Supreme Court hears arguments on pharmaceutical regulation, no-fly list
US Supreme Court heard rescheduled oral arguments by phone on Tuesday for the second day of the 2020 term. The first case before the court, Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, looked at a 2015 Arkansas law, Act 900. The Act regulates Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs), the intermediaries between health insurance plans and pharmacies, to [...]
Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat
President Donald Trump Saturday announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the US Supreme Court seat left vacant by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During the announcement in the White House Rose Garden, Barrett promised that “should I be confirmed, I will be mindful who came before me,” and added that “the flag [...]
Postponing Confirmation Hearings for the Benefit of the Supreme Court and the Nation
The tumultuous controversy about whether President Trump and the Senate should try to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat before the upcoming election presents high stake political and constitutional risks for both Republicans and Democrats. It also presents risks for long-term public confidence in the integrity of the Supreme Court. Republicans can hardly [...]
The Supreme Court created quite a stir recently when it held in Bostock v. Clayton Country, Georgia that Title VII, the major federal anti-employment-discrimination law, protected gay and transgender employees on the same basis as heterosexual employees. Deciding three companion cases involving different employees, the Court filled a major gap in employee protection – most [...]
Attorneys litigate on both sides of some of the most contentious issues in the country: affirmative action, rent control, abortion rights, gun rights, you name it. Sometimes the positions attorneys take may be seen as offensive, as those positions may run contrary to more “popular” opinions. But in our adversarial system of justice, free speech is necessary [...]
Wisconsin judge temporarily strikes down laws limiting governor's power
A Wisconsin state judge on Thursday granted a temporary injunction on laws passed during a special session of the legislature last December that sought to limit powers of the state’s incoming governor. State Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess issued the injunction by concluding that the special session of the legislature was unlawful and therefore void. By [...]
Why was there so little support for Chief Justice Roberts in his exchange with President Trump? After the President attacked a recent decision by Federal District Judge Jon Tigar as having been rendered by an “Obama Judge,” Roberts responded to an inquiry by the AP with a short, but clear rebuke: We do not have [...]
Supreme Court hears arguments on whether Eighth Amendment excessive fines clause applies to states
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Tyson Timbs v. Indiana, a case that centers on the incorporation of the excessive fines clause to the states. Under the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed.” The Timbs case focuses on whether the excessive [...]
US President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Brett M. Kavanaugh of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the US Supreme Court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who will retire on July 31st. Kennedy was nominated in 1987 by then-president Ronald Reagan. He was seen as having a relatively neutral ideology and methodology of interpretation. Throughout his [...]
Federal judge dismisses suit challenging Massachusetts weapon ban
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Massachusetts weapon ban, finding that the weapons banned fall outside of the scope of the Second Amendment...
