In 2021, after a multi-year regulatory process, the Food and Drug Administration denied more than a million applications from tobacco manufacturers seeking to sell various flavored e-cigarette products. After that process concluded, an en banc Fifth Circuit vacated the FDA’s
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City and County of San Francisco v. EPA (No. 23-753)
Under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the EPA issues permits limiting the pollutants that regulated entities can discharge into federal waters. Those permits generally operate either by establishing effluent limitations for certain pollutants or by imposing narrative requirements, like requiring…
Thompson v. United States (No. 23-1095)
William Blake once observed that “a truth that’s told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.” It turns out the Supreme Court agrees, at least for escaping liability under 18 U.S.C. § 1014. In Thompson v. United…
Delligatti v. United States (No. 23-825)
Federal law provides a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for a person who uses or carries a firearm during a “crime of violence.” In Delligatti v. United States (No. 23-825), the Supreme Court addressed whether a crime of…
Bufkin v. Collins (No. 23-713)
When a veteran seeks disability benefits, federal law provides that ties go to the applicant. But if the Veterans Administration decides it’s not a tie—that is, the preponderance of the evidence comes out against the veteran—then it has no occasion…
Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. (No. 23-900)
The federal Lanham Act provides that a plaintiff who prevails in a trademark infringement suit is sometimes entitled to recover the “defendant’s profits” derived from the infringement. But does the “defendant’s profits” look only to the named defendant, or can…
Glossip v. Oklahoma (No. 22-7466)
In Glossip v. Oklahoma (No. 22-7466), the Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Petitioner Richard Glossip, an inmate on Oklahoma’s death row for over twenty years who has steadfastly maintained his innocence. By a vote of 5-3 (with…
Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath (No. 23-1127)
In Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States, ex rel. Heath (No. 23-1127), the Supreme Court addressed whether the Government “provide[s]” money to a program that subsidizes telecommunications services for schools and libraries through a surcharge imposed on telecom carriers,…
Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (No. 23-971)
In Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., (No. 23-971), the Supreme Court finally settled a question lawyers have been debating from time immemorial: Is a plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of a complaint without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure…
Lackey v. Stinnie (No. 23-621)
In Lackey v. Stinnie (No. 23-621), the Supreme Court addressed a question that had divided the circuits: If a plaintiff sues under Section 1983 and obtains a preliminary injunction, but subsequent events moot the suit before the district court…