CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit denied a class of trans kids and their families’ motion for reconsideration of the appeals court’s decision allowing a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which was signed into law last April. The one-page ruling does not explain the court’s reasoning; four of the judges voted to rehear the matter en banc.
LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court upheld the $48 million award given to a landowner who suffered a per se regulatory taking when the city of Las Vegas reclassified ranch land as allowing for “residential densities” and a golf course. The owner’s efforts to develop the property were rendered futile, and the court did not err in relying on his expert’s valuation to determine compensation, as the city didn’t challenge the valuation or provide its own.
DALLAS — A federal court in Texas granted back pay and compensatory damages to an employee who says her former employer sexually harassed her on a daily basis, then fired her for not deleting his harassing text messages. The punitive damages she requested are denied because, in combination with her other damages, they would exceed statutory limits.
ALBANY, N.Y. — A federal court in New York preserved a high school student’s equal protection claim against his school’s varsity baseball coach, who allegedly denied him a spot on the team because he is biracial. To establish an inference of discrimination, the student offered a selection of white players who were selected for the team despite their lower athletic scores, but the court needs a jury to decide whether those players are sufficiently comparable to him.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court held that attorneys, as officers of the court, are authorized to possess handguns in courthouses. One suing attorney is collaterally estopped from pursuing his claims, because he brought the same ones in another suit, but the other plaintiffs may proceed.
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit ruled that a Texas court improperly denied an inmate’s motion for compassionate release. She has a malignant brain tumor, and the court did not give the necessary “specific factual reasons for its decision.” The record is insufficient to review the inmate’s claim that she suffers from terminal cancer and has received inadequate care in prison.
LAFAYETTE, La. — A federal court in Louisiana dismissed 19 states’ challenges to a new immigration procedure that changes the way asylum applications are considered after a “credible fear” determination is made. Louisiana and Florida do not have standing to challenge the process, and the other states abandoned their claims.
SPOKANE, Wash. — An appeals court in Washington vacated the trial court’s sentencing of a high school shooter who killed one student and seriously injured three others at Freeman High School. Down from 40 years to life, he should be sentenced to 25 to life, because he was 15 years old at the time of the crime.
BALTIMORE — A federal court in Maryland partially dismissed consumers’ fraud class action against Bimbo Bakeries, whose Entenmann’s-branded “All Butter” cake allegedly misleads buyers because it is made with artificial and not real butter. The court says reasonable consumers would need more info than the label to determine whether the phrase referred to the ingredients or the flavor of the cake. Their remaining state law claims are preempted by federal law.
PHILADELPHIA — A federal court in Pennsylvania denied a group of Black and Hispanic children’s motion for class certification in this case alleging the kids suffered racial discrimination when they visited Sesame Place Philadelphia. The proposed class of 130 members failed to meet the numerosity requirement for certification because the number of kids alleged to have faced discrimination is speculative.
HOUSTON — A federal court in Texas denies all claims in this trademark infringement fight between the producers of two tequilas, Casa Azul and Clase Azul. Even if the names are similar, the court rules that consumers will not confuse the brands because the blue-and-white, hand-painted bottle of one of them is more widely recognized than its name.
