Supreme Court

Does it walk and quack like a statute of limitations? Justices consider whether equitable tolling is available to veterans.

Does it walk and quack like a statute of limitations? Justices consider whether equitable tolling is available to veterans.

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In Tuesday’s oral argument, the Supreme Court grappled with three main issues in Arellano v. McDonough, a case about retroactive disability benefits for veterans who failed to apply for those benefits within the one-year window prescribed by a federal statute. First, the court looked into whether 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(1) is a statute of limitations to determine whether the Irwin presumption, which allows for equitable tolling, applies. Second, if it is a statute of limitations, the court pondered … Read the rest

Supreme Court

In dispute over groundwater, court tells Mississippi it’s equitable apportionment or nothing

In dispute over groundwater, court tells Mississippi it’s equitable apportionment or nothing

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Less than two months after oral argument, in its first interstate groundwater case, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that Mississippi must rely on a doctrine known as equitable apportionment if it wants to sue Tennessee over the shared Middle Claiborne Aquifer. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court squarely rejected Mississippi’s claim that Tennessee is stealing Mississippi’s groundwater, noting that it had “‘consistently denied’ the proposition that a State may exercise exclusive ownership or control of … Read the rest