Solicitor General To Participate In Argument In Case Over Bivens Damages For Inmate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted the U.S. solicitor general’s motion to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae supporting a staff nurse at a federal detention center who has asked the court to reverse a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling recognizing a cause of action for damages under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics for an inmate who was injured in a prison gang fight but was not sent to a hospital.
Supreme Court: U.S. As Amicus May Participate In Pipeline Condemnation Argument
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted the United States’ motion for leave to participate in the Nov. 9 oral argument as amicus curiae in an appeal concerning whether the compensation a private pipeline company must pay in an eminent domain action carried out under the Natural Gas Act is controlled by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or state law.
Washington Supreme Court Rules State Privacy Act Doesn’t Bar Hospital’s Data Share
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Privacy Act (WPA) doesn’t prohibit Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) from using Meta Platforms Inc. technology to track the searches and clicks of users of the SCH public website and SCH’s automated responses and from sharing that data with Meta to create targeted ads, the Washington Supreme Court majority ruled in a putative class lawsuit brought by website users.
Government: Precedent Doesn’t Protect AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
MADISON, Wis. — Context matters when reading precedent, and broad, surface-level language should not be expanded to every conceivable situation, the government tells the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in urging en banc or panel rehearing of a decision affirming dismissal of a charge alleging in-home possession of obscene artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material.
Civil Rights Division’s Policy Affecting States’ Voter Rolls Set Aside, Vacated
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia set aside and vacated a policy under which the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has been demanding voter registration lists from states, comparing those lists against citizen databases and then urging states to remove voters it deems ineligible, opining that the policy “flies in the face of duly enacted laws designed to protect Americans.”
U.S. High Court Grants Petition, Vacates Judgment In Glyphosate Cancer Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted Monsanto Co.’s petition for a writ of certiorari in a case brought by a man who says he developed cancer after exposure to the active ingredient in Roundup, vacated the judgment that followed a $28 million combined award for the man and remanded the case to a California appellate court for further consideration in light of the June 25 decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell.
U.S. High Court Grants DOGE, Others’ Petition In Mass Firing FOIA Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by U.S. DOGE Service (referred to as both DOGE and USDS), then-DOGE official Elon Musk and others in the federal government seeking review for the second time of questions concerning discovery in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case regarding DOGE’s authority and role in mass firings in the federal government.
Rehearing Denied In Ruling Affirming Injunction Denial In Social Media Photo Row
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 9 denied a petition for rehearing en banc of a panel’s opinion affirming a lower court order denying a woman’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction to prohibit her from being criminally prosecuted for a photo of a transgender politician she posted on the social media platform now known as X, with 10 judges voting against rehearing and seven voting in favor of rehearing.
Judge Dismisses Putative Class Alleging Women Were Misled About Genetic Testing
NEWARK, N.J. — Three women who allege that they and others like them each spent thousands of dollars on preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) cannot establish standing under a benefit-of-the-bargain theory, a New Jersey federal judge found, granting a motion to dismiss filed by the manufacturers of a testing product.
Judge Grants Motion For Fees In $1.8B Iraqi Telecom Arbitration Dispute
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Oct. 9 granted a Dubai-based joint venture’s motion, first filed in 2021, for reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred compelling discovery during proceedings related to its enforcement of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award in its favor worth more than $1.8 billion against telecommunications companies and an Iraqi businessman that was confirmed in 2024 but denied the venture’s request for sanctions.
11th Circuit: Court Has Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over Homeowners’ Coverage Suit
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Georgia insureds’ argument that a lower court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to grant summary judgment in favor of their insurer in a coverage dispute over an underlying nuisance, negligence and trespass action brought by their neighbors, holding that a “live controversy persisted at all stages of” the lawsuit and that the insurer’s claims “handily” satisfied the $75,000 amount in controversy threshold under Title 28 U.S. Code Section 1332, 28 U.S.C. § 1332.