Public Policy

  • August 13, 2026

    6th Circ. Jails Minnesota Activist Over Anti-ICE Threats

    A self-described "antifa" member from Minneapolis must return to jail on federal charges of cyberstalking and making threats against supporters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with a divided Sixth Circuit panel determining he still poses a threat to the public.

  • August 13, 2026

    DHS Defends Building New ICE Facility In Silicon Valley

    The federal government fired back in California federal court Wednesday against a bid by California and Santa Clara County to block a planned ICE office and temporary holding facility in Silicon Valley, arguing that the project's alleged environmental, health and safety impacts are speculative and unsupported.

  • August 13, 2026

    Sierra Nevada Gets FCC OK For High Frequency Flight Sensor

    The Federal Communications Commission gave the green light to Sierra Nevada Co. LLC's request to operate enhanced flight vision systems in the 92-95.5 gigahertz spectrum band.

  • August 13, 2026

    DOJ's HPE Merger Settlement Approved Over State Objections

    A California federal judge approved a controversial settlement struck by the U.S. Department of Justice to end a case challenging Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, despite concerns from state enforcers about political influence in the settlement process.

  • August 13, 2026

    States Say DOT Illegally Sought 17M CDL Driver Records

    A group of 21 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia accused the Trump administration on Thursday of illegally pressuring a nonprofit commercial driver database operator to hand over millions of Social Security numbers for immigration enforcement by threatening to cut funding for noncompliance.

  • August 13, 2026

    Vaccine Challengers Slam Connecticut's 'One-Party Rule'

    Challengers to Connecticut's mandatory school vaccination laws have accused political leaders of exercising "one-party rule" over state government, claiming the House speaker, governor and attorney general, who are all Democrats, tweaked or defended state laws specifically to stymie their religious freedom claims.

  • August 13, 2026

    7 States Urge Feds To Reject $85B UP, Norfolk Southern Deal

    Seven state attorneys general are urging the federal Surface Transportation Board to reject the planned $85 billion merger between Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp., saying the rail giants have not shown how the deal would serve the public interest.

  • August 13, 2026

    Arizona, Tribes Sign Deal To Offset Coal Economy Losses

    Arizona, the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation have signed an agreement that aims to boost economic growth for tribal communities that lost thousands of jobs and millions in revenue after major coal mining companies stopped or scaled back operations in the Four Corners region.

  • August 13, 2026

    Groups Say Shuttered Fla. Detention Center Threatens Wildlife

    Environmental groups have accused wildlife officials of polluting protected land through an immigrant detention center in the Everglades, alleging in an updated complaint filed in Florida federal court that the now-shuttered site continues to threaten endangered species in the area.

  • August 13, 2026

    SEC May Vote To Ease Pay-To-Play Rules This Year

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has informed the White House that it could soon move forward with plans to loosen the rules around political contributions made by investment advisers, regulations that SEC Chair Paul Atkins has recently called "a trap for the unwary."

  • August 13, 2026

    White House Aims Customs AI Tool At Chinese Tariff Evasion

    The White House identified Thursday over 40 countries from which imports carry a heightened risk of transshipment, an illegal practice of misrepresenting goods entering the U.S. that originate elsewhere such as China, and government officials are working on a new artificial intelligence enforcement tool to address those concerns.

  • August 13, 2026

    CFPB Brass Accused Of 'Sham' Probe Of Union Leader

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is conducting a "sham" investigation into an employee who is active in the staff's union, the union's president said, taking the agency's new leader to task for its probe of the data scientist and National Treasury Employees Union local activist.

  • August 13, 2026

    FCC Told Foreign Drone Ban Could Hinder Public Safety Work

    A nonprofit that donates drones to public safety agencies and science programs has urged the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider a potential ban on foreign-made military-grade drones.

  • August 13, 2026

    NJ Takes Labor Peace Pact Fight In Pot Case To 3rd Circ.

    New Jersey cannabis regulators filed a notice Thursday that they would appeal a federal court's recent ruling that a state rule requiring marijuana businesses enter into labor peace agreements with unions in order to secure a license is preempted by federal law.

  • August 13, 2026

    Feds Can Release More Documents Under Epstein Law

    A New York federal judge granted the federal government's request to unseal documents in a 2015 civil lawsuit filed by the late Virginia Giuffre, a Jeffrey Epstein accuser who sued Ghislaine Maxwell a decade before her death last year.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trade Court Fine With Trump Ending De Minimis Tariff Break

    President Donald Trump's revocation of a de minimis exemption for low-value goods to enter the U.S. duty-free was allowed under a law that the U.S. Supreme Court separately determined could not otherwise authorize tariffs on its own, the Court of International Trade ruled Thursday.

  • August 13, 2026

    Wyo. Archaeologists Challenge Reach Of Native Graves Rule

    The Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists is asking a district court to block the transfer of six Indigenous collections to the federal government, arguing that an update to a law designed to protect Native American burial sites goes beyond what Congress intended.

  • August 13, 2026

    Shumaker Advisors Adds Principal To Fla. Gov't Affairs Team

    Shumaker Advisors, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP's lobbying arm, announced Thursday that had it expanded its government affairs and public policy capabilities in Florida with a new principal from consulting firm Rutledge Ecenia.

  • August 13, 2026

    Wireless Cos. Want FCC Protection In Upper Microwave Bands

    Top wireless carriers are seeking assurance from the Federal Communications Commission that it will not craft new rules in the upper microwave spectrum bands that could lead to interference with their licensed use of the airwaves.

  • August 13, 2026

    DOJ Fraud Division To Reach 500 Staffers This Month

    By the end of the month, there will be about 500 attorneys and staff in the U.S. Department of Justice's new fraud division, with more to come as time goes on.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trade Court Backs Commerce On Russian Fertilizer Duty Redo

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's redone countervailing duty calculation for Russian phosphate fertilizer properly determined that a Russian company didn't benefit from unfairly priced mining rights, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled, blessing a decision to cut the duty rate by more than half.

  • August 13, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Hemp Co.'s $2.75M Destruction Suit

    The Ninth Circuit won't reinstate a suit against the city of Tacoma, Washington, by the owner of a hemp company who alleges the city's police department illegally destroyed $2.75 million worth of industrial hemp as illegal cannabis, saying he failed to establish municipal liability.

  • August 13, 2026

    Judge Tosses DOJ's Antisemitism Case Against Harvard

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday threw out the Trump administration's suit alleging Harvard University failed to address antisemitism, finding the government lacked evidence of current civil rights violations on campus.

  • August 13, 2026

    Trump Picks Ex-Arkansas SG, Walmart Lawyer For 8th Circ.

    President Donald Trump has announced that he's looking to elevate Judge Lee Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

  • August 12, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Rejects Planned Parenthood's Immunity Appeal

    The full Fifth Circuit Wednesday tossed an appeal over whether Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improper Medicaid billing, reversing a panel's decision that went in favor of Planned Parenthood.

Expert Analysis

  • Challenging Detention After 5th Circ. Ends Bond Clocks

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    After the vacatur of the Fifth Circuit’s holding that the U.S. Constitution requires bond hearings for detained noncriminal noncitizens, practitioners should go back to filing habeas petitions, pending the court's en banc rehearing, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

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    In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

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    Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

  • Workplace Menopause Laws Demand New HR Playbooks

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    A recent wave of state and local legislation that makes menopause an expressly protected condition in the workplace creates new compliance obligations amid an already ambiguous federal framework, and demands a workplace culture where employees feel safe asking for support, says Elliot Griffin at Ballard Spahr.

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

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    The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

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    The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

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    Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

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    A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

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    Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

  • At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

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    Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

  • Opinion

    States Should Reconsider Forced PBM Divestiture Laws

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    State legislatures are attempting to enact policies intended to force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from pharmacies, but these laws would have the practical effect of reducing patient access and competition, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution in the process, says former Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

  • HSR Deals Proceed More Steadily Than Narratives Suggest

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    The most recent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data show that transaction volume remained relatively stable, transaction values continued to increase and enforcement activity remained low, suggesting that enforcement rates have been relatively consistent across presidential administrations despite widely differing public rhetoric regarding merger enforcement, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.

  • Assessing The Benefits Of Fla.'s Newest Business Structure

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    As of July 1, Florida business owners can create protected series LLCs to shield assets from liability while avoiding increased costs and wasted time, but burdensome recordkeeping obligations are crucial to maintaining the very protection that makes them attractive in the first place, says Gregory Ritter at Moritt Hock.

  • Key Post-Proposal Shifts Likely In CFPB Loss Mitigation Rule

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    Mortgage servicers, borrowers and consumer advocates should prepare for a likely narrowed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's loss mitigation rule, which is likely to permit sequential reviews, defer to investor guidelines, extend compliance timelines and preempt conflicting state standards, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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