Government

2nd Circuit decision upholding New York’s gun liability law is ‘massive victory,’ state AG says

A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to a New York gun nuisance law that imposes liability for injuries stemming from misconduct in the sale or marketing of firearms.

Jul 11, 2025 9:28 AM CDT

Supreme Court keeps block on law that allows Florida to prosecute unauthorized immigrants who enter state

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday left intact a judge’s preliminary injunction blocking a Florida law that makes it a crime for immigrants to enter the state if they are in the country illegally.

Jul 10, 2025 9:49 AM CDT

Deans, law school associations oppose Texas proposal to end ABA accreditation

Deans from eight Texas law schools—along with leaders of the Association of American Law Schools, the Law School Admission Council, the AccessLex Institute and the National Association for Law Placement—oppose ending Texas’ requirement that bar exam takers graduate from an ABA-accredited law school, according to responses to the Texas Supreme Court obtained by the ABA Journal.

Jul 10, 2025 9:26 AM CDT

Lone dissenter Jackson slams SCOTUS for ‘casually’ overriding judge who blocked US job-cuts plan

President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring federal agencies to submit plans for “large-scale” workforce reductions can take effect, for now, as a result of a decision Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jul 9, 2025 10:37 AM CDT

Civics Education: A teachable moment about the meaning of ‘rule of law’

In a June 2023 essay entitled “Civics: Who Will Teach Them?,” U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the following statement about the critical importance of effective civics education for all U.S. citizens: “An important component of being a good citizen is being an informed and knowledgeable citizen. That means having a working knowledge of how our government is structured, how it functions, the role of the different branches of government, their separate powers, the branches’ responsibilities and the limitations on their powers. Without such knowledge, it is nearly impossible for us to fulfill our duties or wisely exercise our privileges as citizens.”

Jul 8, 2025 3:01 PM CDT

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

Congress in 2024 “appropriated very specific pots of money for foreign assistance purposes” and required the executive branch to spend the full amount, a lawyer representing the ABA and other groups challenging funding cutoffs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday.

Jul 8, 2025 1:35 PM CDT

Transgender teacher likely to fail in First Amendment challenge to Florida pronouns law, 11th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled against a teacher who challenged a Florida law barring K-12 public school employees from communicating their preferred pronouns to students in the classroom if they don’t comport with their sex assigned at birth.

Jul 7, 2025 11:40 AM CDT

AG Bondi cited this justification for Trump’s power to ignore TikTok ban

The U.S. Department of Justice is “irrevocably relinquishing” claims against technology companies that provided services to TikTok in violation of the law banning the Chinese-owned social media app, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in letters released to the New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

Jul 7, 2025 9:49 AM CDT

Court disbars ex-prosecutor convicted for secret recordings, says he created impression ‘justice is for sale’

A former part-time prosecutor convicted for secretly recording intimate images of two lovers, including a woman he prosecuted, has been disbarred.

Jul 2, 2025 12:26 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Supreme Court’s term was all about taking sides on the ideological divide

The court’s October 2024 term, which ended June 27, presented a number of cases that posed politically controversial issues concerning the aspects of the culture wars and challenges to the actions of President Donald Trump.

Jul 2, 2025 9:00 AM CDT

US will appeal Perkins Coie win in fight over punitive executive order

The federal government will appeal a judge’s decision permanently blocking an executive order targeting Perkins Coie.

Jul 1, 2025 11:41 AM CDT

Litigation finance tax, limits on contempt power dropped from Senate’s version of budget megabill

Two proposals of concern to many lawyers are being dropped in the U.S. Senate's version of a budget megabill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Jul 1, 2025 9:21 AM CDT

Harvard Law School names new dean, a leader who ‘cares deeply about the legal profession’

John C.P. Goldberg, who has been Harvard Law School’s interim dean since March 2024, was formally appointed to the position, effective immediately.

Jul 1, 2025 8:58 AM CDT

Gains from litigation funding would be taxed at nearly 32% in latest Senate version of budget megabill

The U.S. Senate's version of a budget megabill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, released Saturday sets a proposed tax of 31.8% on earnings from litigation finance contracts, down from 40.8% in the first version of the bill.

Jun 30, 2025 3:19 PM CDT

More class action suits, shadow docket rulings may follow SCOTUS decision nixing nationwide injunctions

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting nationwide injunctions Friday left open the possibility of workarounds and more work for the high court, according to analyses by two law professors.

Jun 30, 2025 1:25 PM CDT