US Legal News Round Up for Saturday,  4 November 2017 News
US Legal News Round Up for Saturday, 4 November 2017

Here’s the domestic legal news we covered this week:

The US Department of Justice [official site] on Friday appealed [petition, pdf] to the Supreme Court a decision from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official websites] permitting a pregnant minor in immigration detention to receive an abortion.
US Army Sgt.
The US House of Representatives Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee [official website] announced [press release] Thursday they will be holding a hearing on November 7 that will examine “the issue of intellectual property rights owned by entities that claim sovereign immunity on the basis of the 11th Amendment or Native American tribal immunity.” The hearing will be titled “Sovereign Immunity and the Intellectual Property System.”

The hearing has become necessary after a drug company named Allergan [corporate website] entered into a contract with the St.

Attorneys general from Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia [official websites] on Wednesday joined [amended complaint, PDF] California’s federal lawsuit against the Trump administration’s regulations that allow employers or health insurers with religious or moral objections to opt out of providing coverage for contraceptives in their health insurance plans.

The lawsuit, first filed by California in early October in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website], claims that the regulations violate the equal protection and the establishment clauses of the US Constitution.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday granted [text, PDF] an interlocutory appeal by [more]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] on Wednesday announced legislation [S.Res.
[JURIST] The Republican-controlled House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means [official website] released the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [text, PDF] on Thursday.
[JURIST] Federal prosecutors on Wednesday leveledd two criminal charges [complaint, PDF] against the New York attack [CNN backgrounder] suspect, Sayfullo Habibullavic Saipov.
A judge for the Guantanamo military commissions on Wednesday held Marine Brigaider General John Baker, the chief defense counsel, guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to 21 days confinement and a fine of $1,000.
The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments [transcript, PDF] Wednesday in Artis v.
The US Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) [official websites] reached a settlement agreement [text, PDF] with ExxonMobil [corporate website] Tuesday over violations of the Clean Air Act from their chemical, olefins, polymer and plastics manufacturing facilities located in or near Baytown, Texas, Beaumont, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Mont Belvieu, Texas.

ExxonMobil will be required to pay a civil penalty of $2.5 million, $470,00 of which will go to the LDEQ and the remainder to the US and to pay for air pollution reduction measures.

The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral argument [transcript, PDF] on Tuesday in US Bank National Association v.
Attorneys General of 45 states and the District of Columbia amended a lawsuit [text, PDF] on Tuesday to accuse more generic drug companies of acting in a price-fixing conspiracy.
[JURIST] The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary [official website] gave Leonard Steven Grasz, a nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit [official website] a “not qualified” rating [statement, PDF] on Tuesday.
North Carolina state legislators on Monday objected [text, PDF] to the appointment of a special master by a three judge panel in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina [official website].
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked [text] a new driving under the influence (DUI) law from taking effect as scheduled on Wednesday while the court rules on questions of its constitutionality.

The Impaired Driving Elimination Act 2 (IDEA2) [text, PDF] would change the police officer’s behavior during initial arrest as well as impose new penalty standards.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Monday signed House Bill 271 [text, PDF] expanding the gaming and gambling industry.

The bill amends Title 3 (Agriculture) and Title 4 (Amusements) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and allows for electronic wagering for horse races, creation of Fantasy Sports Contests, and iLottery/internet instant games through your personal electronic device.

The US Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments [day call, PDF] in two criminal procedure cases.

In Ayestas v.

UPDATE 2:32PM ET: Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty.

Special Counsel [official website] Robert Mueller on Monday revealed charges [indictment] against two former Trump campaign officials, and a plea agreement with a third, marking the first criminal charges to come from a probe into possible Russian influence in US political affairs.