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Supreme Court

Roberts court hands major wins to Trump, conservative movement in 2023-24 term

Former President Donald Trump loomed large over the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024 brought two cases to the justices and fared well in both; Trump could also benefit from the decision in a third case, brought by a defendant charged in the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

But more broadly, the three justices that Trump nominated during his time in office cemented a 6-3 conservative majority that pushed the court further … Read the rest

Criminal Law

Migration Advocates Warn of Surge in Sexual Violence at Major Route Hot Spots

As migration from South America to the US-Mexico border once again surges, advocates warn that sexual violence is likewise expected to rise, particularly among women and girls, Alícia Fàbregas reports for Al Jazeera. In 2023, the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated 397 cases of sexual violence in the Darién Gap, a sliver of land connecting Colombia to Panama and major migration route. In one week alone, the group saw 59 cases. Those numbers, reported last month, mark … Read the rest

Criminal Law

Past Week Sees Major Surge in Reported Anti-Semitic Plots

In the past week, there were almost 200 swatting incidents on Jewish organizations, and several children were arrested for planning attacks on synagogues, exemplifying the ongoing surge in antisemitism in North America, Mack Lamoureux reports for Vice. The Secure Community Network, an organization that works with Jewish communities to provide security, said in a press release it has “tracked staggering 199 (and counting) swatting incidents and false bomb threats targeting Jewish facilities.” This includes “93 in California, 62 in … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Major OxyContin case headlines December session

The justices will kick off the December argument session on Nov. 27 with oral argument in a pair of consolidated cases, Brown v. United States and Jackson v. United States, involving the Armed Career Criminal Act. The ACCA extends the minimum sentence – from 10 years to 15 – for an individual who had been convicted of a felony and possesses a firearm when that person has at least three “serious drug offenses.” The question before the justices … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices schedule major cases on deference to federal agencies

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in January in a pair of cases asking the justices to overrule a landmark decision on deference to federal administrative agencies. Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo headline the calendar for the January argument session, which the court released on Friday morning.

Relentless and Loper Bright began as challenges to a federal rule that requires the fishing industry to pay for the cost of observers who monitor … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Major Second and First Amendment cases headline November sitting

With just over a year to go until the 2024 presidential elections, the shadow of former President Donald Trump – who is once again the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination – hovers over three of the seven cases in the court’s November argument session, which begins on Oct. 30. Trump once asked the justices to take up the same question that they will now consider in two cases on Oct. 31, involving liability for public officials who block … Read the rest

Civil Law

A Major Deal for the Minor League: California Bill Paves the Way for Historic Collective Bargaining Agreement for Minor League Baseball

Major changes are coming to the Minor League. In April, Major League Baseball (MLB) players and owners voted to ratify a historic collective bargaining agreement that, for the first time in history, covers Minor League players. MLB owners voted unanimously to ratify the agreement on April 3, following a March 31 vote in which more than 99 percent of Minor League players voted to ratify the agreement. The five-year agreement, which was negotiated by MLB and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA), … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court will consider major case on power of federal regulatory agencies

Nearly 40 years ago, in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Supreme Court ruled that courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute as long as that interpretation is reasonable. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its ruling in Chevron.

The question comes to the court in a case brought by a group of commercial fishing companies. They challenged a rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service that requires the fishing industry to pay … Read the rest