5th Circuit Court

Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says

Updated: A federal appeals court saw a need for a civility lesson when it granted a new trial to a civil-fraud plaintiff because of a “barrage of personal attacks” made by opposing lawyers in a closing argument.

Mar 14, 2024 12:02 PM CDT

Supreme Court keeps Texas migrant law on hold until at least March 13

The Biden administration and immigrant advocates rushed to the Supreme Court on Monday to prevent Texas from enforcing one of the harshest immigration laws in the United States, saying the new statute would disrupt more than a century of federal control over international borders.

Mar 4, 2024 1:45 PM CST

Do state abortion bans conflict with federal Medicare funding law? Delegates take a position

Resolution 507 opposes all legislation, regulations, administrative interpretations and litigation that restrict the right of health care providers or hospitals that receive Medicare funding to provide patients with abortions in emergency situations.

Feb 5, 2024 6:03 PM CST

Controversial qualified immunity doctrine faces tests in Louisiana

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently declined to hear cases challenging qualified immunity. But legal scholars believe they’ve found inroads to challenging the judicial doctrine, including a transcription error in the text of an 1871 law.

Feb 1, 2024 12:50 AM CST

Arrested citizen journalist wasn’t ‘martyr’ for journalism, 5th Circuit says in tossing her First Amendment suit

Police and prosecutors have qualified immunity that protects them in a lawsuit filed by a citizen journalist arrested for publishing nonpublic information provided by a police source, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Jan 25, 2024 9:24 AM CST

Supreme Court allows federal agents to remove border wire installed by Texas; which conservatives joined liberals?

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed federal Border Patrol agents to cut or move razor wire barriers placed by Texas along the southern border at the banks of the Rio Grande River.

Jan 23, 2024 8:17 AM CST

Citing book vendors’ First Amendment rights, 5th Circuit blocks sexual-content rating requirement

Texas can’t enforce a law requiring book vendors who want to sell to public schools to issue sexual-content ratings for library materials, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Jan 18, 2024 12:33 PM CST

Supreme Court once again ‘leapfrogging’ appeals court in decision to hear Idaho emergency abortion case

For 15 years, the U.S. Supreme Court did not grant a single petition for certiorari before judgment, which asks the high court hear a case before a federal appeals court weighs in.

Jan 8, 2024 12:35 PM CST

Federal guidance on stabilizing emergency abortions can’t be enforced in Texas, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the federal government can’t enforce guidance in Texas that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing emergency abortions to prevent serious jeopardy to a patient’s health in emergency situations.

Jan 3, 2024 10:20 AM CST

Child-porn prosecution of Netflix for ‘Cuties’ film looks like ‘mosaic’ of bad faith, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s preliminary injunction barring a Texas child-pornography prosecution of Netflix for streaming the movie Cuties, agreeing with a Netflix lawyer that the case looks like a “mosaic” of bad faith.

Dec 21, 2023 9:35 AM CST

Supreme Court will consider whether FDA wrongly expanded access to abortion drug mifepristone

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted properly when it expanded access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

Dec 13, 2023 10:17 AM CST

Chemerinsky: ‘Sleeper’ case before the Supreme Court could have major implications for administrative law

If I had to pick a case as the potential “sleeper” of the term—a case which is not getting a great deal of attention but that could have a huge impact—I’d select Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, scheduled for argument Nov. 29.

Nov 29, 2023 8:07 AM CST

In ‘catastrophic’ ruling for minority voters, 8th Circuit says only US can sue for discriminatory voting practices

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis ruled Monday that private plaintiffs cannot sue for alleged violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans voting practices and procedures that deny or abridge the right to vote on the basis of race or color.

Nov 20, 2023 3:26 PM CST

Mandatory bar violated First Amendment by posting rainbow flag, wellness advice, 5th Circuit says

Updated: A federal appeals court has ruled for a Louisiana lawyer who alleged that the mandatory state bar association violated his First Amendment rights by spending dues money on speech that is not germane to regulating lawyers or improving legal services.

Nov 15, 2023 9:04 AM CST

Partner denied any current relationship with bankruptcy judge, Jackson Walker firm says

A former partner at Texas bankruptcy law firm Jackson Walker denied any current relationship with a bankruptcy judge when the firm questioned her in March 2021, the firm said in a court filing Monday.

Nov 14, 2023 2:53 PM CST