states' and fossil fuel groups' challenges proceed at the D.C. Circuit.
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October 04, 2024
High Court Will Hear Mexico's Suit Against Gun Cos.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a decision allowing Mexico to sue a group of gun manufacturers alleging they have aided and abetted criminal cartels.
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October 04, 2024
High Court Takes Up E-Cig 'Forum Shopping' Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that allowed out-of-circuit e-cigarette manufacturers to seek judicial review before the New Orleans-based court so long as the petition is joined by a seller located in the circuit.
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October 04, 2024
High Court Will Hear TCPA Case Over Online Junk Faxes
The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will review whether district courts must follow a Federal Communications Commission ruling that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act does not prohibit junk faxes that are received only via electronic inboxes.
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October 04, 2024
High Court Will Review 5th Circ. Bar On Nuclear Waste Site
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it will review the Fifth Circuit's decision to bar the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing a license to a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in Texas.
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October 03, 2024
Trump Says Justices' Jan. 6 Ruling Shields Him From Charges
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday told a Washington, D.C., federal judge that charges accusing him of scheming to subvert the 2020 election results cannot stand after the U.S. Supreme Court limited prosecutors' use of an obstruction statute against defendants accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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October 03, 2024
WilmerHale Hired For DHS IG's Retaliatory Probe, Report Says
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari at one point tapped WilmerHale to conduct a retaliatory investigation into three staffers who complained about him, an abuse of his authority and waste of funds, a watchdog alleged in a report Wednesday.
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October 03, 2024
Ill. Top Court Asked To Restore $7B Power Line Permit
Illinois utility regulators on Thursday urged the state's top court to reverse a lower court's decision striking a key permitting decision for part of the $7 billion Grain Belt Express high-voltage transmission line, saying the faulty ruling threatens the legislature's clean energy goals.
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October 03, 2024
Biden Admin's Latest Debt Relief Plan Blocked In Missouri
A Missouri federal judge Thursday blocked the Biden administration's latest student debt relief proposal, finding that the six Republican-led states leading the challenge will likely show the plan is unlawful, just a day after a Georgia federal judge knocked the Peach State out and punted the case to St. Louis.
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October 03, 2024
UC Regents Sued Over Ban On Undocumented Student Jobs
The University of California has the authority to hire undocumented students to fill campus jobs, but it's refusing to exercise that authority and thus discriminating against thousands of students enrolled at campuses across the state, according to a petition filed in California appellate court.
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October 03, 2024
SEC, Texas Crypto Co. Duel Over Pre-Enforcement Challenge
In dueling briefs filed Thursday, both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a nascent cryptocurrency exchange asked a Texas federal judge to grant an early win, arguing over whether the exchange can preemptively sue the regulator for a determination that its planned business won't offend securities laws.
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October 03, 2024
'Charlatan' Colo. Clerk Gets 9 Years In Election Breach Case
A Colorado state judge on Thursday called a former county clerk an attention-seeking "charlatan" before sentencing her to nine years behind bars for helping a man get unauthorized access to county voting equipment based on unfounded theories of a stolen 2020 election.
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October 03, 2024
Colo. Billionaire's Brief Sparks Call For Gorsuch Recusal
A Colorado billionaire once hired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as a budding young lawyer, later campaigned for the future justice's first judicial appointment and subsequently urged the court to loosen requirements for federal environmental reviews — all of which has sparked a call for the justice to bow out of one of the upcoming term's key cases.
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October 03, 2024
Justices Urged To Ax Google's Ad Tech Subpoena
A South Carolina agency has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review its challenge of Google's document request in a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital advertising technology after the Fourth Circuit ruled the agency has to respond.
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October 03, 2024
DHS Vetting Not Enough To Curb Travel Risks, Watchdog Says
Gaps in the federal immigration system's vetting policies are creating a risk that noncitizens who pose a public safety threat are being cleared for domestic air travel, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog reported.
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October 03, 2024
11th Circ. Rejects Bid To Block Fla. Law Banning Trans Care
The Eleventh Circuit said Thursday it would not reconsider a decision that allowed a Florida law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricts it for adults to take effect.
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October 03, 2024
14 States Challenge FCC Over Prison Phone Rate Caps
Fourteen states from Alabama to Virginia have sued the Federal Communications Commission in the Eighth Circuit over regulations it enacted this summer capping prison phone rates.
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October 03, 2024
Trulieve Sues Fla. Republican Party Over Anti-Weed Ads
Trulieve, which is Florida's largest medical marijuana company and the principal backer of a ballot initiative to legalize cannabis in the Sunshine State, has sued the state's Republican Party and a pair of television stations for defamation, alleging that they ran misleading anti-weed ads.
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October 03, 2024
Red States Want H-2A Farmworker Rule Gone For Good
More than a dozen Republican-led states are urging a Georgia federal judge to vacate a U.S. Department of Labor rule that would strengthen protections for foreign farmworkers within the H-2A visa program, arguing that the department clearly overstepped its authorities.
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October 03, 2024
GOP Senators Slam NY Fed Over Iraq Money-Laundering Report
Two Republican senators, including the ranking member of the Senate banking committee, have slammed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for allegedly failing to act on money-laundering concerns with the Central Bank of Iraq, allowing funds to flow to Iran as a result.
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October 03, 2024
ISPs Insist FCC Overstepped With Net Neutrality Rules
Internet service providers told the Sixth Circuit it should reject the Federal Communications Commission's recently passed net neutrality rules because the FCC has failed to show that Congress gave it the authority to regulate broadband as a telecom service.
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October 03, 2024
Wash. AG Wants Albertsons Sanctioned In Opioid Suit
Washington state's attorney general has accused Albertsons of using a state-court-ordered stay to shield itself from discovery in a consumer protection suit that accuses Rite Aid and grocery store pharmacies of exacerbating the opioid epidemic, seeking the appointment of a "discovery referee" in a new sanctions motion.
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October 03, 2024
Energy Dept. Hands Out $1B Loan For EV Charging Expansion
The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Thursday that it has made a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.05 billion aimed at expanding public electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.
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October 03, 2024
Despite Progress, Barriers Remain In Burial Law, Report Says
Despite tighter regulations on a federal law designed to protect and help tribes repatriate burial sites, a continued resistance by institutions in possession of Indigenous remains and artifacts and a lack of funding are still barriers facing the decades-old policy, a federal report says.
Expert Analysis
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Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions
Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Series
After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB
While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.
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PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny
The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Series
After Chevron: NRC Is Shielded From Loper Bright's Effects
While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Loper Bright v. Relentless decision brought an end to Chevron deference, Congress' unique delegation of discretionary authority to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will likely insulate it from the additional judicial scrutiny that other federal agencies will face, say Ryan Lighty and Scott Clausen at Morgan Lewis.
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Opinion
Unclear Intellectual Property Laws Are Stifling US Innovation
U.S. intellectual property law’s lack of predictability means far less job-creating investments for companies that need patent protection to compete, and Congress must step in with legislation like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to help address the problem, says Michael Gulliford at Soryn IP Capital Management.
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Pros And Cons Of 2025 NDAA's Space Contracting Proposal
The introduction of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve fleet in the pending 2025 National Defense Authorization Act presents a significant opportunity for space and satellite companies — despite outstanding questions, and potential risks, for operators, say attorneys at Wiley.
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How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions
The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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New Russia Sanctions Law: Bank Compliance Insights
Financial institutions must familiarize themselves with the new reporting obligations imposed by the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, a recent law that authorizes seizures of Russian sovereign assets under U.S. jurisdiction, say attorneys at Seward & Kissel.
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Opinion
Dreamer Green Card Updates Offer Too Little For Too Few
Despite the Biden administration’s good intentions in announcing a new pathway for college-educated Dreamers to receive green cards, the initiative ultimately does little to improve the status quo for most beneficiaries, and could even leave applicants in a worse position, says Adam Moses at Harris Beach.
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3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways
Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.
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Opinion
Congress Must Increase Small Biz Ch. 11 Debt Cap
Congress must act to reinstate Subchapter V, which recently sunsetted when the debt threshold to qualify reverted from $7.5 million to just over $3 million, meaning thousands of small businesses will no longer be able to use the means of reorganization, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.
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How Loper Bright Weakens NEPA Enviro Justice Strategy
The National Environmental Policy Act is central to the Biden administration's environmental justice agenda — but the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo casts doubt on the government's ability to rely on NEPA for this purpose, and a pending federal case will test the strategy's limits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Series
After Chevron: ERISA Challenges To Watch
The end of Chevron deference makes the outcome of Employee Retirement Income Security Act regulatory challenges more uncertain as courts become final arbiters of pending lawsuits about ESG investments, the definition of a fiduciary, unallocated pension forfeitures and discrimination in healthcare plans, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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Menendez Corruption Ruling Highlights Attorney Proffer Risks
The recent admission of slides used in a preindictment presentation as evidence during U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial highlights the potential pitfalls of using visual aids in attorney proffers, and the increasing importance of making disclaimers regarding information presented at the outset of proffers, say Carrie Cohen and Savanna Leak at MoFo.
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Opinion
Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis
For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.