Each week, Crowell & Moring’s State Attorneys General team highlights significant actions that State AGs have taken. See our State Attorneys General page for more insights. Here are last week’s updates.
Government
Transforming Defense: How Private Market Experience Among Key Defense Nominees Under Trump Could Revolutionize Pentagon Innovation
The incoming Trump Administration’s announced defense leadership nominees, with deep private market expertise, signal a potential shift in the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) ability to harness innovation from venture-and private equity-backed companies developing dual-use technologies. Historically, leadership interest in leveraging commercial innovation in this context has primarily resided at the Office of the Secretary of…
Street Preacher Who Refused to Leave Restricted Area Around Kentucky Derby Loses Challenges to His Arrest
In Blankenship v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government, Kentucky, (WD KY, Dec. 6, 2024), a Kentucky federal district court dismissed free speech, free exercise and vagueness challenges to action by local law enforcement against a street preacher, Jacob Blankenship, who refused to leave a restricted area around Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. The Court…
An Updated Section 1983 Primer (8): Absolute Legislative Immunity
By Snahmod
(It’s been a while since my last post. But I just finished teaching my First Amendment seminar and grading student papers, so I am back). I have been updating my popular Section 1983 Primer series, first published sequentially over ten years ago. In my most recently updated post I blogged about the Supreme Court‘s approach…
Quorum Forum Podcast Ep. 89 – New Year, New Legislation, and Recent Decisions
Ancel Glink’s Podcast, Quorum Forum, has released a new episode: Quorum Forum 89: New Year, New Legislation, and Recent Decisions.
In this episode, the holiday season is here, and the Quorum Forum podcast
team is ready to celebrate! To ring in the New Year, we will be reviewing case
law and legislation that our…
Ministerial Exception Is Affirmative Defense, Not Jurisdictional Bar
In Matter of Ibhawa v New York State Division of Human Rights, (NY Ct App, Nov. 26, 2024), New York’s highest appellate court reversed a lower appellate court’s dismissal of a priest’s hostile work environment claim because the Appellate Division had treated the ministerial exception doctrine as a jurisdictional bar rather than as an…
The Top 10 Municipal Minute Posts of 2024
It’s that time of year folks! Today, we highlight the top 10 Municipal Minute blog posts of 2024. Thank you for your continued readership of Municipal
Minute.
U.S.
Supreme Court’s Analysis: Use of Social Media by Government Officials
The Supreme Court held that when a government official or employee posts
on social media, the official’s…
Feature Comment: The CUI Program: DOD, We Have a Problem
By Alex Major & Philip Lee
The U.S. Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program will become operational at some point in fiscal year 2025. In October, the DOD issued a Final Rule to address evolving cybersecurity requirements and cyber threats while defining the security controls that DOD intends defense contractors and subcontractors to implement. The program will require…
9th Circuit Narrows Preliminary Injunction Against Idaho’s Abortion Trafficking Law
In a 2-1 decision in Matsumoto v. Labrador, (9th Cir., Dec. 2, 2024) the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals significantly narrowed an Idaho federal district court’s preliminary injunction against enforcement of the state’s ban on assisting a minor in various ways to obtain an abortion without her parent’s consent. The majority concluded that plaintiffs…
Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments Today on Tennesse Ban of Gender Affirming Medical Treatment for Minors
The U.S. Supreme Court this morning will hear oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti. The case involves a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on chemical, hormonal and surgical treatments of minors for gender dysphoria. In the case, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Equal Protection and Due Process challenges to the law. A…