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Good morning. Today Senate Republicans will begin to wrestle with the Trump tax cut bill that includes a provision that could weaken court powers. Plus, a federal appeals court judge warned that law clerk hiring boycotts may cross ethical lines; and Goodyear will ask the Federal Circuit to uphold a decision tossing out a $64 million trade secrets verdict. We've put a pin in the weekend and circled back to Monday. Let's dive in. |
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Today, as Congress returns from a weeklong holiday, Senate Republicans will begin to debate the sweeping tax-and-spending bill that includes a provision that critics said would weaken the power of U.S. judges to enforce contempt when the government defies court orders. Here's what to know about the provision: |
- The one-sentence provision in the 1,100-page bill prevents federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, from enforcing contempt orders unless the plaintiffs have posted a monetary bond, which rarely happens in cases against the government.
- It follows a White House memo in March that directed heads of government agencies to request that plaintiffs post a bond if they are seeking an injunction against an agency policy.
- Federal courts have been a major check on President Trump in his second term, as plaintiffs in dozens of cases have persuaded judges to block White House policies. Bonds were not required in the vast majority of those cases, so if the provision became law, judges would be unable to enforce contempt orders.
- While no judge has issued a contempt order, several federal judges have said Trump administration officials appeared to be defying court orders and are at risk of being held in contempt.
- Democrats have argued the provision leaves judges powerless in face of defiance.
- Legal experts said judges could comply with the provision by setting bonds at a nominal amount and old cases could be reopened, but it would be time-consuming and burdensome. Read more about that here.
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- The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue orders in pending appeals.
- Goodyear will ask the Federal Circuit to uphold an Ohio court's decision to throw out a $64 million verdict for Czech company Coda Development on allegations that Goodyear stole Coda trade secrets related to self-inflating tires. The Ohio court found that most of the secrets Goodyear allegedly stole were too vague to merit trade-secret protection.
- U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston will hold a hearing in a lawsuit by university faculty groups challenging the Trump administration's targeting of noncitizen pro-Palestinian campus activists for arrests and deportations. Young has said that the American Association of University Professors and its campus chapters at Harvard, Rutgers and New York University have plausibly alleged the administration was targeting noncitizens specifically for exercising their right to political speech. The ruling clears the way for a trial in which the judge has said he would demand to see evidence and hear testimony concerning the administration's actions and how they are chilling speech on campuses.
- U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in D.C. will hold a motion hearing in a lawsuit brought by nine nonprofit legal service providers challenging the Trump administration's termination of grants to provide counsel in immigration proceedings to noncitizens who were deemed mentally incompetent.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes. |
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- We've got one move for you this morning: Former U.S. Attorney Matt Graves went to Winston & Strawn as a litigation partner in D.C.
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"There is thus a substantial question whether judges cross an important line when they go beyond expressing their personal views in an effort to persuade and begin using their power as government officials to pressure private institutions to conform to the judges' preferences."
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— Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Colloton writing in an opinion stemming from a judicial misconduct complaint against one of the 13 conservative federal judges who had said they would not be hiring law clerks from Columbia, owing to the university's handling of the pro-Palestinian student demonstrations on its campus. Colloton nevertheless dismissed the complaint. Read more. | |
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Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann's Jonathan Uslaner and Alec Coquin look at the issue of "AI Washing" and how to mitigate risk. Read today's Attorney Analysis. |
Additional writing by Shruthi Krishnamurthy. |
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