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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a Connecticut farmland owner seeking review of an order that held him liable for remediation of his property after he violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) by filling in wetlands without a permit because the case is procedurally flawed and a premature vehicle for deciding any broad questions regarding the CWA, the United States says in an April 24 response.
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge incorrectly determined at the pleading stage that a hip-hop news outlet’s reproduction of a video of basketball player Michael Jordan breaking up a fight constituted fair use, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, finding that the news outlet “potentially provided consumers with a substitute work that obviated the need to seek out (and pay for) the video” shot by a plaintiff-appellant videographer.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A state court judge in Missouri on April 26 issued an order stating that judgments for punitive damages and for damages based on a failure-to-warn claim in consolidated litigation over injuries allegedly caused by exposure to the herbicide Roundup are not yet final, and recovery of the awards is stayed in light of a pending petition in the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the ruling that led to a combined $549.9 million punitive damages award.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 24 ordered an expedited briefing schedule of a California-based e-liquid manufacturer’s petition for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, which the court previously declined to stay and which the company claims will hurt its business and cause it irreparable harm.
MINNEAPOLIS — A county employee who sued her employer for constructive discharge based on its COVID-19 vaccination-or-test policy reached a settlement with the county after a panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of the lawsuit by a Minnesota federal court, having found that the employee’s refusal to comply with the policy was based on sincerely held religious beliefs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari on April 27 filed by the Department of Labor (DOL) seeking review of Article III issues related to the adjudication of cases involving alleged violations of H-2A migrant worker visa rules. The court limited the case to two questions regarding whether Article III precludes the DOL from adjudicating such cases and whether the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the department to do so.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 27 denied two Mauritian mining investors’ petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of an alleged split between the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and another circuit court over the “implied waiver” exception to sovereign immunity, in a case in which the D.C. Circuit found no jurisdiction over the investors’ attempt to enforce a $50 million award against Zimbabwe and its mining regulators.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari by two John Does seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling finding that Twitter Inc. (now known as X Corp.) is immune pursuant to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to federal law claims and some product liability claims related to allegations that Twitter allowed child pornography to stay on the social media platform.
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion for injunction pending appeal of a lower court ruling denying injunctive relief seeking to stop the enforcement of New York City’s tipping law in a suit filed by DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. against the city of New York.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a mixed result, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 23 affirmed a New York federal judge’s finding that some patent claims asserted against Google LLC and YouTube LLC in an infringement dispute were invalid as indefinite but reversed summary judgment as to other claims; the panel held that factual questions remained regarding whether an accused Google Content ID system met a claim limitation requiring a “‘sublinear’” search.
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on April 22 dismissed without prejudice a qui tam suit alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) related to a kickback scheme involving a transportation service and its owners who purportedly referred insured employees to a lab for COVID-19 testing that was billed to an uninsured government program, finding that the complaint lacks facts regarding the knowledge of the service and its owners about eligibility under the program.