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Public Policy
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December 12, 2024
Texas AG Targets Instagram, Reddit Over Youth Data Security
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his office is looking into minors' privacy and safety policies of more than a dozen tech companies, including Character.AI, Reddit and Instagram, as part of his long-running campaign to stop companies from selling minors' personal information without permission from their parents.
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December 12, 2024
Mich. Judge Hesitant To Rule On $217M Dam Repair Tax
A Michigan federal judge sounded reluctant Thursday to make a decision about whether a $217 million dam repair tax assessment violated homeowners' constitutional rights before a state appellate panel rules on the homeowners' challenge to the assessment in a parallel case over properties affected by flooding from the 2020 Edenville Dam collapse.
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December 12, 2024
Wash. Judge Weighs Stay Of Gas Reg Suit Amid New Cases
A Seattle federal judge hinted on Thursday she might pause a building industry coalition's lawsuit challenging Washington regulations discouraging the use of natural gas appliances in new construction, pointing to fresh litigation in state court that could force regulators to revise the rules in the wake of an initiative voters passed in November.
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December 12, 2024
NY Judge Bars Pot Regulator From Processing Retail Apps
A New York state judge Thursday ordered cannabis regulators to stop processing applications submitted by would-be marijuana sellers who did not secure a location for their proposed pot shop before November of last year, leaving hundreds of prospective retailers in limbo.
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December 12, 2024
AT&T Exec Can't Get Bribery Acquittal After Jury Deadlocks
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday denied a former AT&T executive's bid for acquittal on charges he bribed ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after his case resulted in a hung jury earlier this year, saying the government presented sufficient evidence of a quid pro quo.
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December 12, 2024
Feds Weigh In On High Court North Dakota Voting Dispute
Two local North Dakota Republican Party officials lack standing to claim racial gerrymandering in a dispute over the state's newly created voting subdistricts, the federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing there's undisputed evidence to conclude that federal law requires the state to establish the boundaries.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Seeks Feedback On Limits In Previous Taxed Profit Rules
The Internal Revenue Service will consider whether rules included in recently proposed guidance on previously taxed earnings and profits to limit instances where U.S. multinationals may use basis to offset gain are too restrictive, an official said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
Immigrant Rights Groups Slam DHS 'Manifestation' Standard
Immigrant rights organizations challenging the Biden administration's directive curtailing asylum at the southern border told a D.C. federal judge that the administration's latest brief confirms the updated rule goes far beyond what Congress authorized.
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December 12, 2024
Medicare Could Lose Billions From 'Patent Abuse,' Group Says
The $6 billion a year Medicare is supposed to save by negotiating drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act is close to the billions of dollars the government could lose due to "patent abuse" by drugmakers, according to a new report by a consumer interest group.
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December 12, 2024
3rd Circ. Backs Dismissal Of Anti-Abortion Group's Suit
The Third Circuit on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of an anti-abortion pregnancy center's bid to block the enforcement of a subpoena seeking information about its donors, ruling its constitutional claims are not yet ripe.
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December 12, 2024
FDIC Must Reconsider Redactions Of Crypto 'Pause' Letters
A Washington, D.C., federal judge told the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Thursday to "make more thoughtful redactions" of certain crypto-focused letters it handed over in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed on behalf of crypto exchange Coinbase, since the regulator's heavy-handed first pass seemed to lack a "good-faith effort."
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December 12, 2024
Ryan Park Withdraws Nomination For 4th Circ. Bench
Ryan Young Park, solicitor general of North Carolina, has dropped his bid for a seat on the Fourth Circuit after it was clear he would not be getting a vote on the Senate floor.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Chief Makes Case To Restore $20B Funding Shortfall
Congress should reverse a $20 billion IRS funding gap in a year-end budget bill to help the agency modernize its technology, improve customer service and collect unpaid taxes from wealthy businesses and individuals, Internal Revenue Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
6th Circ. Appears Divided On Telecom Breach Reporting Rule
A Sixth Circuit panel seemed split over the Federal Communications Commission's tightened telecommunications data breach rules, with one judge defending the commission as taking necessary steps to safeguard consumers from a "true" danger and another claiming that the rule seemed to run afoul of lawmakers' wishes.
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December 12, 2024
AGs Launch Gun Violence Crackdown With Glock Suits
New Jersey and Minnesota unveiled lawsuits Thursday against Glock Inc. aimed at ending "once and for all" the homemade machine gun industry, marking the start of a crackdown by a coalition of enforcers looking to hold the firearms industry liable for gun violence.
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December 12, 2024
Cannabis Shops Ask DC Judge To Halt Store Shutdowns
A coalition of Washington, D.C.-based recreational marijuana shops is asking a D.C. federal judge to put a stop to district regulators' enforcement actions against their stores, saying the businesses face "imminent destruction" absent an injunction.
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December 12, 2024
DOI Plan Would Protect NM Land From New Mining Claims
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Thursday initiated a two-year segregation period to temporarily withdraw 165,000 acres of public lands in New Mexico from new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases.
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December 12, 2024
Judge Troubled By Conduct Of Pot Farmer And State Officials
A federal judge said this week that he's concerned by the "tone and tenor" that both a medical marijuana cultivator and Oklahoma law enforcement officials have taken in a case involving millions of dollars' worth of farm equipment destroyed during an erroneous raid, saying he's going to be looking closely at the conduct of all parties.
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December 12, 2024
Sam Adams Maker Using 'Draconian' Noncompete, Court Told
A former Boston Beer Co. sales worker told a Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday that the Sam Adams brewer is aggressively enforcing noncompete agreements that don't comply with state law.
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December 12, 2024
2 Deny Joining Would-Be Trump Assassin To Target Journalist
Two New York City men on Thursday denied participating in a plot to kill a noted journalist and Iran critic, pleading not guilty to murder-for-hire charges that claim they worked for a foreign agent who also is tasked with targeting Donald Trump.
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December 12, 2024
Mobile Trade Group's CEO To Leave Organization Next Year
The president and CEO of mobile industry lobbying group CTIA will leave the organization when her contract expires next year, the group said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
Prison Co. Says Jurors Shouldn't See ICE Facility In TVPA Suit
Private prison operator Geo Group urged a Colorado federal judge to deny immigrant detainees' request to show jurors the inside of its detention facility in a trafficking case, including the size of housing units, arguing Wednesday the facility's size will not be relevant when determining whether detainees performed forced labor.
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December 12, 2024
Minnesota Cannabis Authority Nixes Social Equity Lottery
Minnesota's cannabis regulators are scrapping the special license lottery for social equity applicants, opting to go with a general applicant lottery since a state court put a pause on their original plans.
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December 12, 2024
DHS Unveils New Evidence Requirements For Entrepreneurs
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday updated and expanded the types of evidence foreign entrepreneurs can submit to get temporary admission to the U.S. under a program designed to encourage U.S. startups and spur economic growth.
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December 12, 2024
Trump Vows Immediate Jan. 6 Pardons As DOJ Doubles Down
President-elect Donald J. Trump said he plans to issue swift pardons for people accused or convicted of rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to keep him in power, as prosecutors said in one case that accepting such a pardon would amount to an admission of guilt.
Expert Analysis
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High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals
In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.
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Dissecting New Circuit Split Over SEC's Proxy Adviser Rule
The Sixth Circuit recently upheld the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's partial rescission of enhanced conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for proxy voting advice businesses, creating a circuit split over broader questions concerning the standard for assessing the legality of agency actions in general, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
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Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases
The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.
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Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited
Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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Call For Input Shows How Banks, Fintechs Can Address Risks
A recent request for information by federal banking regulators suggests that watchdogs are zeroing in on the bank-fintech partnerships they have long perceived as risky to consumers, but analyzing the publication can help companies anticipate regulators’ chief concerns and take steps to avoid becoming enforcement targets, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic
Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens
States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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NYC Hotel Licensing Law's Costs May Outweigh Its Benefits
A hotel licensing bill recently approved by New York's City Council could lead to the loss of many nonunionized hotels that cannot afford to comply, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.
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The Unfolding Potential of Green Hydrogen In Brazil
A new federal law in Brazil establishing a legal framework for hydrogen development is the country's latest step toward creating a favorable environment for green hydrogen production, but significant challenges — including high production costs, technological hurdles and a lack of infrastructure — remain, says David Andrew Taylor at Almeida Advogados.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata
Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.
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How New OCC Priorities Will Affect Bank Compliance
With the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently releasing a new bank supervision plan for fiscal year 2025, all banks, not only those primarily supervised by the OCC, should consider how compliance with its guidelines creates opportunities and challenges, says Andrew Karp at Cadwalader.
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SEC Rulemaking Radar: The View From Election Day
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seems poised to tackle many of the remaining items on its most recent Regulatory Flexibility Agenda by early 2025, despite the presidential election and the potential for a new chair to be nominated soon, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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What FTC's 'Bitcoin ATM' Report Tells Us About Crypto Scams
The Federal Trade Commission's recent insights into bitcoin ATM scams highlight the technical evolution of fraudsters, the application of old scams to new technology, and the persistent financial impact on victims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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A Shift In Control Of Congress May Doom These Enviro Regs
If the election leads to a change in control of Congress, lawmakers will likely use the lookback provision of the Congressional Review Act to challenge the Biden administration's late-term regulatory efforts — including recent initiatives on air pollutant source classification, lead pipe removal and hydrofluorocarbon emissions, say attorneys at Jones Walker.
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How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs
The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.