Scalia Clerks Represent at SCOTUS Lectern |
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 Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Late Justice Antonin Scalia’s former clerks argued in more than half the cases heard by the US Supreme Court this term — far more than clerks from any other chambers, Justin Wise and Jordan Fischer report. Former clerks are a mainstay of arguments at the court. But the heavy presence of ex-Scalia clerks, who argued some of the biggest cases since October, represents something more unusual, highlighting another element of his legacy. A Bloomberg Law analysis of high court hearing lists shows 12 former Scalia clerks, all men, appeared in 31 arguments. Six cases featured two Scalia alumni taking the lectern, often on opposite sides. The cases include some of the term’s most notable, including one testing the president’s ability to fire a Federal Reserve Board governor. A former Scalia clerk also successfully pushed the court in Louisiana v. Callais to further limit the Voting Rights Act. - The court left little of the civil rights movement’s crowning achievement when it narrowed a key VRA provision this week, Justin and Jordan report. In a 6-3 ruling that split along ideological lines, the justices adopted a stricter standard for claims under Section 2, the provision used for decades to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory. “It kind of completes the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act,” said Common Cause’s Omar Noureldin.
- Columnist’s Take: The decision ends a legal regime concerning racial representation that traces back decades, Richard Pildes, the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, writes in a Bloomberg Law Insight.
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Trump DOJ Doubles Down to Get Comey |
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Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for the second time since Donald Trump returned to the White House — this time for allegedly threatening the president’s life in a social media post that featured a photo of seashells, Chris Strohm and Zoe Tillman report.
- A federal grand jury in North Carolina returned a two-count indictment accusing Comey of threatening the president and of transmitting a threat through interstate commerce. A federal judge previously dismissed an earlier, unrelated indictment against Comey for allegedly lying to Congress and obstruction. During his first term, Trump fired Comey from heading the FBI, which was investigating foreign interference in the 2016 election.
- Separately, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia office are pursuing charges against Comey for allegedly leaking classified information, Ben Penn reports exclusively.
- Ellis Boyle, the top eastern North Carolina federal prosecutor, has emulated Trump’s style throughout his nine months on the job — right down to the signature red ties, Ben reports.
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Uber Unfazed by Sexual Assault Verdicts |
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 Uber headquarters in San Francisco Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Uber has set a determined tone following three recent jury verdicts in passenger sexual assault cases, arguing the outcomes showed the strength of its legal defenses and dampened “unrealistic expectations” of high-figure settlements, Isaiah Poritz reports. “We are in no way deterred, I think quite the opposite,” said Allison Brown of Kirkland & Ellis, Uber’s lead attorney in two of three bellwether jury trials, in an exclusive interview. Uber was cleared in its first California passenger sexual assault trial last year. In February, it lost its first federal bellwether case in Arizona, with a jury awarding $8.5 million—far below the plaintiff’s request for $24 million in compensatory and $120 million in punitive damages. In North Carolina this month, a jury awarded just $5,000 for unwanted touching. Brown said the Arizona verdict “was a very strong message from the jury that Uber acted appropriately and takes safety seriously.” Co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the federal multidistrict litigation said Uber is “spinning consecutive trial losses into something less significant.” More than 3,000 additional claims remain. Separately, Uber is battling New York trial lawyers over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed efforts to lower the cost of auto insurance, Raga Justin reports. Uber has spent nearly $9.6 million on advertising for Hochul’s proposals, while the New York State Trial Lawyers Association has spent more than $237,000 lobbying against changes.
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This Week in the Circuits |
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Monday DOJ will urge the Second Circuit to overturn a district judge’s ruling disqualifying a Trump loyalist as acting US attorney in Albany, New York. Docket At the First Circuit, the Trump administration is appealing a district court’s ruling that a class of detained noncitizens in Massachusetts is entitled to bond hearings. Docket ThursdayDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to punish Sen. Mark Kelly goes before the DC Circuit. A lower court judge ruled that Hegseth can’t take disciplinary action against Kelly, a former US Navy officer, over a video in which he told service members they can refuse “illegal orders.” Docket The Fourth Circuit will consider whether states can regulate prediction markets. Kalshi is appealing a lower court judge who sided with Maryland by declining to give the company a preliminary injunction. Docket A Hartford Insurance Group unit will ask the Fourth Circuit to toss a ruling that it must cover a lawsuit against a drug-testing company alleging that poor quality control led to false positives. Docket Friday Green groups will argue before the DC Circuit that the EPA unlawfully scrapped a Biden-era proposal to shore up more stringent air pollution mandates for industrial facilities. Docket |
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Talks between the Trump administration and Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. have ended without a deal being reached to rescue the beleaguered airline, according to people familiar with the matter. Read More |
A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the mailing of mifepristone, narrowing women’s access to the abortion drug. Read More |
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Cambria Co. LLC could be on the hook for about $5 million after a Colorado state jury concluded it’s roughly 30% at fault in a lawsuit brought by a former countertop fabricator who claimed cutting and shapping its products led to his incurable lung disease. Read More |
Right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones said his infamous Infowars platform has stopped broadcasting and shuttered its Austin headquarters. Read More |
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The Trump administration told a divided US Supreme Court that past remarks by the president disparaging Haiti and immigrants weren’t racist and shouldn’t get in the way of the government stripping temporary protections for migrants. Read More |
Deep Dive Volkswagen Group of America Inc. expanded the courtroom attack on the National Labor Relations Board’s constitutionality, newly targeting officials who are critical to the agency’s administration and enforcement of workers’ organizing rights. Read More |
Netflix Inc. revived a lower court’s ruling that the streaming giant made fair use of a cameraman’s funeral coverage in its “Tiger King” docuseries as the Tenth Circuit reversed itself Thursday—21 months after rehearing the case. Read More |
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For the debate team of inmates at the DC Jail, going up against Georgetown University’s debate team on the topic of abolishing solitary confinement was talking about their lived experience. Read More |
All six conservative Supreme Court justices were invited to President Donald Trump’s state dinner with King Charles III, including those whom he’s criticized since the court invalidated most of his global tariffs. Read More |
Deep Dive Data centers are multiplying, pledging to create jobs as they power the biggest platforms using artificial intelligence. But concerns are growing about just how secure the facilities are, and what should be done to protect their data and operations. Read More |
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Perspectives From Legal Experts and Thought Leaders
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Insight In the shadow docket memo revelation coverage, the Supreme Court justices’ treatment of executive branch officials’ statements hasn’t gotten sufficient attention, writes Kate Shaw of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Read More |
Insight Alliance Defending Freedom’s Erin Hawley writes that in the Supreme Court’s First Choice opinion, a case she argued, the justices affirmed that when an organization faces a predatory subpoena, the federal courthouse doors will remain open. Read More |
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Insight To kick off a week of Bloomberg Law Insights focusing on the tension between intellectual property and artificial intelligence, Freshfields attorneys describe the challenges of protecting creative work when AI is a factor in its creation. Read More |
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