The US Supreme Court stayed the Montana District Court’s vacatur and injunction of pipeline permits on Monday, except as applied to the Keystone XL pipeline. The Supreme Court did not issue a full explanation of its decision. Previously, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the Trump Administration’s request to stay [...]

The US Supreme Court held Tuesday in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that the “no aid” provision of the Montana Constitution violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, allowing some state funding to go to religious schools. In 2015, the Montana Legislature created a dollar-for-dollar tax credit program for taxpayers who donated [...]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced on Friday that natural gas company Range Resources pleaded no contest to criminal charges for negligent oversight of the Brownlee and Yeager well sites in Washington County, Pennsylvania. For two years, Shapiro led investigations to uncover potential environmental crimes in the fracking industry. The Forty-Third Statewide Investigating Grand Jury [...]

3M Company filed a lawsuit on Monday in the US District Court for the Central District of California against an Amazon seller that purported to sell 3M N95 face masks and respirators at inflated prices. The defendant, Mao Yu, is the owner of KM Brothers Inc., KMJ Trading Inc. and Supreme Sunrise, Inc. In the complaint, [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that Volkswagen AG may be liable to two US counties for tampering with diesel emission controls. In 2015 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uncovered that Volkswagen was tampering with emission control systems to evade emission standards and filed criminal and civil actions against the [...]

The Oregon Supreme Court on Monday stayed Circuit Court Judge Matthew Shirtcliff’s order that granted a preliminary injunction against Governor Kate Brown’s stay-at-home orders. Brown has issued multiple stay-at-home orders since March 8 due to COVID-19. Brown’s orders have closed schools, non-essential businesses, and dine-in services at restaurants and bars. In response, various Oregon churches [...]

The Oregon Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that campaign contribution limits do not violate Article I, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution—Oregon’s free speech provision. Chief Justice Martha Walters considered three sections of the Multnomah County Code (§§ 5.200-03). These sections address campaign contribution limits, independent expenditure limits and disclosure rules. First, Walters explained campaign [...]

Amnesty International released a global report on the judicial use of death sentences and executions Monday, finding that death sentences decreased worldwide last year. The report includes 20 countries and covers January to December of 2019. Overall, confirmed executions decreased by 5 percent from 2018. In 2019 there were approximately 657 executions. Amnesty explained this [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a privacy lawsuit against Facebook can proceed. Plaintiffs are Facebook users who allege that Facebook violated their privacy rights by tracking their internet activity after they logged out of the platform. Plaintiffs assert their privacy claims on behalf of themselves and users who [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed class action lawsuit Friday against Major League Baseball, the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox. The plaintiffs are five individuals who participated in fantasy baseball contests through DraftKings Inc. The plaintiffs alleged the defendants’ practices of sign-stealing deceived and [...]