Judiciary.org - Part 19

Effort to block second majority-Black district in Louisiana comes to Supreme Court

In 2022, the Louisiana legislature adopted a congressional map that included only one majority-Black district among the six allotted to the state, though a third of the state’s population is Black. The map was challenged in federal court as a dilution of the votes of Black residents and in 2024 the legislature drew another map, this time with two majority-Black districts.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will take up the latest stage in the struggle over Louisiana’s congressional map. … Read the rest

Civil Law

APHA involved in 20 E. coli and Cryptosporidium outbreaks

Seven E. coli and 13 Cryptosporidium outbreak investigations in England and Wales required APHA assistance in 2024, according to a recent report.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) was part of seven Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) investigations with two each in the first and second quarters of 2024, and three during the third quarter. There were three STEC O26 and two STEC O157 investigations epidemiologically linked to open farms; and two STEC O145 incidents traced to high-risk foods.… Read the rest

Supreme Court

“We’re not there to provide entertainment. We’re there to decide cases,” Roberts sternly declared. Or did he? — ChatGPT and the Supreme Court, two years later

Just over two years ago, following the launch of ChatGPT, SCOTUSblog decided to test how accurate the much-hyped AI really was — at least when it came to Supreme Court-related questions. The conclusion? Its performance was “uninspiring”: precise, accurate, and at times surprisingly human-like text appeared alongside errors and outright fabricated facts. Of the 50 questions posed, the AI answered only 21 correctly.

Now, more than two years later, as ever more advanced models continue to emerge, I’ve revisited … Read the rest

Civil Law

FDA puts food safety rule on hold

The FDA is delaying enforcement of the Food Traceability Rule, which has been in the works for 14 years, by another 30 months.

In an announcement on March 20, the Food and Drug Administration said it intends to publish a proposed rule “at a later time.” The rule has already been published and approved and was set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. The rule was mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act, which Congress approved in 2010.

The … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Wednesday, March 19

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

Top US Supreme Court justice rebukes Trump’s call to impeach judge (Kayla Epstein, BBC News)
Louisiana puts man to death in state’s first nitrogen gas execution (Sara Cline, The Associated Press)
Trump Fires Two Democratic FTC Commissioners (Dana Mattioli & Dave Michaels, The Wall Street Journal)
The Judiciary’s Role (German Lopez, The New York Times)
Due Process

… Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Monday, March 17

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Monday morning read:

Disabled Maple Grove teen takes school district discrimination case to U.S. Supreme Court (James Walsh, The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Trump administration touts deportations under Alien Enemies Act after a judge temporarily blocked its use (Megan Lebowitz, Julia Ainsley, Gary Grumbach. & Nnamdi Egwuonwu, NBC News)
Louisiana’s nitrogen gas execution back on for next week, federal appeals court

… Read the rest

Civil Law

Food safety leaders express concerns about recent cuts in FDA workforce

— OPINION —

The Department of Government Efficiency has cut staff at the Food Administration, including empoyees in food safety roles.

Following the cuts, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones resigned his post citing the cuts as being indiscriminate and endangering the lives of the American public.

Before the layoffs, the FDA had 18,000 employees across all 50 states. That number includes staff responsible for reporting on food recalls and the investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks.

Today we hear … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Friday, March 14

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Friday morning read:

Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to end birthright citizenship (John Fritze, CNN)
Trump takes birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court (Nina Totenberg, NPR)
Trump asks Supreme Court to curb judges’ power to block policies nationwide (Josh Gerstein, Politico)
Idaho will be only state with firing squad as main execution method, after governor signs bill (Kyle

… Read the rest

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