The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must immediately halt 30 percent reimbursement cuts to hospitals made under the 340B program aimed at helping poor patients, a federal judge ordered. The ruling (pdf) in American Hospital Association v. … Continue reading Federal judge orders HHS to properly reimburse hospitals for prescription drugs
The Supreme Court has put a banker’s lifetime ban from the industry on hold while he pursues an appeal over the ban. The order (pdf), which also stays a $125,000 fine, came late on Sept. 29 in Calcutt v. Federal … Continue reading Supreme Court stays order barring executive from banking industry
The Supreme Court has granted a temporary emergency stay of a lower court order that Novartis Pharmaceuticals says would allow the development of as many as 20 generic versions of its commercially successful multiple-sclerosis drug, Gilenya. The emergency application in Novartis … Continue reading Supreme Court grants emergency pause on ruling disallowing Novartis Pharmaceuticals’ patent: Without the stay, Chinese drug maker HEC Pharm would be able to make generic versions of multiple-sclerosis drug
The attorneys general of 17 states are asking the Supreme Court to take up the civil rights lawsuit of an evangelical Christian postal worker in Pennsylvania who quit the U.S. Postal Service after it refused to accommodate his wish not to work on the Sunday Sabbath. The legal filing comes as the Supreme Court is poised to begin its new session on Oct. 3, its first with Biden appointee Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the bench. It also comes as the high court has become increasingly protective of First Amendment-based religious protections in recent years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the … Continue reading 17 states ask Supreme Court to protect postal worker’s right to honor Sabbath
An election-integrity group is filing a new legal complaint each day this week regarding a different Minnesota county for officials’ failure to remove duplicate voter registrations from county voter rolls. “Federal law requires that duplicate registrations are eliminated from the voter roll,” said J. … Continue reading Minnesota counties sued for duplicate voter registrations
California’s ban on privately owned and operated immigration detention facilities is unconstitutional because it interferes with and gives the state a veto over federal government operations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled on Sept. 26. In an … Continue reading Federal appeals court overturns California’s ban on private immigration detention centers
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in an upcoming Supreme Court case are upbeat about their challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s long-controversial claim that the presence of surface water on private property makes it a protected wetland subject to federal regulations. The case, Sackett v. EPA, is scheduled for oral argument on Oct. 3. A ruling against the EPA could limit the reach of the Clean Water Act and allow Americans to relieve pressure on the housing market by building more new houses without becoming entangled in federal bureaucracy. Property rights supporters are encouraged by the fact that in June the court curbed the regulatory … Continue reading Lawyers challenging EPA claim about surface water on private property optimistic about SCOTUS case
A conservative public interest law firm plans to appeal a court ruling tossing its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state-administered college grant program that excludes whites and Asians. Dan Lennington, deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), … Continue reading Wisconsin group to appeal court loss in challenge of racially discriminatory college grant program
A microbrewery is suing New Jersey over license conditions it says severely impede such establishments’ ability to advertise in-house events and grow their businesses. The company’s lawyers suggest the state is picking winners and losers by siding with established restaurants and alcohol … Continue reading New Jersey microbrewery sues state over regulatory overreach
Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said in a televised interview that he pushed his colleagues on the court to change their votes and not overturn Roe v. Wade, the seminal 1973 precedent that legalized abortion in the United States, a ruling … Continue reading Former Justice Stephen Breyer says he urged colleagues not to reverse Roe v. Wade
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court that asks the court to decide if states have the power to regulate how social media companies moderate content on their platforms. Given the growing public interest … Continue reading Florida asks Supreme Court to rule on its power to regulate social media
Texas and eight other states are asking the Supreme Court to hear the University of Toledo’s appeal of a lower court ruling in a campus sexual harassment case they say threatens educational institutions with possible liability and loss of funding by the federal government. The decision, if left undisturbed, “threatens educational institutions with significant unknown liability and loss of federal funding by not clarifying the full scope of their Title IX obligations,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement on Sept. 20. Title IX refers to Public Law 92-318, or the federal Education Amendments of 1972, which amended four federal … Continue reading States ask Supreme Court to review harassment decision that could affect schools’ federal funding
New Mexico has become the latest state to welcome illegal aliens as attorneys. In other words, those who are breaking U.S. law by their presence in the country, will now be allowed to practice law in the Land of Enchantment. … Continue reading Illegals practice law in New Mexico: A blue state’s courts roll out the red carpet for illegal aliens
An Oklahoma-based family-owned pillow-making business is suing the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after it tried to shut down the company when two infants died after parents ignored explicit product safety warnings. The lawsuit claims regulatory overreach and seeks to … Continue reading Baby pillow maker sues federal regulator for alleged overreach
Americans now own more than 415 million firearms, according to Georgetown professor William English. This was a key finding of the National Firearms Survey that was conducted last year by Denver-based research firm Centiment, at the request of English, a … Continue reading Study: Americans own more than 415 million firearms
Yeshiva University vowed to continue fighting in litigation over who should have the power to determine which campus groups it recognizes after the Supreme Court on Sept. 14 unexpectedly lifted a 5-day-old order that allowed it to refuse to accept an LGBT group based on the school’s religious beliefs. Founded in 1897, the Orthodox Jewish university in New York City describes itself in court documents as “the world’s premier Torah-based institution of higher education.” The word “yeshiva” itself refers to a traditional Jewish religious school. Recognizing the LGBT student organization would violate its religious teachings, the school argues. In June, Judge Lynn … Continue reading Yeshiva University vows to continue fight against forced recognition of LGBT campus club
The District of Columbia has gotten rid of its regulation limiting how much ammunition a concealed-carry handgun permit holder may carry after a local resident sued it in federal court. This marks the second time in under a year that the local … Continue reading District of Columbia repeals gun ammo limit in bid to settle Second Amendment lawsuit
Yeshiva University in New York will have to recognize an LGBT student club on campus—at least while litigation proceeds in lower courts—after the U.S. Supreme Court abruptly reversed itself on Sept. 14, lifting a stay it had granted five days earlier. While … Continue reading Supreme Court reverses itself, rules Yeshiva University must recognize LGBT club
A state court blocked voting by mail in Delaware on Sept. 14 after ruling that the state’s mail-in voting practices violate the Delaware Constitution. Barring further judicial or legislative action, the ruling means mail-in voting will not be available in the upcoming … Continue reading Delaware court strikes down state’s voting-by-mail law
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said on Sept. 12 that justices will be updated by month’s end on the progress of an internal investigation into the wintertime leak of a draft abortion opinion that previewed the reversal of 49-year-old abortion … Continue reading Supreme Court leak investigation update expected at end of month: Kagan