Colorado man’s First Amendment challenge will test the scope of protection for threatening speech

Colorado man’s First Amendment challenge will test the scope of protection for threatening speech

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There is no dispute that the Facebook messages Billy Raymond Counterman sent to local Colorado musician Coles Whalen made her feel afraid. For years, Counterman sent increasingly menacing messages in which he suggested that he had seen Whalen – who is identified only by her initials in court documents, but who has discussed the case on her website – while driving and made comments such as “Die” and “Fuck off permanently.” Whalen told a family member that she was

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Consumer Expectations Test Cannot Save Design Defect Claim from Preemption

When we see a court dismiss a pharma product liability case on preemption grounds, we simply have to write about it.  Otherwise, we’d be required to turn in our bar card, our defense hack card, and our friendly neighborhood DDL blogger card.  

In Polson v. AstraZeneca Ltd. Partnership,  2023 WL 2770687 (D.Conn. April 4, 2023), the plaintiff had taken medicine to address constipation caused by opioid pain treatments. She alleged that the anti-constipation medicine caused her to suffer life threatening … Read the rest

Water and electric quarrels test the limits of tribal power

Water and electric quarrels test the limits of tribal power

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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

Native American tribes have a patchwork of rights over utilities on tribal land. These rights flow from the original treaties that tribes negotiated with Congress as well as modern contracts between tribal members and non-members. This week, we highlight cert petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, … Read the rest

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

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

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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

Biden vaccine policies face Supreme Court test amid nationwide COVID-19 surge

Biden vaccine policies face Supreme Court test amid nationwide COVID-19 surge

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With over 100,000 Americans hospitalized for COVID-19 as a result of the highly contagious Omicron variant, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument Friday in two sets of challenges to the Biden administration’s authority to take action to combat the pandemic. In the first case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, the justices will consider the Biden administration’s attempt to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate for workers at large employers. In the second case, Biden v. Read the rest

D&O Insurance: Delaware Court Applied “Meaningful Linkage” Interrelated Claims Test

In a November 30, 2021 opinion (here), a Delaware Superior Court judge, applying Delaware law, held that the later investigations of the insured policyholder by two regulatory agencies were unrelated to an earlier investigation of the company by one of the agencies. In making this “relatedness” determination, the court declined to apply the “fundamentally identical” standard that some Delaware courts have applied to relatedness issues, but instead applied a “meaningful linkage” test. Because relatedness disputes are so frequent, and because … Read the rest