American Meat Institute v. United States Department of Agriculture
The D.C. Circuit upheld USDA regulations mandating the disclosure of country-of-origin information about meat products. A group of trade associations representing livestock producers, feedlot operators, and meat packers claimed that the rule violated their First Amendment rights because the mandate ...
Ralls Corp. v. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
The D.C. Circuit held that an American corporation owned by Chinese nationals was deprived of its constitutionally protected property interests without due process of law when President Obama issued an order blocking on national security grounds the corporation's windfarm project located near a U.S....
Rodriguez v. Abruzzo
A district court held that a doctor lacks standing to challenge a Pennsylvania law that prohibits doctors from disclosing the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients for chemical exposure. Doctors have a professional and ethical obligation to communicate cr...
High Country Conservation Advocates v. United States Forest Service
A district court vacated the government's approval of on-the-ground mining exploration activities in a part of western Colorado's North Fork Valley and enjoined the intervening mining companies from proceeding with the project until the agencies comply with NEPA. Although the federal agencies provid...
Alec L. v. McCarthy
The D.C. Circuit dismissed teenagers' lawsuit against the federal government for failing to cap greenhouse gas emissions. Invoking the federal question statute, 28 U.S.C. §1331, as the basis for subject matter jurisdiction, the minors alleged that the federal defendants are trustees of essential na...
Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture
The Ninth Circuit, following a reversal and remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, held that a USDA marketing order under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 requiring raisin producers to participate in a raisin reserve program does not violate the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against tak...
National Ass'n of Manufacturers v. Securities & Exchange Commission
The D.C. Circuit held that the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) "conflict materials" rule violates the First Amendment. SEC issued the rule in 2012 pursuant to §1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires SEC to issue regulations requiring firms...
North Dakota v. Heydinger
A district court held that Minnesota's New Generation Energy Act, which establishes energy and environmental standards related to carbon dioxide emissions, constitutes impermissible extraterritorial legislation and is a per se violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. The statute's plain language ap...