The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Sheriff v. Gillie that the use of official state letterhead by private debt collectors retained by the state was not misleading. Ohio law allows the state’s Attorney General to retain private debt collectors as “special counsel” to collect debts owed to state institutions. The issues before the [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on Friday ordered a school district to desegregate its schools. Judge Debra Brown ordered the Cleveland School District to consolidate its high schools and middle schools after rejecting as unconstitutional two alternatives proposed by the district. In her 96-page opinion, Brown wrote: [...]

A federal judge on Friday found Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio in contempt of court for “intentionally” disobeying orders to stop the racial profiling of Latinos. Arpaio, who has dubbed himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” had been ordered by the court in 2013 to cease extreme tactics aimed at ending illegal immigration, which have included “saturation patrols” [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that they will begin a comprehensive review of the North Charleston Police Department in South Carolina following the killing of unarmed black motorist Walter Scott. The review is to be conducted by the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services in an effort to alleviate tensions [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Husky International Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz that “actual fraud,” as it relates to the discharge of debt under the bankruptcy code, may be committed by purposeful concealment and does not require overt misrepresentation. Overturning a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a law that bans protests on the marble plaza in front of the courthouse. In their decision to deny the petition in Hodge v. Talkin , the court left in place a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , along with several other organizations, asked a federal court on Monday block the enforcement of a North Carolina law that they claim targets transgender people for discrimination. The ACLU, the ACLU of North Carolina and Lambda Legal filed a motion for preliminary injunction in the US District Court [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Manning that a securities fraud case may proceed in state court. In an opinion authored by Justice Elena Kagan, the court decided that the jurisdictional test under Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 “is the same [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday remanded the class action case Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins to the lower court for further review. In a 6-2 ruling, the court found that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit erred in its analysis of whether the plaintiff had standing. The question before the court was [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday remanded a group of cases challenging the birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to the lower courts for further proceedings. The cases, consolidated as Zubik v. Burwell , question whether the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by forcing religious nonprofits to act in violation [...]