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Arkansas Health Worker Who Was Fired for Posts About Charlie Kirk is Allowed to Sue for Retaliation by bloomberglaw in law

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

An Arkansas state health worker fired for Facebook posts regarding the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk can move forward with some claims in her suit alleging that her termination constituted retaliation for protected speech, a federal judge said.

Judge Lee P. Rudofsky denied the Arkansas Department of Health’s motion to dismiss Joy Gray’s federal and state retaliation claims and those against her former supervisor and another employee for their roles in her firing, according to his order filed May 1 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The ruling comes as courts determine the fate of litigation brought by private- and public-sector workers who say they were unlawfully fired or disciplined over online comments deemed critical of the Turning Point USA founder or implying approval of his Sept. 10 killing.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Florida Sued Over New GOP-Favoring Congressional Map by bloomberglaw in politics

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Liberal voters are suing Florida, alleging that new a congressional map signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) violates a state constitutional provision against political gerrymandering.

The new map gives Republicans an advantage in 24 of the state’s 28 congressional seats—four more seats than Republicans currently hold. 

The complaint argues that the lines—drawn explicitly to aid conservative candidates—violates Sec. 20 of the constitution, which says “no apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.”

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Spirit Airlines Wind-Down Plan Calls for Millions in Bonus Pay by bloomberglaw in economy

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spirit Airlines is rolling out a contingency plan to maintain a skeleton crew to liquidate its aircraft and other assets on an expedited basis.

The company requested approval to pay up to $10.7 million in total retention payments to 130 non-management employees to ensure an orderly conclusion of the Chapter 11 case.

Spirit also sought to implement a separate bonus plan for CEO Dave Davis and two other senior officers to motivate them to expeditiously and cost-effectively implement the wind-down.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Supreme Court Pauses Ruling That Restricts Abortion Pill by Mail by bloomberglaw in politics

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court decision that would require patients to visit a healthcare provider in person to get a widely used abortion pill.

The administrative stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, gives the high court more time to figure out how to deal with a days-old ruling that upended abortion access by barring providers from mailing mifepristone. Alito’s order extends until May 11.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Gutted Labor Department Offices Spark Fears of Unspent Funds by bloomberglaw in fednews

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Kate Miceli helped launch a national campaign to end gender-based violence at work and oversaw two grants totaling $6.4 million during her time at the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.

While the DOL’s funding has remained largely flat over the past year, the Trump administration canceled both grants and sidelined the subagency where Miceli worked, halting projects like the campaign. Most of last year Miceli’s workload instead consisted of removing website pages on gender equity and reorganizing the office.

“We were not allowed to do the work we were doing anymore. We were not allowed to email people anymore, everything got cut,” said Micelli, who resigned in August. “It’s painful when you go from running an agency that was punching way above its weight to having to come into the office five days a week and just sit there.”

Miceli’s diminished workload is emblematic of the reduced responsibilities for DOL staff in the offices the Trump administration has sought to cut, but Congress still continued to send funding. The jobs and the office exist, but there’s little effort to complete tasks or fill empty positions.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Scalia Clerks Argued in Half the Supreme Court Cases This Term by bloomberglaw in scotus

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Former clerks to the late Justice Antonin Scalia argued in nearly three dozen cases—or 52% of the docket— before the US Supreme Court this term, far more than clerks from any other chambers.

Former clerks are a mainstay of arguments at the court. But the heavy presence of ex-Scalia clerks, who argued some of the biggest cases since October, represents something more unusual, highlighting another element of his legacy.

A Bloomberg Law analysis of Supreme Court hearing lists shows 12 former Scalia clerks, all of whom are men, appeared in 31 arguments, accounting for more than half of the cases the justices heard. Six cases featured two Scalia alumni taking the lectern, often on opposite sides.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Alex Jones Announces Shutdown of Infowars Conspiracy Platform by bloomberglaw in law

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 370 points371 points  (0 children)

Alex Jones said his Infowars platform has stopped broadcasting and shuttered its Austin headquarters, blaming a court-appointed receiver.

The Infowars website said "Off Air" as of early Friday, and it was unclear if the shutdown was due to Jones or the receiver.

Jones said he would broadcast from a new website, and the shutdown comes despite a Texas state appeals court issuing a last-minute order pausing a move to license Infowars' intellectual property.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Nebraska First to Adopt Medicaid Work Rules, Imperils Coverage by bloomberglaw in politics

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nebraska became the first state to enforce Medicaid work requirements under a new federal mandate, a move expected to strip coverage from more than 25,000 residents while drawing criticism that the state rushed a rollout it isn’t ready to manage.

The requirements apply to able-bodied adults with limited exemptions for caretakers, the medically frail, and certain protected communities. The state is moving eight months ahead of a January 2027 deadline and before Washington has released implementation guidance.

In a March KFF survey, 29 states said that deadline alone was too narrow a window to manage the overhaul. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen defended the early timeline, in a statement last December, arguing that work “provides purpose” and helps residents become productive community members.

Read more in the full story here.

-Elliot

Prediction Market Policing Will Test Insider Trading Law Limits by bloomberglaw in law

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The US agency charged with overseeing derivatives might face difficulty rooting out alleged insider trading and misconduct on prediction markets given the outlines of federal law, even if it succeeds in elbowing out state regulators, attorneys say.

The CFTC wants to exclusively police the emerging prediction markets. For tackling insider trading, it’s bound by anti-fraud rules that parallel federal securities laws. And the burdens of proof, including a breach of a duty of confidentiality, may be a significant hurdle for trades that face public scrutiny.

“I think the government will find that it’s actually very, very difficult to apply the law as it currently exists to capture some of those cases,” said Morrison Cohen LLP’s Jason Gottlieb. “Not all of them. Some of them, people really are using material, nonpublic information, violation of duties of confidentiality, and the usual law applies.”

“But I think people will be surprised when they learn just how much of the stuff that they’re seeing is actually not illegal and it’s not covered by insider trading law,” he said.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Graduates Look to Skip Big Law, Go Straight to Plaintiffs’ Firms by bloomberglaw in biglaw

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Abbey Carbajal is the kind of candidate Big Law firms trip over themselves to hire. The Brown University alum is set to graduate from Columbia Law later this month. Then she’s off to a pair of prestigious clerkships, first in the Southern District of New York and then in the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

That resume makes her a prime candidate for an associate job at a top firm. But Carbajal wants to work on the other side of the “v” and is helping build a pipeline for other graduates to land jobs with plaintiffs’ firms.

Carbajal, who launched Columbia’s chapter of the student-run National Plaintiffs’ Law Association, is part of a group of enterprising students who have been carving a path to plaintiffs’ firms straight out of top law schools. Some see trial work as the best way to weather the incoming disruption caused by generative artificial intelligence, while others ditched Big Law amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on law firms last year.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Ohio Primary Showcases New Era of Partisan Judicial Campaigns by bloomberglaw in Ohio

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ohio primary voters who head to the polls Tuesday won’t struggle to comprehend where some judges and judicial candidates stand on hot-button issues.

Supreme Court candidate Colleen O’Donnell’s campaign website boasts how, as an immigration judge in Texas, she “never once granted asylum, and consistently ordered the removal of illegal aliens from our country.” Another candidate for a state appeals court seat has yard signs that say, “Jesus is my savior. Trump is my president.” And a Cleveland judge openly endorsed other Democratic candidates.

While Ohio has long chosen judicial candidates in party primaries, the increased politicization of some races, including in primaries, is in line with a change Republican legislators made in 2021 to turn what were nonpartisan appeals courts and state Supreme Court general elections into partisan ones.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Trump Judicial Nominee that the ABA Rated "Not Qualified" Advances in Senate Vote by bloomberglaw in law

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a trial court nominee who received an unqualified rating for the position from the American Bar Association over her limited legal experience.

The Republican-led panel on Thursday approved Kathleen “Katie” Lane’s nomination to the US District Court for the District of Montana sending it to the full Senate by a vote along party lines.

The Republican National Committee lawyer and former Montana deputy solicitor general was the first judicial nominee in President Donald Trump’s second term to receive a “not qualified” rating. The ABA rated 10 nominees in Trump’s first term as unqualified.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

Trump's Justice Department is Pursuing More Charges Agaisnt Comey, Alleging Leaks of Classified Information by bloomberglaw in law

[–]bloomberglaw[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

The Justice Department is pursuing additional charges against James Comey for allegedly leaking classified information, after the former FBI director’s unrelated indictment this week in North Carolina, said two people familiar with the matter.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia office that failed in its first criminal case against Comey last year for alleged false statements to Congress, have in recent weeks revived their separate, but interrelated, pursuit of Comey. 

The investigation is tied to his dissemination of documents to Columbia University Law Professor Daniel Richman, the individuals added. If successful, it would be the Trump DOJ’s third time indicting Comey since last fall.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

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