Category: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Oil Companies Land a Victory in Louisiana Coastal Lawsuit

A federal appeals court on March 3 refused to revive a Louisiana levee board’s lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state’s fragile coast, a major victory for energy companies and their political supporters who cast the suit as an attack on a vital state industry. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld a federal judge’s 2015 decision in favor of energy companies that argued the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East lacked legal standing to bring its damage claims, which could have cost the oil companies billions of dollars.

Mississippi Confederate flag fight moves to new battlefield

In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, a state flag of Mississippi is unfurled by Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups on the grounds of the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss. A long-running feud over the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag is moving onto a new legal battlefield.

Confederate-themed Mississippi flag heading back to court

In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, a state flag of Mississippi is unfurled by Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups on the grounds of the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss. A long-running feud over the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag is moving onto a new legal battlefield.

Continue reading Under Trump, government takes new position in Texas voter ID lawsuit

The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump will support Texas officials’ claim that the state’s voter identification law did not specifically target minority voters, retreating from the federal government’s previous stance that state lawmakers intentionally discriminated when crafting the law. The law’s opponents were notified of the switch one day before the question of discriminatory intent is set to be argued in federal court, according to officials at the Campaign Legal Center.

Justice Department no longer fighting injunction on transgender school guidance

The Justice Department on Friday signaled it stopped fighting to overturn a national injunction blocking the federal government from giving guidance to schools and transgender students, another sign President Donald Trump’s administration is taking a different approach than former President Barack Obama’s. A hearing was set for next Tuesday in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in which the Justice Department was fighting Texas and 11 other states, which had filed a lawsuit to prevent the Education Department from being able to give that guidance to transgender students that they are allowed to use restrooms that match their gender identity.

Federal court allows appeal for killer of TCU professor

A federal appeals court is allowing attorneys for a 44-year-old convicted killer to move forward with an appeal that questions whether he’s eligible for the death penalty for the 2004 suffocation of retired college professor abducted in Fort Worth. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Edward Lee Busby may pursue arguments that he’s mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that he’s had deficient legal help at his trial and in earlier stages of his appeals.

Obama Still Trying To Push His Gender Confused Requirements In Schools

He’s already lost in court with his earlier guidance on how schools should accommodate and pander to the tiny number of kids who believe they’re gender confused , now he wants to continue the push The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s ruling that suspended enforcement of the administration’s order allowing transgender students and workers to use the bathroom of their choice. Lawyers for the administration asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out O’Connor’s ruling, arguing the courts do not have the power to review the government’s order.

Sanderson Farms says ‘HB 1523 could inflict a staggering amount of damage’ on economy

Sanderson Farms, Inc. the second largest industrial manufacturing company in Mississippi and a Fortune 1000 company, publicly stated it is against Mississippi’s Religious Liberty Accommodations Act or House Bill 1523 . Sanderson Farms, which is headquartered in Laurel, is one of 11 prominent Mississippi businesses and individuals included in a brief filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans arguing “HB 1523 not only demeans and discriminates against” Mississippi’s gay, lesbian and transgender population, but “stigmatizes the entire state and will cause lasting harm to Mississippi’s economy – driving down the state’s GDP, deterring business development and expansion, and costing the state jobs.”