Public Policy

  • August 18, 2025

    AmeriCorps Restores $400M In Slashed Grants, Judge Told

    AmeriCorps told a Maryland federal judge Monday that the agency restored around $400 million in funding to nonprofits canceled under the Trump administration in April, saying the government doesn't plan to ax grants before they end.

  • August 18, 2025

    Minn. Judge Orders ICE To Release Breastfeeding Mom

    A Minnesota federal judge has ordered immigration officials to release a Salvadoran mom of two U.S. citizen children who is still breastfeeding one of them, rejecting the Trump administration's argument that she is subject to mandatory detention.

  • August 18, 2025

    Treasury Seeks Input On Tech To Combat Crypto Crimes

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday asked the public to share feedback on how novel technologies might be used to detect and thwart illicit crypto activity, fulfilling a directive under a recently signed bill to regulate stable value tokens.

  • August 18, 2025

    Ohio State Court Finds Google Is Not A Common Carrier

    An Ohio state court has ruled that Google's search engine does not qualify as a common carrier that would be subject to heightened oversight, finding that Google does not transport products for others or claim that its search results are "indifferent."

  • August 18, 2025

    RI, Wash. Say 2nd Circ. Dormant Commerce Pot Ruling Is Inapt

    Officials from Rhode Island and Washington state have said in separate letters to federal circuit courts that the Second Circuit's determination last week that the Constitution's dormant commerce clause applied to marijuana should not affect their pending appeals in related cases.

  • August 18, 2025

    DOJ Loses Bid To End Custody Protections For Migrant Kids

    A California federal judge denied the Trump administration's push to end a decades-old settlement governing the custody of detained immigrant children, urging the government to fulfill its promises if it wants to see the agreement ended.

  • August 18, 2025

    Del. OKs Property Tax Installment Payments, Refund Change

    Delaware made property tax changes, including allowing installment payments and changing refund rules, under bills signed by the governor.

  • August 18, 2025

    Electronics-Makers Urge FCC To Extend Hearing Aid Standards

    The wireless industry and its device manufacturers are once again defending their request that the Federal Communications Commission delay the expiration of interim hearing aid compatibility standards for wireless handsets, saying a lack of device testing capacity could create a major bottleneck and disrupt the "vibrant market for new wireless handsets."

  • August 18, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs Pittsburgh In Row Over Zoning Board Conflict

    The Third Circuit has backed the dismissal of a mixed-use project developer's million-dollar lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment over variance delays caused by a conflict of interest dispute, saying its due process rights weren't violated.

  • August 15, 2025

    DOJ Backs Small Biz In Gender Dysphoria Coverage Dispute

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a New Hampshire federal court Friday that employers are not required under federal anti-discrimination laws to provide medical coverage for gender dysphoria, and that federal religious freedom law protects a turbomachinery company from covering a transgender employee's treatment for the disorder.

  • August 15, 2025

    18 AGs, Governors Sue To Block DOE Funding Cap

    A coalition of 19 states and Washington, D.C., on Friday hauled the U.S. Department of Energy into Oregon federal court, challenging a policy they say places a new cap on reimbursements for administrative and staffing costs, and thus slashes funds needed for state-run energy programs.

  • August 15, 2025

    'Alarm Should Ring': Judge Blocks FTC's Media Matters Probe

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge Friday preliminarily blocked the Federal Trade Commission from moving forward with its investigation into the left-leaning Media Matters for America, saying the investigation is likely a retaliatory response to an article reporting that ads on Twitter appeared next to antisemitic posts following Elon Musk's acquisition.

  • August 15, 2025

    Stewart Issues Dozens More Discretionary Denial Decisions

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart denied numerous petitions challenging patents on discretionary grounds this week, while referring a smaller number of cases to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • August 15, 2025

    Judiciary Starts Rule Debate Spanning AI, Subpoenas, More

    The federal judiciary's comment clock officially started ticking Friday for rulemaking efforts spanning a smorgasbord of subjects, from high-tech testimony utilizing artificial intelligence to the low-tech tasks of hand-delivering subpoenas and paying witness fees.

  • August 15, 2025

    DOJ Ramps Up Assault On Calif. Truck Emissions Standards

    The Trump administration increased its assault on California's stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, saying Friday that it has intervened in lawsuits to strike down the Golden State's attempts to still enforce its standards in defiance of federal law.

  • August 15, 2025

    Baby Co. Says CPSC's 'False' Safety Concerns Tanked Sales

    Baby sleep sack maker Dreamland Baby Co. has filed a $90 million suit against the federal government, claiming that former Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. ruined its reputation and damaged its sales by falsely suggesting that weighted infant sleep products aren't safe.

  • August 15, 2025

    Fla. Book Ban Law Struck Down For Vagueness

    A Florida federal judge has found a state law restricting books in school libraries to be unconstitutionally overbroad and vague, handing a win to the publishing houses, parents of schoolchildren and bestselling authors who had teamed up to fight it.

  • August 15, 2025

    Eric André's Airport Stop Suit Partially Revived By 11th Circ.

    The Eleventh Circuit has partially revived comedian Eric André's lawsuit alleging he was subjected to a "degrading" search and seizure by police at an Atlanta airport, restoring his Fourth Amendment claims Friday while backing the dismissal of his allegations that he was racially profiled.

  • August 15, 2025

    White Supremacist's Sentence Upheld Despite Discovery Error

    The Fourth Circuit ruled Friday that a leader of a white supremacist street gang can't escape his 25-year prison sentence, rejecting the argument that his plea agreement was invalid since prosecutors' discovery was missing pages.

  • August 15, 2025

    NetChoice Sues Colo. Over Social Media Warnings For Minors

    A trade association representing social media giants Meta, YouTube, Reddit and others claims a Colorado law set to go into effect next year that will require social media platforms to display warning messages for minors is compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment.

  • August 15, 2025

    DC Judge Gets City And Feds To Strike Deal On Police Takeover

    A federal judge hesitated Friday to restrain the Trump administration from taking over the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, successfully urging the city and government attorneys to iron out an agreement instead to divert the court's immediate intervention.

  • August 15, 2025

    Federal Reserve To End Crypto-Focused Supervisory Program

    The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the end of a Biden-era supervisory program that specifically oversaw banks' crypto and fintech activities, a move that comes after Wall Street trade groups argued that the program unfairly subjected banks to a higher level of scrutiny for their use of novel tech.

  • August 15, 2025

    5th Circ. Says PWFA Was Constitutionally Enacted

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was wrongly blocked from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday, saying the U.S. Constitution didn't require House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

  • August 15, 2025

    Interior Dept.'s Clean Energy Rules Could Snag Grid Hookups

    Recent U.S. Department of the Interior moves to place additional regulatory and permitting burdens on renewable energy facilities may also cover projects those facilities need to get on the grid, the agency has told Law360.

  • August 15, 2025

    Bid To Stop Spectrum Rule Waiver Renewed At FCC

    A spectrum licensee is calling out the Federal Communications Commission's decision to assign licenses previously held by Telesaurus Holdings and Skybridge Spectrum Foundation to Progeny LLC, saying the commission's waiver of spectrum aggregation limits in the M-LMS band for Progeny reflects "arbitrary, preferential decision-making" that others haven't been granted. 

Expert Analysis

  • The Int'l Compliance View: Everything Everywhere All At Once

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    Changes to the enforcement landscape in the U.S. and abroad shift the risks and incentives for global compliance programs, creating a race against the clock for companies to deploy investigative resources across worldwide operations, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Must Amend Trade Secret Civil Procedure

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    A California procedural law that effectively shields trade secret defendants from having to return company materials until the plaintiff can craft detailed requests must be amended to recognize that property recovery and trade secret analysis are distinct issues, says Matthew Miller at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Previewing State Efforts To Regulate Mental Health Chatbots

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    New York, Nevada and Utah have all recently enacted laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence to deliver mental health services, offering early insights into how other states may regulate this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • 6 Questions We Should Ask About The Trump Trade Deals

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    Whenever the text becomes available, certain questions will help determine whether the Trump administration’s trade deals with U.S. trading partners have been crafted to form durable economic relationships, or ephemeral ties likely to break upon interpretive disagreement or a change in political will, says Ted Posner at Baker Botts.

  • 'Pig Butchering' Seizure Is A Milestone In Crypto Crime Fight

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    The U.S.' recent seizure of $225 million in crypto funds in a massive "pig butchering" scheme highlights the transformative impact of blockchain analysis in law enforcement, and the increasing necessity of collaboration between law enforcement agencies, cryptocurrency exchanges and stablecoin issuers, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Justices' Age Verification Ruling May Lead To More State Laws

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton ruling, permitting a Texas law requiring certain websites to verify users’ ages, significantly expands states' ability to regulate minors’ social media access, further complicating the patchwork of internet privacy laws, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • The Pros, Cons Of A Single Commissioner Leading The CFTC

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    While a single-member U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission may require fewer resources and be more efficient, its internal decision-making process would be less transparent to those outside the agency, reflect less compromise between competing viewpoints and provide the public with less predictability, says former CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

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    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Courts Redefining Software As Product Generates New Risks

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    A recent wave of litigation against social media platforms, chatbot developers and ride-hailing companies has some courts straying from the traditional view of software as a service to redefining software as a product, with significant implications for strict liability exposure, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Trump's 2nd Term Puts Merger Remedies Back On The Table

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    In contrast with the Biden administration, the second Trump administration has signaled a renewed willingness to resolve merger enforcement concerns through remedies from the outset, particularly when the proposed fix is structural, clearly addresses the harm and does not require burdensome oversight, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Why Bank Regulators' Proposed Leverage Tweak Matters

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    Banking agencies' recent proposal to modify the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio framework applicable to the largest U.S. banks shows the regulators are keen to address concerns that the regulatory capital framework is too restrictive, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Corp. Human Rights Regulatory Landscape Is Fragmented

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    Given the complexity of compliance with nations' overlapping human rights laws, multinational companies need to be cognizant of the evolving approaches to modern slavery transparency, and proposals that could reduce mandatory due diligence and reporting requirements, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • How Banks Can Harness New Customer ID Rule's Flexibility

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    Banking regulators' update to the customer identification process, allowing banks to collect some information from third parties rather than directly from customers, helps modernize anti-money laundering compliance and carries advantages for financial institutions that embrace the new approach, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

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