Supreme Court to rule on veterans’ business priority News
Supreme Court to rule on veterans’ business priority

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday granted certiorari [order list, PDF] in Kingdomware Technologies v. United States [docket; cert. petition, PDF], a case that deals with the rights of small-business-owning veterans to receive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) [official website]. In 2006, Congress passed a bill that states the VA “shall” award contracts to veteran-owned small businesses if at least two such businesses bid on the work at a fair price. The question before the court is if the term “shall,” as used in the legislation, requires the VA to award the contracts to the veteran-owned business, or if that decision is discretionary. Kingdomware [official website], an information technology firm owned by service-disabled Army veteran Timothy Barton, argues that the VA has an obligation to seek veteran-owned businesses, while the VA rebuts that it need only consider them in the scope of what is best to achieve its business goals. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] ruled in favor of the VA, stating that the Federal Acquisition Regulation [text], the general procedures for government contracting, permit agencies significant leeway in deciding how best to allocate business resources. Argument has not yet been scheduled.

In an opinion written by Judge Nancy Firestone, the United States Court of Federal Claims [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] in favor of the United States in 2012. On appeal, Kingdomware challenged the ruling on the meaning of the term “shall” in statutory construction. In 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed [opinion, PDF] in favor of the United States in an opinion written by Raymond C. Clevenger. Kingdomware petitioned for cert in January of this year. The Supreme Court granted certiorari on the question [question, PDF], “Whether the Federal Circuit erred in construing 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d)’s mandatory set-aside restricting competition for Department of Veterans Affairs’ contracts to veteran-owned small businesses as discretionary.”

THIS DAY @ LAW

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The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

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World Bank created

On December 27, 1944, the World Bank was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. Learn more about the history of the World Bank.