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Articles by Patrick Gregory
Indiana Sheriff Sues Over Law Requiring Immigrant Detention
An Indiana sheriff is suing the state to invalidate a law slated to go into effect July 1, which he says will force him to engage in unconstitutional conduct and subject his office to civil liability.
Clergy Granted Ongoing Access to Chicago-Area ICE Facility
The US Department of Homeland Security can’t bar clergy from visiting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburbs, a federal judge ruled. A group of religious leaders who sued for access to the Broadview, Ill., building must be allowed to visit detainees each day as long as the case is pending, Judge Robert Gettleman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said in a preliminary injunction order Tuesday.
Berkeley Can Clear Homeless Camp Subject to Limits for Disabled
Berkeley, Calif., can mostly proceed with its plan to shut down a homeless encampment in a city park where safety concerns, including the spread of a flu-like bacterial illness, pose an imminent hazard, a federal judge said. But the city first must accommodate some of the camp’s disabled residents by conducting individualized assessments of how the move will affect them, the US District Court for the Northern District of California said April 3.
Texas’ $1.3 Billion Fix to Cool Deadly Hot Prisons Goes to Trial
As Texas moves to install air conditioning in all of its prisons by 2033, a federal judge who raised constitutional concerns about triple-digit temperatures pummeling inmates will decide whether to hold the state to that timeline even though it currently lacks funding to pull it off.
Minnesota Judge Orders Attorney Access for Migrant Detainees (1)
Noncitizens detained in Minneapolis’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement building must have access to attorney calls and be notified of their legal rights while a lawsuit against the agency runs its course, a federal judge ruled Thursday. “Due process is not a game of keep-away. ICE recognizes detainees’ right to access counsel in theory and written policy, but not in practice.
Johnson & Johnson Gets Beasley Allen Tossed From Talc Cases (2)
Beasley Allen, one of the leading trial firms taking on Johnson & Johnson in the sprawling multi-district talc litigation, has been disqualified by a federal court. Thursday’s ruling from a New Jersey federal magistrate judge removes the Alabama-based firm from the litigation, in which customers claim J&J talc products are responsible for their ovarian cancer.
RFK Jr.'s Changes to Vaccine Schedule, Panel Paused by Judge (3)
A federal judge paused the Trump administration’s decision to drastically slash the number of recommended childhood vaccines, halting the implementation of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s unprecedented change to national immunization policy.
Sesame Street Producer Sues SeaWorld Over Licensing Revenues (1)
The producer of Sesame Street claims SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc. failed to fulfill their most recent licensing agreement by stiffing the iconic children’s television show out of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. SeaWorld’s “rogue, retaliatory actions pose an imminent threat” to Sesame Workshop’s brand, the nonprofit says in its lawsuit filed Thursday with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
DLA Piper Accuser Denied Pseudonym for Sexual Battery Claims
A former DLA Piper associate must use her real name to advance rape allegations against her supervising partner and the global law firm, a Massachusetts judge said. Calling the associate’s use of a pseudonym “unfair and improper,” Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert B. Gordon said Monday the case failed to fit the “narrow categories” where courts have allowed alleged sexual abuse survivors to proceed anonymously, which include cases with child victims or criminal prosecutions out of their control.
‘Third Country’ Deportation Policy Illegal, US Judge Rules (1)
The Trump administration’s swift deportation of noncitizens to countries unfamiliar to them runs counter to laws guaranteeing protection from persecution or torture, a Boston federal judge ruled Wednesday. The decision by Judge Brian Murphy of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts aligns with his prior rulings restricting the government’s transport of immigrants to so-called third countries.
NJ Senate Confirms Davenport as AG on Promises of Less Politics
The New Jersey Senate confirmed Jennifer Davenport Tuesday as attorney general after the career prosecutor and defense lawyer pledged to firm up relationships between her office, law enforcement, and legislators. The 38-0 vote approves Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s (D) selection to replace Matthew Platkin, who butted heads with lawmakers over prosecutions and investigations into law enforcement and political insiders.
Kalshi Wins Breathing Room on Massachusetts Ban During Appeal
A ruling requiring Kalshi to shut down its sports prediction contract offerings in Massachusetts won’t take effect until after an appeals court considers the company’s challenge to the ban. Judge Sabita Singh of the Massachusetts Appeals Court granted the company’s request to delay the first-in-the-nation ruling shutting down the prediction market until a panel of judges can review the decision.
TP-Link Sued by Texas in First of Several China Spying Suits (1)
TP-Link Systems Inc., a California-based wireless router maker, faces deceptive marketing claims from the state of Texas for masking its connection to the Chinese government and leaving users’ data vulnerable to cyberattacks. Although labels on TP-Link products show the routers are made in Vietnam, nearly all of the components are first sourced in China, the lawsuit says.
RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Moves in Limbo as Judge Weighs Injunction (1)
Physician and public health groups urged a court Friday to block the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s decisions to reduce the recommended vaccine shots for kids, canceling the federal advisory panel’s meeting later this month, and rolling back other policy changes. The litigation takes aim at Health Secretary Robert F.
ICE Blocked From Enforcement Near Some Houses of Worship (1)
A federal judge Friday ordered new restrictions on immigration enforcement efforts around some churches that sued the Trump administration for rescinding prior guidance for raids around sensitive areas like churches and schools. Judge F.
Justice Department Sues Harvard for Applicant Admissions Data
The Justice Department sued Harvard University Friday for allegedly stonewalling it on requests for applicant-level admissions data needed for its investigation of the school’s compliance with federal civil rights laws. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said the requested documents would help it ensure Harvard is complying with the US Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling striking down the school’s race-conscious admissions policy.
DOJ Sues Harvard University for Applicant Admissions Data (1)
The Justice Department sued Harvard University Friday for allegedly stonewalling on requests for applicant-level admissions data needed for its investigation of the school’s compliance with federal civil rights laws. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said the requested-but-withheld documents would help it ensure several Harvard schools are complying with the US Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v.
DOJ Sues Harvard University for Applicant Admissions Data (2)
The Justice Department sued Harvard University Friday for allegedly stonewalling on requests for applicant-level admissions data needed for its investigation of the school’s compliance with federal civil rights laws. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said the requested-but-withheld documents would help it ensure several Harvard schools are complying with the US Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v.
Bodycam Video Shows Moment Before Chicago Border Patrol Shooting
A Border Patrol agent said it was “time to get aggressive” just before a shooting that left a Chicago woman severely injured, newly released body camera footage shows. “We’re going to make contact, and we’re boxed in,” said an agent in an SUV, according to the footage. Moments later, the driver—Agent Charles Exum—appears to jerk the steering wheel to the left. Exum got out of the SUV and fired multiple rounds at Marimar Martinez, who was seriously wounded but survived.
Chicago Woman to File Suit After Border Patrol Shooting (2)
A Chicago woman who survived a shooting by a Border Patrol agent in October is preparing to sue, her attorneys said at a press conference Wednesday. They plan to send a Federal Tort Claims Act claim to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, the first step toward filing a tort lawsuit on behalf of Marimar Martinez. Violence by immigration agents is under heightened scrutiny after the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
DHS Violated Order to Unfreeze Migrant Support Funds, Judge Says
The Department of Homeland Security failed to comply with a court order directing them to unfreeze migrant support funds to Chicago, Denver and Pima County, Ariz., a Chicago federal judge found Monday. The federal government must process reimbursement requests that had been submitted before the grants in question were formally terminated in April, said Judge Matthew Kennelly of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Anti-ICE Protests Involving Students Draws Paxton Demand (1)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is demanding answers from Austin public schools after students cut class to attend protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations last week. The school district must produce internal communications regarding the Jan. 30 walkouts as part of a broader request for documents, Paxton announced Monday. Paxton also wants information on the school’s security protocols and excused absence policies.
Ex-Labor Officials Contest Trump’s Pro-Employer ERISA Campaign
Former high-ranking labor officials under Presidents Biden and Obama backed workers in a pension plan appeal, pushing back on the US Labor Department’s recent support for employers defending ERISA cases.
Floyd Lawyer Takes on Renee Good Case: ‘This Fight Ain’t Over’
Antonio Romanucci’s return to Minneapolis in January evoked, he said, a strong sense of déjà vu. “Feeling the tension and the city being on edge, for me, it was bone-chilling,” he said. “And part of me was very sad, but I also knew that, okay, this fight ain’t over.
Florida US Attorney at Risk of Sanction Over Immigrant Detention
A federal judge in Orlando has threatened sanctions on the district’s top prosecutor for the way his office argued in favor of mandatory detention for noncitizens. In a scathing order, Judge Roy Dalton Jr. of the Middle District of Florida said the Trump administration’s reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act is “incoherent” and prosecutors failed their duty of candor while trying to support it.
Government Barred From Ending Family Parole Program for Now (1)
The Trump administration can’t immediately terminate family reunification parole programs that allowed thousands of family members of citizens or green-card holders seeking permanent status to stay in the US.
Snap Reaches Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims (1)
Snap Inc. has reached an agreement to settle a key plaintiff’s claims that the platform’s design led her to become addicted and caused her mental health problems. The announcement of a “basic settlement agreement” by Mark Lanier of the Lanier Law Firm, representing the plaintiff, and Faye Paul Teller of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, representing Snap, came during a final status conference Tuesday in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County before Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl.
Justices Reject Separate Convictions in Fatal Robbery Case (1)
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a Second Circuit order mandating two separate convictions and sentences—one for a gun charge, the other for a killing—stemming from the same fatal robbery. Congress generally intends to authorize one conviction per offense, an analysis that applies here, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.
Illinois, Chicago Sue Over ‘Menacing’ Immigration Tactics (1)
Illinois and the city of Chicago sued the US Department of Homeland Security Monday, saying the “menacing, violent, and unlawful incursion” of immigration agents into the area is an illegal attempt to get them to comply with Trump’s ideological goals.
Florida, Ohio Consider Dropping ABA After Texas Cuts Ties (1)
Texas’s decision to end the American Bar Association’s authority to decide who can practice law there is casting doubts on the viability of the organization’s accreditation wing in Republican-led states, with Florida and Ohio considering similar action. Texas on Tuesday formally ended its decades-long relationship with the ABA, finalizing a new rule that shifts law school accreditation authority to the state’s Supreme Court.
National Guard Troops in LA to Return to Newsom’s Control (1)
A Ninth Circuit panel allowed California Gov. Gavin Newsom to regain control of his state’s National Guard troops after lifting a pause on a lower court’s order Wednesday. The order comes after the Trump administration agreed in a court filing to let a San Francisco judge’s block on the federalization of troops in LA stand while its appeal of the order is pending, following the US Supreme Court’s rebuke of Trump’s effort to send troops to Chicago.
San Francisco Jail Guard Can Get Pension After Fraud Conviction
A San Francisco jail guard convicted of wire and mail fraud will be able to access her pension because her criminal conduct didn’t arise out of her official duties, a California state appeals court ruled Friday.
NFL Disability Plan Wins Appeal Axing Player’s Lawyer Fee Award
The NFL’s disability plan convinced the Fifth Circuit to invalidate a $1.8 million award of attorneys’ fees to a former running back whose post-trial victory in a benefits dispute was undone on appeal. Michael Cloud won nothing from his disability benefits lawsuit and thus didn’t achieve a level of success that would entitle him to an award of attorneys’ fees, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Thursday.
Ex-DLA Piper Partner Accused in Lawsuit of Raping Associate (2)
A former DLA Piper partner is accused of raping an associate he mentored after a work dinner at the firm’s Delaware office, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. The former associate, referred to as Jane Doe in the complaint, said intellectual property partner Brian Biggs sexually harassed and assaulted her while both lawyers were working for DLA Piper.
Ex-DLA Piper Partner Accused of Raping Associate in Lawsuit
A former DLA Piper partner is accused of raping an associate he mentored after a work dinner at the firm’s Delaware office, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. The junior associate, referred to as Jane Doe in the complaint, said intellectual property partner Brian Biggs sexually harassed and assaulted her, while it was known at the firm that he had a reputation for heavy drinking and inappropriate workplace conduct directed at younger female attorneys.
Trump, Administration Heads Sued Over East Wing Demolition (1)
President Donald Trump and several administration officials were hit with a lawsuit Friday over the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square foot ballroom. “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States said in a complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Starbucks Sued by Florida Over ‘Racial Quotas’ in Hiring (1)
Starbucks Coffee Co.'s policies enacted to hire a more diverse workforce is evidence of unlawful racial quotas, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
DOL Cements Pro-Employer Shift in Supreme Court ERISA Briefs (2)
The US solicitor general advised the US Supreme Court to hear two pending ERISA disputes and rule in favor of the defendant employers, and The Tuesday briefs were filed along with attorneys from the US Labor Department, and they mark a clear shift from prior DOL briefs in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases, which typically voiced support for plaintiff employees.
Meta’s Litigation Shield Under Fire in Massachusetts Court (1)
Meta Platforms’ claim to blanket immunity from youth addiction litigation landed with little traction before Massachusetts’ top appeals court, with justices pressing the Instagram parent on how its features qualify as protectable publishing activity.
Trump Squares Off With San Francisco in Sanctuary City Rematch
The Trump administration faces an uphill legal battle Friday as it attempts to overturn a court injunction won by San Francisco preventing the administration from rescinding federal grants to immigrant sanctuary cities involved in the case. The case before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a near carbon-copy of San Francisco’s successful lawsuit against the first Trump administration in 2017.
DOJ Cries ‘Gamesmanship’ in Move to Dismiss Case Against ICE
Chicago protesters’ move to dismiss their suit challenging immigration agents’ use of force was “procedural gamesmanship,” a US Department of Justice attorney said Thursday, noting that plaintiffs filed the dismissal motion before an appellate court had a chance to decide the merits of the case. If the case is dismissed with prejudice, as the plaintiffs have requested, that dismissal would prevent protesters and journalists from filing similar suits in the future, attorney Elizabeth Hedges said.
Meta’s Legal Shield Meets Pivotal Test in Teen Addiction Case
Meta Platforms’ immunity claim in social media addiction cases hits its first state supreme court this week, as Massachusetts justices consider whether the social media industry’s bedrock defense applies to Instagram’s design.
Meta Faces Pivotal Test as Massachusetts Court Weighs Immunity
Meta Platforms’ immunity claim in social media addiction cases hits its first state supreme court this week, as Massachusetts justices consider whether the social media industry’s bedrock defense applies to Instagram’s design.
Abortion ‘Reversal’ Speech Protected From NY State Regulation (2)
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is barred from enforcing state false advertising and consumer protection laws against anti-abortion medical centers in the state that promote abortion “reversal.” A lower court correctly prohibited James from bringing an enforcement action against these plaintiffs because the First Amendment’s free-speech clause likely protects their statements about a procedure in which pregnant people take the hormone progesterone to “reverse” the effects of drugs...
Beyond Meat Hit With $39 Million Verdict in Dunkin’ Ad Trial
Beyond Meat Inc.'s slogan “Great Taste, Plant-Based” in joint Dunkin’ Donuts ads infringed a trademark registered by a competitor in the meat alternative industry, a federal jury ruled, awarding $38.9 million in damages. The jury returned the verdict for Sonate Corp.—known as Vegadelphia Foods—after seven days of testimony one year after Dunkin Donuts settled its way out of the suit in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Real Housewives’ Eady Sues Bravo Over ‘Revenge Porn’ Matter (1)
Bravo Media LLC and production company Truly Original LLC are being sued by a castmate on the most recent season of Real Housewives of Atlanta over allegations she was victimized by “revenge porn.” Brittany Eady claims that in June of 2024, a castmate named Kenya Moore published to a group of hundreds of live onlookers, and the defendants’ cameras, a photograph of a woman engaged in a graphic sex act and told the audience the woman was Eady, which wasn’t true, according to the lawsuit filed...
Trump Judge Who Blocked Texas Redistricting Had Won GOP Praise
US District Judge Jeffrey Brown owes much of his judicial career to President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, but his opinion halting their redistricting plan to bolster Republican power nationally came as no surprise to judges who’ve worked with him. “He’s just a straight shooter,” said former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.
NY High Court to Tackle Employees’ Protections for Online Posts
New York’s highest court has a chance to clarify what kind of social media activity is protected under the state’s labor law, but employment lawyers disagree over how broad the judges will go.
‘Pizza Puff’ Is Fair Game, Little Caesars Tells Seventh Circuit
Judges and lawyers from some of Chicago’s major firms grappled at length Friday with a fast food quandary: Can Little Caesars’ Crazy Puffs, in fact, be accurately described as “puffy?” An attorney for Illinois Tamale Company said the answer is no. Puffs are light and airy, and there’s “nothing about Little Caesars’ product that was puffy,” said Elizabeth Thompson of Saul Ewing.
Massachusetts Judge Reprimanded in High-Profile ICE Evasion Case
The Massachusetts judge who faced federal obstruction charges for helping a defendant evade ICE at her courthouse will receive only a public reprimand because she didn’t know about the plan to escape out the back door. A hearing officer with the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct cited that lack of knowledge in his recommendation, released Thursday, that Judge Shelley Joseph receive a public reprimand instead of the indefinite suspension requested by the commission.
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