The Supreme Court does not (yet) have the issue of whether the new regulations defining “waters of the United States” exceed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority. In the meantime in United States Army Corp of Engineers v. Hawkes the Court ruled unanimously that an approved jurisdictional determination that property contains “waters of the United States” may be immediately reviewed in court. The State and Local Legal Center (SLLC) filed an amicus brief in this case arguing in favor of this result. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2016
SCOTUS Rules Rebuffed is Enough for Employers to Win Attorney’s Fees
More specifically, in CRST Van Expedited v. EEOC the Supreme Court ruled employers who prevail in Title VII employment discrimination cases may recover attorney’s fees if they are able to “rebuff” employee’s claims for any reason—including reasons not related to the merits of the claims. Continue reading
SCOTUS Sends Standing Case Back to Lower Court
Spokeo v. Robins is both esoteric and important. Like a lot of Supreme Court opinions these days it seems like a compromise that will just increase confusion. In short, the scope of liability for state and local governments under a number of federal statutes remains uncertain.
The Court sent the case, involving whether Thomas Robins may sue a search engine under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for providing inaccurate information about him, back to the lower court to determine whether Robins suffered a “concrete” harm and therefore had “standing” to sue.
While this case does not sound relevant to state and local government it is. A number of federal statutes applicable to state and local government—the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)—allow plaintiffs to sue even if they have not necessarily been harmed. Regardless, to bring a lawsuit in federal court a plaintiff must have “standing” per Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Injury-in-fact—including a concrete harm—is one of the requirements for “standing.” Continue reading
Supreme Court Decides Birth Control Mandate Case (Sort of)
The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Zubik v. Burwell reads like a settlement agreement. It is likely a compromise influenced at least partially by Justice Scalia’s death. Is the agreement the Court brokered enough to keep this issue out of the Supreme Court again or will the devil be in the details? Only time will tell and by then the Court will (probably) have nine Justices again.
Zubik v. Burwell, involving religious nonprofit objections to providing notice objecting to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) birth control mandate, does not directly affect state and local government. But it is one piece of a litigation puzzle over this law; most of the puzzle pieces do affect state and local government. In a three-page unauthored opinion the Court did not rule on the merits of the case leaving the lower courts to “resolve any outstanding issues.” Continue reading
How Broad is Bribery?
Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has put forward his best case that a lower court has adopted an overly broad definition of “official acts” in federal bribery statutes. Will the Supreme Court agree? Continue reading
Quill Question Headed to the Supreme Court?
In March 2015 Justice Kennedy wrote a concurring opinion stating that the “legal system should find an appropriate case for this Court to reexamine Quill.” A new challenge coming out of South Dakota might be just the case Justice Kennedy had in mind. Continue reading