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Public Policy
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June 21, 2024
Ohio House Bill Would Tax Car Condos As Residential Parcels
Ohio would classify car condominiums as residential property for property tax purposes under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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June 21, 2024
Ayahuasca Church Is Not Tax-Exempt, DC Circ. Affirms
An Iowa church that used a psychedelic drug in its rites was correctly denied tax-exempt status, the D.C. Circuit affirmed Friday, saying the church's main purpose is using a federally illegal drug for which it lacked approval for religious use.
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June 21, 2024
Attys Accused Of Judge Shopping Must Share Public Remarks
Attorneys accused of judge shopping two 2022 suits challenging an Alabama law criminalizing some gender-affirming care for transgender youths have been given 48 hours to turn over any public statements, releases or other information they or their organizations have shared about the disciplinary proceedings, just days ahead of a Monday hearing.
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June 21, 2024
Rip And Replace 'Ruinous' Without Fed Funds, Carriers Say
A rural telecoms trade group is warning the Federal Communications Commission of potentially "ruinous" financial predicaments for small carriers if the "rip and replace" program targeting Chinese-made telecommunications equipment isn't fully funded soon, saying in a new filing that carriers are considering reducing service because of the lack of funding.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Burke Can't Delay Sentencing
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke can't postpone his Monday sentencing on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery to await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the scope of federal bribery law, an Illinois federal judge ruled Friday, saying that decision will have "little or no impact" on Burke's fate.
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June 21, 2024
Atty Convicted Of Pot Bribe Wins Bail At 1st Circ.
A suspended Massachusetts attorney convicted last fall of attempting to bribe a police chief to help his client secure a cannabis license will remain free pending his appeal, the First Circuit ruled Friday, reversing a district judge's decision.
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June 21, 2024
Feds Seek To Nix Atty's Charges As 2nd Atty Heads To Prison
Prosecutors moved Friday to dismiss charges against a Georgia attorney for fraudulently obtaining federal pandemic-relief loans meant for businesses, with the pending dismissal — based on her completion of a pretrial diversion program — coming after a Florida attorney and alleged accomplice received a prison sentence of more than six years.
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June 21, 2024
5th Circ. Knocks Out National Block On ACA Preventive Care
The Fifth Circuit on Friday struck down a national injunction against Affordable Care Act requirements forcing insurers to cover a range of preventive treatments, but kept a block in place that prevents its application to the individuals and businesses in Texas that sued.
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June 21, 2024
Pa. Justices Will Weigh If 'Skill Games' Are Slot Machines
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will take up a case and decide whether the "Pennsylvania Skill Games" that combine a chance-based game mode with a secondary memory game fall under the state's definition of "slot machines," potentially affecting many storefronts and bars where the game machines have proliferated.
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June 21, 2024
Rebar Co. Says Feds Spurned Data For Info 'On The Internet'
A Turkish rebar company pressed the U.S. Court of International Trade to order U.S. trade officials to reassess its countervailing duties, saying officials incorrectly excluded a commissioned study from the review for a report posted online.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol Hit With New Charges In COVID Fraud Case
A former Massachusetts state senator already accused of pandemic-related fraud has been charged alongside his sister with attempting to cover up a scheme to make him eligible for unemployment benefits, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday.
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June 21, 2024
6th Circ. Says Counties Not On Hook For Mich. Dam Collapse
A Sixth Circuit panel agreed that two Michigan counties can't be forced to compensate homeowners for destructive flooding caused by a dam's collapse, finding Thursday that the counties did not cause the damage to the homeowners' properties.
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June 21, 2024
Sens. Introduce 'Complementary' Bill To TikTok Ban
A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday would require websites and apps to disclose to their users if they are owned wholly or partially by China, North Korea, Russia or Iran or if data collected through those sites or apps is accessible to those countries.
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June 21, 2024
5 ERISA Cases To Watch In 2024's Second Half
The U.S. Department of Labor will be playing defense in the second half of 2024, battling injunction bids in Texas seeking to halt the agency's recently finalized retirement security regulations, as well as fighting to uphold a DOL rule tackling social and environmental factors in retirement plan investment decisions. Here, Law360 looks at five Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that attorneys say they will have on their radar.
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June 21, 2024
Feds Offer $850M To Slash Methane From Oil And Gas
The Biden administration on Friday unveiled the latest prong of its multifaceted plan to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector: $850 million worth of federal funding for projects that monitor, measure and reduce emissions from oil and gas infrastructure.
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June 21, 2024
High Court Opens Expert Testimony Basis To Confrontation
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that Arizona prosecutors may have violated a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses testifying against him by presenting a substitute expert witness at trial, and sent the case back down to state court for further proceedings.
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June 21, 2024
Justices Keep Domestic Abusers Disarmed, Clarify Bruen
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Texas man's constitutional challenge to a federal law prohibiting people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms Friday, providing limited guidance to lower courts on how to apply the high court's Second Amendment historical analogue test.
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June 21, 2024
Justices Strengthen Jury Trial Rights For Stiffer Sentences
The constitutional rights to due process and trial by jury extend to a pivotal prong of a prominent sentencing enhancement for recidivism, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a Friday decision that casts doubt on many incarcerations and promises to reshape future trials.
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June 21, 2024
Justices Say No Feds, No Dice In Texas-NM Water Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas, New Mexico and Colorado improperly excluded the federal government from an agreement that resolved a Rio Grande water sharing dispute, rejecting the states' argument that the conflict was theirs alone to settle.
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June 20, 2024
TikTok Says Alternatives To 'Dangerous' Ban Were Ignored
TikTok said Thursday that federal lawmakers likely didn't even consider its "exhaustive, multi-year efforts" to address national security concerns before deciding to ban the social media platform, slamming the law as "unprecedented" and warning that it sets "a dangerous precedent."
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June 20, 2024
Del. House Sends Controversial Corp. Law Changes To Gov.
Delaware legislation that would allow corporate boards to cede some governance rights to chosen stockholders cleared the state's House by a wide margin late Thursday, heading to Gov. John Carney after debate that saw dire predictions for either outcome.
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June 20, 2024
Colo. Prosecutor Says Ex-DA Undermined Her Leadership
An elected Colorado prosecutor facing disciplinary charges regarding her handling of a high-profile murder case pushed back on charges she was a negligent manager, telling a disciplinary panel Thursday she inherited a backlog of cases from a predecessor she said tried to undermine her office.
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June 20, 2024
Menendez Jury Sees Slides Lowell Presented To SDNY Brass
Sen. Robert Menendez's lawyers grilled a witness in his bribery trial Thursday about a meeting in which Abbe Lowell, the politician's ex-lawyer, tried to convince U.S. Attorney Damian Williams not to indict Menendez — but were stymied by flurries of objections.
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June 20, 2024
Ex-DEA Heads Echo GOP AGs' Call For Pot Rescheduling Hearing
A group of former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration leaders and Republican attorneys general have formally requested administrative hearings on the U.S. attorney general's proposal to reschedule cannabis, according to separate letters sent this week that distinctly echo each other.
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June 20, 2024
Patent Owners, Challengers Spar Over PTAB Rule Proposal
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's scaled-back package of Patent Trial and Appeal Board rules has drawn a mixed reaction from legal and industry groups, which offered praise and concern about both the proposal and the topics it does not address.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule
Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.
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What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron
With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.
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FTC Noncompete Rule May Still Face Historical Hurdles
The Federal Trade Commission's final rule banning noncompetes might face challenges that could have been avoided with more cautious consideration of the commission's long history of failed lawsuits that went beyond the agency's statutory authority, as well as the mountain of judicial precedent justifying noncompete agreements in employment contracts, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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A Look At Subchapter V As Debt Limit Expiration Looms
If proposed legislation to extend Subchapter V’s debt eligibility ceiling sunset date in June is passed, bankruptcy professionals can seek ways to work with their local jurisdictions to advocate for code changes and guidance that bring more efficiencies and clarity to the process, say Matthew Brash at Newpoint Advisors and Melinda Bennett at Stretto.
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Opinion
SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For
In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.
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Game-Changing Decisions Call For New Rules At The NCAA
From a newly formed college players union to coaches transferring at the drop of a hat, the National College Athletic Association needs an overhaul, including federal supervision, says Frank Darras at DarrasLaw.
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End Of Acquitted Conduct Sentencing Can Spark More Reform
The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent end to factoring acquitted conduct into federal sentences could signal the start of a more constitutionally sound advisory scheme, but Congress and the Supreme Court must first authorize the commission to resolve two constitutional errors baked into its guidelines, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
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Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws
Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.
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Opinion
Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation
As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.
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Opinion
Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.
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New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape
While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.
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How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Social Media Free Speech Issues Are Trending At High Court
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision examining what constitutes state action on social media can be viewed in conjunction with oral arguments in two other cases to indicate that the court sees a need for more clarity regarding how social media usage implicates the First Amendment, say attorneys at Kean Miller.