High Court: Judicial Review Of Nonconstitutional Claims Barred By TPS Statute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Individuals from Haiti and Syria who filed putative class complaints challenging the termination of temporary protected status (TPS) for noncitizens from their countries are not “entitled to orders postponing the terminations during litigation” as “[t]he TPS statute plainly bars consideration of the respondents’ non-constitutional claims” and the lone “constitutional claim before us will likely fail,” the U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled this morning in two consolidated cases.
Split U.S. High Court: Noncitizens Must Be On U.S. Soil For Inspection Processing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A noncitizen is not considered to have “arriv[ed] in the United States” under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) unless he or she is over the border in the United States, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 in a class case over a now-rescinded border metering policy.
3rd Circuit Affirms That ERISA Preempts Doctor’s Defamation Claim
PHILADELPHIA — Addressing what it said was “a question of first impression for this Court,” the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 24 ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “broadly preempts state-law claims” and that explanation of benefits (EOB) forms central to the defamation case it was reviewing “fall well within the scope” of that express preemption.
Government, Chemours Reach $450M Deal To Resolve PFAS Pollution Claims In 3 States
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Department of Justice on June 24 announced a consent decree that it said is valued at a minimum of $450 million to resolve claims for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination from facilities operated by the Chemours Co. and an affiliate in West Virginia, New Jersey and North Carolina. Chemours issued a press release confirming the settlement, which calls for Chemours to pay a $22.5 million civil penalty and pay for pollution control programs to mitigate PFAS discharges.
Missouri Judge May Delay Final Approval For $7.25B Nationwide Roundup Settlement
ST. LOUIS — In light of a federal judge in Missouri’s decision to send back to state court a case in which objectors are seeking to halt a $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement, the Missouri state court judge who granted preliminary approval of the settlement issued a memorandum order on June 23 saying that “the Court believes it may be in the best interest of the case to delay the final approval hearing” and inviting any party that wants to be heard at the final approval hearing to file a brief stating its position on a delay.
High Court Vacates 6th Circuit Ruling In Murder-For-Hire Wiretap Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari, vacated the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of a murder-for-hire conspiracy conviction and remanded for further consideration in light of the government’s position that the Federal Wiretap Act does not contain a clean-hands exception allowing prosecutors to use a secretly recorded FaceTime call in which the petitioner allegedly discussed paying two people to kill individuals who had criticized or threatened her.
Legal Tech Company Wants Access To Anthropic’s Top-Line AI Restored
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Canadian litigation technology startup Legion LegalTech Corp. on June 23 asked a federal court in the District of Columbia to restore its access to Anthropic PBC’s newest large language model to prevent destruction of its business while it challenges the government’s directive suspending foreign access to the artificial intelligence model.
2nd Circuit Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Lessee’s Insurer In Suit Over Injury
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that undisputed facts defeat a landlord insurer’s argument that a lessee’s insurance policy intended to name the landlord as an additional insured and named the insured’s manager only in error, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the lessee’s insurer in the landlord insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that the lessee insurer has a duty to defend and indemnify the landlord in an underlying trip-and-fall lawsuit.
Federal Judge Vacates 2025 Voting Citizenship Verification System, Notices
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on June 22 set aside and vacated the 2025 Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and related notices, which were created in response to an executive order (EO) to verify the citizenship and immigration status of voters, as “contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious, in excess of statutory authority, and without observance of procedure required by law.”
7th Circuit Upholds Reduced Attorney Fee Award After Church’s Limited Success
CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s reduced attorney fee award to a church in its lawsuit against Chicago regarding a parking ordinance, agreeing with the lower court that the church’s limited success in the case was reason to reduce the attorney fee award, even though the church’s claims were related to each other.
Panel: No Homeowners Coverage Owed For Negligence, Social Host Liability Claims
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held June 22 that a lower federal court committed no reversible error when it entered summary judgment in favor of a homeowners insurer in the insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for underlying general negligence and social host liability claims arising from a car accident following a “beer Olympics” drinking party that was held at the insured’s home, agreeing with the lower court that the insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify.