US Legal News Round Up for Saturday, 24 February 2018 News
US Legal News Round Up for Saturday, 24 February 2018

Here’s the domestic legal news we covered this week:

Twenty-three state attorneys general, led by New York’s Eric Schneiderman [official profile], filed [text, PDF] a petition for review in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) reversal of Obama administration net neutrality regulations.

Net neutrality attempts to ensure that Internet service providers enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

The petition alleges that the FCC’s publishing of its final notice [text, PDF] in the Federal Register reversing the Obama administration’s classification of consumer broadband services under Title II back to Title I of the Telecommunications Act is “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the Administrative Procedure Act.” [statutes, PDF]

The FCC’s order asserts that the regulatory uncertainty created by utility-style Title II regulation has reduced Internet service provider (ISP) investment in networks, as well as hampered innovation, particularly among small ISPs serving rural consumers.

The Oregon legislature on Thursday approved HB 4145 [text], which amends current statutes relating to firearm ownership.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller [official website] filed a new indictment [text, PDF] leveling 32 new charges against Paul Manafort and Richard Gates in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] Thursday.

The charges include 23 charges related to falsifying tax returns and not reporting foreign assets.

[JURIST] A large group of law firms and prominent law professors, led by David Boies [offical profile] of Boies Schiller Flexner, LLP, alongside the Leauge of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) [websites] has filed four lawsuits [press release] challenging the winner-take-all approach to the electoral college.
A group of ten Republican legislators filed suit [complaint, PDF] on Thursday seeking to prevent the new congressional map [JURIST report] issued by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania [official website] from taking effect.

The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania [official website], asserts that the state Supreme Court violated the federal Constitution’s Election Clause [Art.

Amnesty International (AI) launched its 2017 Report [text, PDF] Thursday, highlighting human rights issues in 159 countries and territories across the world.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] a statement and guidance [official document] on Wednesday warning public companies of their obligation to disclose cybersecurity breaches or threats.
The Trump has yet to repatriate Guantánamo detainee Ahmed Muhammed Haza al-Darbi [JURIST news archive] to Saudi Arabia, effectively missing the Tuesday deadline established in his 2014 plea deal.
The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday heard oral arguments in two criminal procedure cases.
The US Supreme Court [official website] held [opinion, PDF] Wednesday in Digital Realty Trust v.
The US Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-4 Wednesday in Murphy v.
The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday declined to allow [opinion, PDF] victims of a terrorist attack to collect damages from Iran through attaching government property present in the US.
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two Fifth Amendment cases Tuesday: Currier v.
The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 6-3 Wednesday in Class v.
In anticipation of the expiration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a panel of UN rights experts on Tuesday urged [text] urged the US to protect the lawful status of approximately 800,000 people.
The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday declined to review a decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholding California’s 10-day waiting period [JURIST report] for purchasing a gun.

The court denied a petition for certiorari [text, PDF] filed by two California plaintiffs in conjunction with the Second Amendment Foundation and the Calguns Foundation [advocacy websites] in October.

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania [official website] released a map [opinion, PDF] on Monday intended to remedy what the court declared as the unconstitutional gerrymandering present in the 2011 redistricting plan.
[JURIST] The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) released two [Goodlatte, PDF] letters [Nunes, PDF] on Thursday stating that it would consider requests from two Congressional Representatives to release the hearing transcripts which caused former Trump advisor Carter Page to be put under surveillance.