The US Supreme Court concluded oral arguments on Wednesday for the October 2019 term by hearing two cases that may impact the upcoming presidential election. Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca both ask whether the Constitution prevents a state from requiring its presidential electors to comply with the state’s popular vote [...]
Search Results for: Tenth Circuit
Federal appeals court orders State Department to reconsider intersex passport application case
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday reversed and remanded a decision by the State Department rejecting an intersex passport application. The State Department has historically applied a binary approach to identifying passport applicants based on their sex. In getting approved for a passport, everyone must be classified as either male [...]
Federal appeals court strikes down Kansas voter proof of citizenship requirement
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth ruled Wednesday that Kansas’s voter registration rules, which required documentation of citizenship, were unconstitutional and violated federal law. The lawsuit had arisen as a challenge to former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s well-publicized push to tighten control over voter rolls. But the state’s arguments about the [...]
Federal courts block Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama abortion bans during pandemic
Federal appeals courts on Tuesday affirmed temporary lower court blocks on abortion bans issued in Oklahoma and Texas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit blocked surgical abortions, but allowed medical abortions to continue in Texas. The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held similarly, denying the [...]
Federal appeals court orders EPA to review biofuel waivers granted to three oil refineries
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Monday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the biofuel waivers it granted to three oil refineries. The waivers exempt small oil refineries from complying with an amendment to the Clean Air Act passed by Congress in the early 2000s. The amendments require crude [...]
Supreme Court to hear personal jurisdiction, contraceptive coverage, elector fine cases
The United States Supreme Court released orders on Friday that granted certiorari for six new cases, consolidating them into three hours of upcoming oral arguments. The first case, which consolidates Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth District Court and Ford Motor Co. v. Bandemer, presents a question about personal jurisdiction. The Due Process Clause permits [...]
Court of Appeals upholds ACA risk payments to health insurers
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld on Tuesday the validity of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) risk adjustment program, reversing a lower court’s decision. As a part of the ACA’s enactment, Congress authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to design and implement this risk adjustment [...]
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday added five new cases to be heard this spring. The consolidated cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel cover the breadth of the “ministerial exemption” doctrine, which was created by the court and deals with employee hiring practices regarding church ministers. These cases [...]
Supreme Court hears arguments on ownership of tax refunds and preemption of hazardous cleanup
The US Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in cases concerning how courts should determine the ownership of tax refunds paid to affiliated corporate groups and whether federal law preempts state law claims for the cleanup of hazardous waste beyond what the US Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) has ordered. The first case, Rodriguez v. FDIC, [...]
The most recent disciplinary order issued against a federal judge vividly demonstrates a major shortcoming of the federal judicial disciplinary system—transparency. In September, the Judicial Council of the Tenth Circuit publicly reprimanded Kansas federal district court judge Carlos Murguia. The judge’s offenses included “sexually harassing Judiciary employees,” habitually tardiness, and an extramarital affair. To the detriment [...]