Whether Michigan succeeds in shutting down Line 5 will have significant economic and political ramifications. But the question before the court in Enbridge is much narrower. Still, whether Section 1446(b)’s 30-day deadline for removal is subject to equitable tolling could have important consequences for civil litigation in the U.S., particularly when parties have a strong preference for litigating in state or federal court.
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A Florida man’s complex jurisdictional appeal forced the justices to wrestle with whether Congress could strip the high court of authority to reign supreme over federal law.
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At least half a dozen federal lawsuits are ongoing, with workers alleging employers are violating fiduciary duties and nondiscrimination provisions under the Affordable Care Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act by penalizing smokers and pocketing the fines. Multiple corporations have settled cases with workers in recent months, with Performance Food Group Inc. most recently agreeing to pay $4.7 million to 18,500 employees.
Read more at Bloomberg Law
The order asserts that illicit fentanyl is "closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic," noting that as little as two milligrams — "an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt" — can be lethal. It states that hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses and argues that the drug’s production and distribution by organized criminal networks now constitute a significant national-security threat.
Read more at Fox News
The Constitution’s first 10 Amendments (the Bill of Rights) list a number of criminal procedure guarantees. Among these is a right to be criminally accused by a grand jury. Specifically, the Fifth Amendment begins with an affirmation that “[n]o person” can be charged with any “infamous” crime unless by “presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.” Yet today, over half the states make the use of a grand jury optional, and states such as Connecticut and Pennsylvania have abolished their use altogether.
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The government’s phasing out of the penny without providing any legal guidance on how to handle the transition is causing big headaches for retailers and could result in large corporate losses, class action litigation, banking problems and trouble for businesses that accept SNAP payments.
President Donald Trump announced on Feb. 9 that the U.S. Mint would cease producing pennies, which cost about 3.7 cents each to make. But unlike Canada, Australia and other countries that have eliminated their one-cent coins, the U.S. government offered no rules or explanations for how transactions should be handled going forward, creating a chaotic situation and a legal quagmire.
Read more at Courthouse News
