Here’s the domestic legal news we covered this week:
Dozens of attorneys with the
Legal Aid Society and
Bronx Defenders [official websites] on Thursday
held a protest [Tweet] outside of the Bronx Criminal Court after one of their clients were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside of the state courthouse.
Ohio
Attorney General Mike DeWine [official website] filed a
lawsuit [complaint, PDF] in the
Washington County Common Pleas Court [official website] against
DuPont [corporate website] alleging that the company intentionally released perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into the Ohio River.
The discharges are accused of occurring from the company’s Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Google is being sued in a class action
lawsuit [text, PDF] filed Tuesday over alleged defects in the new Pixel smartphone.
The House passed two measures in sexual misconduct procedure and rules Tuesday in a unanimous roll call, including a
bill [text, PDF] that addresses changes to how complaints are addressed on Capitol Hill, and a
resolution [text, PDF] that changes House rules specifically.
The first measure is a bill amending the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 [text, PDF], which still needs to go to the Senate.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday
stayed [order, PDF] an order to redraw certain North Carolina congressional districts.
Three transgender individuals on Tuesday
sued [complaint] Alabama over its driver’s license policy requiring transgender people to show proof of sex reassignment surgery in order to change the gender indicator their on driver’s licenses.
[JURIST] Alabama
Attorney General Steve Marshall [official website] on Tuesday
sued [complaint PDF] Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyCotin, alleging its practices have fueled the opioid epidemic.
Alabama’s complaint asserts [press release] that Purdue “violated Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act in the marketing and sale of opioid drugs and, in so doing, jeopardized the public health, welfare, and safety of Alabama residents.” The State seeks both monetary damages and injunctive relief.
“The opioid epidemic has devastated Alabama families, leaving a trail of addiction and death winding though every community of this state,” said Marshall.
Secretary of Defense
James Mattis [official website] on Monday fired two Guantánamo Bay officials responsible for overseeing the trials of accused war criminals including the planners of the 9/11 attack.
The
Ohio Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday
upheld [opinion, PDF] the state’s order to close Capital Care, Toledo’s last abortion clinic.
Virginia’s Senate approved legislation on Monday allowing doctors to prescribe oils containing mostly non-psychoactive cannabis extracts, making Virginia part of the majority of states to approve medical marijuana.
New Jersey
Governor Phil Murphy [official website] signed an
executive order [text, PDF] on Monday requiring that all future state contracts for internet services will only be given to internet service providers (ISPs) that follow net neutrality principles.
The order is in response to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repeal [JURIST Report] of net neutrality principles.
California
Governor Jerry Brown [official website] on Monday signed new workplace conduct
legislation [AB 403, PDF] into law to protect whistleblowers who disclose workplace harassment or abuse in the capitol.
[JURIST] Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Monday
denied [docket] a
request to stay [text, PDF] a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order to redraw the 2011 congressional map.
If granted, the stay would have blocked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling [opinion, PDF] that the Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011 violated the state constitution.
An accused computer hacker
won his appeal [judgment, PDF] on Monday in the UK
High Court of Justice [official website], stopping his extradition to the US.
Lauri Love, a British student, was indicted on charges [JURIST report] of hacking into US government websites in 2013, along with other unnamed co-conspirators, stealing huge amounts of data.