Supreme Court remands cy pres settlement case for further exploration of standing
In a per curiam decision Wednesday, the US Supreme Court remanded, for further review of standing, a case concerning whether cy pres settlements satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(2). The class action case, Frank v. Gaos, originated with an alleged violation of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) by Google. Plaintiffs claimed that Google’s use of referrer headers breached the [...]
Supreme Court hears arguments in class action, sovereign immunity cases
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in two cases—one a question of class action payments to charities and the second whether sovereign immunity of foreign governments extends to international organizations. In the first, Frank v. Gaos, petitioners contend that the application of a cy pres award, or the distribution of money from a class [...]
The US Senate voted on Friday morning to end discussion and advance Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in a key procedural vote. Next, a final confirmation vote will happen, possibly as soon as Saturday. The 51-49 Senate vote had one defection from each party — Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia voted to [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases Monday, including a dispute over a settlement in a Google privacy case and a Missouri death penalty case. In Frank v. Gaos ,...
Here's the domestic legal news we covered this week: The US Department of Justice on Friday appealed to the Supreme Court a decision from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit permitting...
ABA committee gives 8th Circuit nominee 'not qualified' rating
The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave Leonard Steven Grasz, a nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit a "not qualified" rating on Tuesday....
US Government agency violated federal accounting law, GAO reports
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Thursday found that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) violated federal law through its handling of multi-year lease costs for its offices. CFTC was authorized by Congress...
China court releases journalist from prison over declining health
Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court on Friday released journalist Gao Yu on medical parole after the Higher People's Court upheld her conviction for leaking an internal Communist Party document to a foreign website. Though she did receive medical parole [Asia...
UN: governments must refrain from torture even outside borders
States should protect human rights even when acting transnationally, urged UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez in a statement on Tuesday. Méndez made the comments while presenting his latest report on torture ,...
Interview: China tortured leading rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng
In his first interview since being released from prison to house arrest in August 2014, leading Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng told the Associated Press that he was subject to torture. Zhisheng revealed that while he was...
