Administrative Law

Afternoon Briefs: Unlicensed PD’s clients stick with plea deals; lawyer a no-show at sentencing

• Defendants whose plea bargains were handled by an unlicensed public defender in Madison County, Illinois, apparently aren’t interested in a do-over. All but one of the defendants whose cases involved jail time stuck with the same deal they received when the cases were handled by unlicensed law grad Kelcie…

Jul 15, 2019 4:45 PM CDT

New rule would make applying for US asylum impossible for most immigrants at the southern border

Updated: Most immigrants at the southern border won’t be eligible to apply for asylum under an interim final rule published Monday by the Trump administration. Under the new rule, immigrants at the southern border must apply for asylum in at least one country they enter while on their way to…

Jul 15, 2019 3:30 PM CDT

Trump drops census citizenship question, says data gathered elsewhere might be used in state redistricting

After a loss in the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has announced that he won’t add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

Jul 12, 2019 9:46 AM CDT

Federal judge blocks HHS rule requiring drugmakers to disclose prices in TV ads

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has vacated an agency rule that required drugmakers to disclose the list price of prescriptions in TV advertising.

Jul 9, 2019 9:37 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Controversial judge transferred; billionaire charged with trafficking minors

• An administrative law judge who refused to watch an LGBTQ sensitivity training video has been transferred from Texas to Tennessee after resolution of his suit seeking to block discipline. The controversial judge, Gary Suttles, had said the video didn’t comport with his religious views. Said one concerned lawyer for…

Jul 8, 2019 4:36 PM CDT

DOJ replaces lawyers defending citizenship question after flip-flop; law prof suggests this argument

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Sunday that it is replacing its legal team in the court battle over a census citizenship question after President Donald Trump contradicted the lawyers’ in-court assertion that the question would be dropped from the census.

Jul 8, 2019 10:14 AM CDT

Judge orders DOJ to respond after Trump tweet contradicts plan to print census without citizenship question

Updated: “A very sad time for America when the Supreme Court of the United States won’t allow a question of ‘Is this person a Citizen of the United States?’ to be asked on the #2020 Census!” President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday after his administration announced it would print forms for the 2020 census without a question on citizenship.

Jul 3, 2019 11:37 AM CDT

Supreme Court to review rescission of DACA program for immigrants brought to US as children

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider challenges to President Donald Trump’s decision to phase out a program that deferred deportation for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Jun 28, 2019 11:51 AM CDT

SCOTUS upholds judge’s decision to ask for better explanation on census citizenship question

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a district court’s decision to ask the Commerce Department for a better explanation of its decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The court said the enumeration clause gives the commerce secretary authority to add the citizenship question, but that…

Jun 27, 2019 10:15 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Does precedent matter to conservative justices on the Roberts Court?

How much does the Roberts Court care about precedent and stare decisis? Ultimately, this will be crucial as the U.S. Supreme Court reconsiders issues such as abortion, affirmative action, and gay and lesbian rights.

Jun 27, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Roberts mostly joins liberal justices as SCOTUS refuses to overturn Auer decision on agency power

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn a decision that gives power to federal agencies to interpret their own regulations. In a decision by Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to overturn the 1997 decision that established so-called Auer deference. Kagan emphasized, however, that the principle…

Jun 26, 2019 9:50 AM CDT

Appeals court allows US to withhold funds from clinics providing abortions and referrals

A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to withhold federal funds from clinics that provide abortions or referrals for the procedure. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted injunctions that had barred the administration from implementing the regulations under the Title X grant program…

Jun 21, 2019 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyers accused of misconduct for offensive, inappropriate emails about colleagues, minorities

Two lawyers should be disciplined or subjected to remedial action for participating in an email chain with a group of people calling themselves the “Forum of Hate,” according to the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland. One of the lawyers, James Markey, was an administrative law judge at the Board of…

Jun 19, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Multistate suit challenges federal ‘conscience’ rule over health care refusals on religious grounds

The state of New York is leading a coalition of 23 state and local governments in a lawsuit challenging a federal “conscience” rule that expands the ability of businesses and individuals to refuse to provide medical services on religious or moral grounds. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, says the final rule,…

May 22, 2019 3:47 PM CDT

4th Circuit rules rescission of DACA was arbitrary and capricious

A second federal appeals court has rejected the federal government’s rescission of a program that defers deportation for immigrants brought to the country illegally as minors. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, ruled 2-1 Friday that the 2017 rescission of the program was arbitrary and capricious,…

May 17, 2019 1:18 PM CDT