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Supreme Court

Justices vacate lower court’s ruling in Pennsylvania ballot-counting case that is now moot

The Supreme Court on Tuesday invalidated a lower-court ruling in a Pennsylvania election dispute that the losing candidate conceded three and a half months ago. When the dispute was before the justices earlier this year, Justice Samuel Alito had suggested that the lower court’s ruling on ballot counting “broke new ground” and could affect the outcome of the state’s upcoming general elections. The decision in Ritter v. Migliori came on a list of orders from the justices’ private conference … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices broaden trial courts’ discretion in child-custody disputes under Hague Convention

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave federal trial courts more discretion over whether children in some international custody disputes must be returned to their home countries. The unanimous decision in Golan v. Saada was the latest in a series of cases interpreting the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international agreement adopted in 1980 to deal with international child abduction during domestic disputes.

Under the Hague Convention, children who are wrongfully taken from the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Courts may not “make up” new procedural rules to favor arbitration

In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court has insisted that the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to put arbitration contracts on “equal footing” with other kinds of contracts. These decisions have often favored companies seeking to enforce arbitration agreements, rejecting rules that give employees or consumers a way out from contract clauses requiring them to arbitrate their disputes on an individual basis. But Monday’s unanimous decision in Morgan v. Sundance clarifies that the equal-footing rule works both ways. … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices grant review in two cases that test jurisdiction of district courts

The Supreme Court on Monday added two new cases, both involving the jurisdiction of federal district courts, to the merits docket for the 2022-23 term. And the justices called for the federal government’s views in two more cases, involving a school board’s responsibility for student-on-student sexual harassment and pleading requirements in cases brought under the False Claims Act.

In Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cochran, the justices agreed to decide whether federal district courts have the power to … Read the rest

Civil Law

THE BANKRUPTCY COURT’S RULING IS IN: J&J’S TEXAS TWO-STEP DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A BAD FAITH FILING

Last week this author delved into what has become known as the “Texas Two-Step,” the arguments for and against its permissibility and the broader implications for the bankruptcy system. The discussion focused on an ongoing trial on motions filed in the bankruptcy case of LTL Management, LLC (“LTL” or the “Debtor”), a Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) subsidiary, by the Official Committee of Talc Claimants and several other parties, seeking an order dismissing the Debtor’s case pursuant … Read the rest

Supreme Court

In 5-4 vote, justices reinstate Alabama voting map despite lower court’s ruling that it dilutes Black votes

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Alabama to implement a redistricting plan that is being challenged as illegal racial gerrymandering. A lower court ruled last month that the state’s new congressional map likely violates the Voting Rights Act, and it ordered the state to draw a new map. But the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision put the lower court’s ruling on hold, effectively allowing Alabama to proceed with its preferred map as it prepares for primary elections in … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Reductions on deductions and state courts on out-of-state businesses

This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, whether a 2017 law’s cap of $ 10,000 for the deduction for state and local taxes on federal income returns violates the Constitution by coercing states’ tax policies, and whether state courts can exercise jurisdiction over out-of-state businesses on the basis of their registration as foreign corporations.

The 2017 cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes

New York v. … Read the rest