Supreme Court

Supreme Court limits “safety valve” in federal sentencing law

Supreme Court limits “safety valve” in federal sentencing law

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Justice Elena Kagan’s opinion for a sharply divided court in Pulsifer v. United States resolves an ambiguity in the provisions added to federal sentencing law in the First Step Act of 2018, coming down firmly on the side of the government. The problem involves how to read a “safety valve” in federal criminal sentencing laws, which allows defendants to avoid the often lengthy mandatory minimum sentences scattered throughout the federal criminal code. The safety valve requires the defendant to … Read the rest

Civil Law

Fraud on the PTO

LEDO PIZZA SYSTEM, INC. & LEDO PIZZA CARRYOUTS, INC., Plaintiffs,
v.
LEDO’S INC., Defendant.

No. 20 CV 7350.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division. March 7, 2024.

The defendant’s fraud claim fails even to get out of the starting blocks, because the defendant has failed to adequately establish standing to assert the claim.[5] A petition to cancel a mark must “be filed . . . by any person who believes that he is or will be damaged, … Read the rest

Civil Law

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Hints About Possible Operational Resilience Regulations

On March 12, at the Institute of International Bankers Annual Washington Conference, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu discussed the importance of operational resilience in the banking sector and hinted that potential regulations aimed to promote the same may be forthcoming.

Comptroller Hsu defined operational resilience as a bank’s ability “to prepare for, adapt to, and withstand or recover from disruptions.” These disruptions can stem from external events like natural disasters, bad actors, pandemics, or global conflicts, or … Read the rest

Supreme Court

The morning read for Tuesday, March 12

The morning read for Tuesday, March 12

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

  • Trump seeks delay in N.Y. trial pending Supreme Court hearing on immunity (Shayna Jacobs, The Washington Post)
  • New Supreme Court petition calls for limiting NEPA reviews (Niina H. Farah, E&E News)
  • Texas tells Supreme Court its immigration law is key to handling border crisis (Kelsey Reichmann, Courthouse News Service)
  • Biden administration proposes $ 38
… Read the rest
Supreme Court

The morning read for Thursday, March 7

The morning read for Thursday, March 7

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

  • Supreme Court will hear Trump presidential immunity argument April 25 (Kevin Breuninger, CNBC)
  • Trump’s on the ballot, but the Supreme Court left key constitutional questions unanswered (John Fritze & Marshall Cohen, CNN)
  • Momentum builds in major homelessness case before U.S. Supreme Court (Claire Rush, The Associated Press)
  • Supreme Court wants $ 19.4 million in
… Read the rest