By Kevin Mooney — Despite an adverse court ruling out of Ecuador, Chevron continues to remain on the offensive against trial lawyers who are suing the company over environmental allegations that have been hotly disputed.  An Ecuadorian appeals court in Lago Agrio  upheld a ruling earlier this month ordering the company to pay $18 billion in damages to plaintiffs who [...]

By Kevin Mooney — Some state legislatures are taking a stand against abusive litigation practices that drive up costs for consumers and discourage business, according to a new report from the American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF). Even as it identified “judicial hellholes” where judges apply the law against defendants in a manner that is considered unfair and unbalanced, ATRF called [...]

The Senate shot down a cloture motion on Obama nominee Caitlin Halligan to serve on the D.C. Circuit Court. Senate Republicans have done the right thing by blocking a radical, unqualified ideologue, Caitlin Halligan, from taking a seat on the federal bench.  Along with Goodwin Liu, Halligan’s nomination marked a move by the Obama White House to reshape the federal [...]

The Senate should reject cloture on D.C. Circuit Court nominee Caitlin Halligan. Not only does she have no prior experience as a judge, Halligan is yet another judicial activist who makes up the law as she sees fit, making her unfit to serve on the bench. In a brief filed on behalf of the abortion industry in one case, she [...]

By John Vinci — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the so-called “26-state lawsuit” against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.   This announcement ends speculation whether recent Obama appointee Justice Elena Kagan will recuse herself from the case. It is clear that Justice Kagan has refused requests that she not participate in this [...]

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the ObamaCare case. According to the Wall Street Journal, “[t]he court, in a short written order, agreed to hear a challenge brought by a group of Republican governors and attorneys general from 26 states, the National Federation of Independent Business and two individual plaintiffs.” The Court will hear arguments in March of 2012 [...]

By Kevin Mooney — Chevron is not backing down to New York State officials who are pressuring the company to settle a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that involves plaintiffs from Ecuador who are suing over alleged environmental damages. On Oct. 7, Chevron submitted a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in an [...]

By Kevin Mooney — In November 2012, Oklahoma voters will have the opportunity to become part of a growing national movement built around state constitutional amendments that outlaw government sanctioned discrimination. The key player here is Ward Connerly, a former University of California regent, who was the galvanizing influence behind Proposition 209 (also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative), [...]

This interesting news comes from Doug Mataconis over at Outside the Beltway: Yesterday, the Obama Administration was faced with the decision of whether to appeal the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Affordable Care Act to the Supreme Court or seek a rehearing before the full 11th Circuit. If it chose to exercise the second option it [...]

By Kevin Mooney — In his amicus brief challenging the legality of a state constitutional amendment that bans race and gender preferences, California Governor Jerry Brown cites the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court Grutter v. Bollinger decision to make his case. Brown also invokes the same “political-structure doctrine” litigants used to overturn Proposition 2 in Michigan. The governor also appears set [...]