It has been 27 years since the prescription opioid OxyContin first came on the market. The manufacturer of the drug, Purdue Pharma, promoted the drug as less susceptible to abuse, but OxyContin proved instead to be highly addictive. The result was a public health crisis and, eventually, thousands of lawsuits seeking trillions of dollars against… Read More
Opioid maker Purdue’s bankruptcy case comes before Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Monday in one of the highest-profile bankruptcies in recent memory: Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, a challenge to the approval by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit of a multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin. A division of the… Read More
Major OxyContin case headlines December session
The justices will kick off the December argument session on Nov. 27 with oral argument in a pair of consolidated cases, Brown v. United States and Jackson v. United States, involving the Armed Career Criminal Act. The ACCA extends the minimum sentence – from 10 years to 15 – for an individual who had been convicted of… Read More
Justices take up Native health care funding cases and a dispute over sentencing guide
The Supreme Court on Monday morning added two additional hours of argument, in cases involving federal funding of health care services for Native Americans and the Armed Career Criminal Act, to its docket for the 2023-24 term. The announcement came on a list of orders released on Monday from the justices’ private conference on Friday,… Read More
Justices schedule major cases on deference to federal agencies
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in January in a pair of cases asking the justices to overrule a landmark decision on deference to federal administrative agencies. Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo headline the calendar for the January argument session, which the court released on Friday morning. Relentless… Read More
Court refuses Florida’s request to reinstate anti-drag law
A divided Supreme Court on Thursday denied Florida’s request to allow it to temporarily enforce a law that makes it a misdemeanor to allow children at drag performances. The brief unsigned order means that the state cannot apply the law anywhere in the state while a Florida restaurant’s challenge to the law continues. Three justices… Read More
Justices issue official code of conduct
In her 2019 testimony before a subcommittee on the House Committee on Appropriations, Justice Elena Kagan – ostensibly on Capitol Hill to discuss the Supreme Court’s budget – told lawmakers that Chief Justice John Roberts was studying a code of conduct for the justices. Four-and-a-half years later, with the court buffeted by revelations about the… Read More
Justices take up expert testimony question in “blind mule” drug-trafficking case
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether prosecutors in a drug-trafficking case can call a government witness to provide expert testimony to rebut the defendant’s assertion that she did not know that she was carrying drugs, a so-called “blind mule.” The announcement came on a list of orders released from the justices’ private… Read More
Justices clear the way for Louisiana wetlands trial against oil companies to go forward
The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning declined to put a Louisiana trial seeking compensation for the “existential threat” posed by coastal land loss on hold while the defendants in the case, a group of oil companies, seek review of a state court decision rejecting their request to transfer the case. The oil companies had argued… Read More
Justices appear wary of striking down domestic-violence gun restriction
The Supreme Court appeared ready to uphold a federal law that bars anyone subject to a domestic-violence restraining order from possessing a gun. During just over 90 minutes of oral argument on Tuesday, a majority of the justices seemed wary of the consequences of allowing a ruling by a federal appeals court that struck down… Read More