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Public Policy
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July 10, 2024
Mich. County Fights To Keep $217M Edenville Dam Repair Tax
Homeowners attacking a localized tax to fund the reconstruction of four dams have already had a chance to contest the assessment and shouldn't get a second one, a Michigan county told a federal judge Tuesday.
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July 10, 2024
Pa. Judge Skeptical Of Pausing FTC's Noncompete Ban
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday seemed hesitant to grant a tree services company's request to halt the Federal Trade Commission's recent ban on noncompete agreements, as attorneys for the company struggled to point to concrete harms it would suffer if the ban were to take effect as scheduled.
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July 10, 2024
Former Conn. Top Public Defender Claims Bias Led To Ouster
The former chief public defender in Connecticut has filed a second action challenging her June 4 ouster for misconduct, lodging an administrative appeal in state court that claims racial bias.
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July 10, 2024
House Panel Votes To Nix Biden's Retirement Advice Rule
A Republican-controlled panel of U.S. House lawmakers advanced legislation Wednesday to block recently finalized regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor that expand the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, after a brief debate on retirement policy that clearly split along party lines.
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July 10, 2024
Senate OKs Two DC Judge Noms As 8 Seats Remain Unfilled
The U.S. Senate confirmed two nominees to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on Wednesday, as lawmakers try to pick up the pace in filling the local court's persistent vacancies.
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July 10, 2024
Mass. Justices Say Intent Not Factor In Boston Appeal Bonds
Boston's zoning law does not require that courts make a finding of bad faith before ordering a challenger to post a bond, Massachusetts' highest court concluded on Wednesday in a case involving the appeal of the issuance of a cannabis dispensary permit.
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July 10, 2024
Calif. Pick Defends Articles On Biological Sex, Judge Diversity
A state judge nominated to serve on the U.S. Northern District of California bench fended off questions from Republicans about articles she wrote in recent years regarding biological sex and diversity in the judiciary.
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July 10, 2024
Ex-Ill. Senator Gets 3½ Years For Misusing Campaign Funds
Former Illinois state Sen. William "Sam" McCann has been sentenced to 42 months in prison following his post-trial admission to spending campaign funds on personal items such as trucks and recreational vehicles.
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July 10, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Block EPA Methane Rule
The D.C. Circuit rejected states and industry groups' efforts to block the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's final rule establishing expanded methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure.
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July 10, 2024
Indiana AG Looks To End City Law Limiting ICE Cooperation
The Indiana attorney general sued the city of East Chicago in a state court, looking to force the municipality to drop a policy that restricts local officials' and businesses' ability to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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July 10, 2024
CFPB Pitches Plan To 'Streamline' Mortgage Servicing Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that it wants to revamp its mortgage servicing rules to make it faster and easier for struggling homeowners to access forbearance and other relief options, proposing changes that draw in part on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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July 10, 2024
Conn. Justices Told Banking Agency's Probe Overstepped
The Connecticut Department of Banking's investigation into Commonwealth Law Group and Commonwealth Servicing Group LLC's debt negotiation practices violated the constitutional separation of powers, because only the state's judicial branch has regulatory authority over legal services provided to clients by their attorneys, the firms told the state Supreme Court.
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July 10, 2024
DOI Pledges $120M For Tribal Climate Resiliency Efforts
The Biden administration said Tuesday that it's making $120 million available to help Native American tribes plan and prepare for climate change threats.
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July 10, 2024
Prove Steel Is North American Or Pay Levy, White House Says
Importers bringing steel and aluminum goods from Mexico must prove that the metals were forged in North America or face national security tariffs starting Wednesday, as part of the Biden administration's effort to counter Chinese goods rerouted through Mexico to avoid duties.
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July 09, 2024
Texas Chief Justice Calls Pulling IDs Over Fines 'Stupid'
The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a Tuesday hearing on funding civil legal aid that the practice of revoking a person's driver's license for an inability to pay court fees was "stupid."
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July 09, 2024
CFPB's Latest Rules Agenda Includes Blast From Fed Past
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may try to resurrect part of a defunct Federal Reserve regulation that banned banks from employing some consumer credit contract terms, according to a new rulemaking agenda from the agency that also hints at a plan B for its $8 credit card late-fee rule.
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July 09, 2024
With Chevron's End, LGBTQ+ Healthcare Regs Face New Risk
The end of Chevron deference is already disrupting regulation meant to protect LGBTQ+ access to healthcare, with three federal judges blocking enforcement of a Biden administration rule prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in healthcare.
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July 09, 2024
Industry, FCC Argue Net Neutrality's Fate After Chevron's Fall
Industry groups and the Federal Communications Commission filed competing briefs with the Sixth Circuit over whether to delay the enforcement of net neutrality rules after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed the longstanding Chevron doctrine that gave wide deference to agency decision making.
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July 09, 2024
Private Funds Say 5th Circ. Ruling Sinks SEC's AI, Cyber Bids
Several trade groups for the private fund industry urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday to withdraw rule proposals on artificial intelligence and investment adviser outsourcing and cybersecurity risk management, in light of a Fifth Circuit ruling that dealt a blow to the agency's private fund oversight.
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July 09, 2024
BCBS Unit Fails To Stop Religious Vaccine Objector Suits
A Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan subsidiary can't escape claims it treated differently employees who sought accommodations from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a Michigan federal judge ruled Tuesday, finding it plausible that religious discrimination "was at least a motivating factor" in the way the workers were dealt with.
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July 09, 2024
NY Judge In Trump Case OKs Narrow Subpoena For Atty
An attorney who told reporters he held an impromptu hallway conversation with a New York state judge in the lead-up to February's $464.6 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump must turn over any communications he had with the court regarding the underlying action, according to a Tuesday ruling.
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July 09, 2024
FCC Settles Call Caption Privacy Probe For $34.6M
The Federal Communications Commission has secured a $34.6 million settlement with phone call captioning provider CaptionCall for holding onto phone call content too long and other agency rule violations.
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July 09, 2024
CFPB Moves To Unfreeze Credit Card Late Fee Rule In Texas
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked a Texas federal judge to formally dissolve a preliminary injunction that has been blocking the agency's $8 credit card late fee rule from taking effect, arguing that the justification of the injunction — the CFPB's allegedly unconstitutional funding structure — no longer holds.
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July 09, 2024
Google Says Social Media Ruling Hurts Common Carrier Case
Google is telling an Ohio state court that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling bolsters its case against being reclassified as a common carrier.
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July 09, 2024
Texas County Made Sloppy Electioneering Rule, 5th Circ. Told
An attorney representing conservative activists in North Texas told the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday that electioneering rules in Palo Pinto County were not content-neutral because they specifically targeted political speech, urging the court to hand them a win because of the "sloppiness" of the newly crafted regulations.
Expert Analysis
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Colo. Lending Law Could Empower State-Chartered Banks
Lending programs that rely on rate exportation by state banks should pay close attention to legislative activity and ongoing litigation surrounding Colorado's decision to opt out of rate exportation, which could set a precedent that state-chartered banks have power on par with national banks, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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In Debate Over High Court Wording, 'Wetland' Remains Murky
Though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the Clean Water Act’s wetlands jurisdiction is now a year old, Sackett v. EPA's practical consequences for property owners are still evolving as federal agencies and private parties advance competing interpretations of the court's language and methods for distinguishing wetlands in lower courts, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.
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SEC Amendments May Launch New Execution Disclosure Era
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted amendments to Rule 605 of Regulation NMS for executions on covered orders in national market system stocks modernize and enhance execution quality reporting, but serious guidance is still needed to make the reports useful for the public investor, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Ga. Law Creates Challenges For Foreign Ownership Of Land
Under Georgia's new law limiting certain foreign possessory interests in agricultural land and land near military properties, affected foreign persons and entities will need to do significantly more work in order to ensure that their ownership remains legal, say Nellie Sullivan and Lindsey Grubbs at Holland & Knight.
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Mitigating Incarceration's Impacts On Foreign Nationals
Sentencing arguments that highlighted the disparate impact incarceration would have on a British national recently sentenced for insider training by a New York district court, when compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens, provide an example of the advocacy needed to avoid or mitigate problems unique to noncitizen defendants, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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How HHS Discrimination Rule Affects Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule, which reinterprets the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provision, greatly clarifies protections for gender-affirming care and will require compliance considerations from sponsors and administrators of most group health plans, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Tiny Tweaks To Bank Merger Forms May Have Big Impact
The impact of proposed changes to the Federal Reserve Board's and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bank merger review forms would be significant, resulting in hundreds of additional burden hours for bank merger applicants and signaling a further shift by the prudential bank regulators toward more rigorous scrutiny of mergers, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate
With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.
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How CFPB Credit Card Rules Slot Into Broader Considerations
Swirling legal challenges against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent rulemaking concerning credit card late fees raise questions about how regulated entities should respond to the bureau's rules — and how quickly they should act, say Caitlin Mandel and Elizabeth Ireland at Winston & Strawn.
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4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order
A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.
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Perspectives
Public Interest Attorneys Are Key To Preserving Voting Rights
Fourteen states passed laws restricting or limiting voting access last year, highlighting the need to support public interest lawyers who serve as bulwarks against such antidemocratic actions — especially in an election year, says Verna Williams at Equal Justice Works.
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Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions
A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Novel Applications May Fizzle After Fed Master Account Wins
Two recent federal court rulings that upheld decisions denying master account applications from two fintech-focused banks are noteworthy for depository institutions with novel charters that wish to have direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment channels and settle transactions in central bank money, say attorneys at Davis Polk.