JURIST - US Legal News

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] declined [order list, PDF] Monday to review an Alaskan village's claims that greenhouse gas producers should be held accountable to the village for pollution that threatens its vitality. Kivalina, a village of Inupiat Eskimo natives, filed suit [complaint PDF] against 22 corporations in 2009 for damages caused by greenhouse gases that reduced sea ice, increasing flooding, and sought damages so that it could relocate to a safer area. By refusing to hear the...... [full story]

[JURIST] Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed legislation [text, PDF; bill summary, PDF] Monday that legalizes physician-assisted suicide in the state. This bill makes Vermont the fourth state in the US to approve the practice. The Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act (aka "Death with Dignity" bill), was passed [JURIST report] by the legislature earlier this month. Under the new law, mentally competent patients who have been diagnosed with six months to live will be permitted to request...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday in Arlington v. FCC [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that courts must apply the Chevron [opinion] framework to an agency's interpretation of a statutory ambiguity that concerns the scope of the agency's jurisdiction. The provision at issue, 47 USC § 332(c)(7) [text] of the Federal Communications Act (FCA), states that "nothing in this chapter shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government." However, § 332(c)(7)(B)(ii) requires states or...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday in PPL Corp. v. Commissioner [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that a UK "windfall tax" is creditable under US tax law. Internal Revenue Code §901(b)(1) [text] states that any "income, war profits, and excess profits taxes" paid overseas are creditable against US income taxes. In 1997, the UK imposed a one-time "windfall tax" on 32 UK companies privatized between 1984 and 1996. In an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court held...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] unanimously Monday in Metrish v. Lancaster [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that respondent Burt Lancaster is not entitled to federal habeas relief. Lancaster was convicted of murder in a Michigan state court. At the time the crime was committed, the Michigan appeals court recognized "diminished capacity" as a defense negating the mens rea element of first-degree murder, but by the time he was tried and convicted, the Michigan Supreme Court had rejected this...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday in Sebelius v. Cloer [SCOTUSblog backgrounder; JURIST report] that an untimely National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (NCVIA) [42 USC §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34, PDF] petition may qualify for an award of attorney's fees if it is filed in good faith and there is a reasonable basis for its claim. In this case, Dr. Melissa Cloer filed an untimely claim to recover from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation...... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in five cases. In Lawson v. FMR LLC [docket; cert. petition, PDF] the court will consider whether an employee of a privately-held contractor or subcontractor of a public company is protected from retaliation by Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [18 USC § 1514A]. Section 1514A forbids a publicly traded company, a mutual fund or "any ... contractor [or] subcontractor ... of such company [to] ......... [full story]

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that people convicted of crack cocaine offenses have a right to resentencing hearings under the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) [text, PDF; JURIST report]. The case was brought by two incarcerated defendants seeking retroactive relief from racially discriminatory, 10-year mandatory minimum sentences imposed on them in 2005. The ruling expands the FSA, which lessens penalties for possession and dealing, to people whose cases was...... [full story]

[JURIST] The Illinois Senate [official website] passed a bill [text] on Friday that would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the state, subject to strict regulations. The bill indicates that marijuana may only be used for specified medical conditions, and is intended to be regulated through dosage limits and background checks. The state would license 22 growers and 60 dispensers across the state to provide the drug. Those who qualify will be prohibited from smoking marijuana in...... [full story]

[JURIST] A group of Colorado Country Sheriffs filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] in the US District Court for the District of Colorado [official website] on Saturday challenging two new gun control laws [HB 1224, PDF; HB 1229, PDF] passed earlier this year. The challenged laws, signed by Governor John Hickenlooper [JURIST report] in March, ban high capacity magazines, limiting them to a maximum capacity of 15, and establish a required universal background check for all sales and transfers of guns...... [full story]

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