Recent Court News Decisions

Connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi watersheds through the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) has been a boon to industry and commerce, and it supports transportation and recreation. But opening a pathway between bodies of fresh water has a price.

Within CAWS, the price is an invasive species of Asian carp.

Five states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania — sued the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (the District) in federal court, seeking a preliminary injunction that would require the defendants to put in place additional physical barriers throughout the CAWS, implement new procedures to stop invasive carp, and expedite a study of how best to separate the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds permanently.

The Supreme Court will decide whether corporations can be held liable under the Alien Tort Act (ATA). The Court granted cert in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum on Monday.

The question now is whether the Court will agree with the Seventh, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits that the ATA applies to corporations, or if it will affirm the Second Circuit on Kiobel, the lone opinion that denied liability.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments last week in a freedom of information case involving a University of Illinois policy which afforded greater weight to admissions applications from well-connected students.

In case you haven't heard, the University of Illinois has been in a bit of a pickle over the last two years for unsound admissions practices. Now, the University wants the Seventh Circuit to protect it from releasing records that would reveal the extent of the scandal.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin will host a joint memorial ceremony for Circuit Judge Terence Evans on Friday September 23, 2011, at 4 p.m. in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse.

The service is open to the public.

Judge Evans died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and acute respiratory distress syndrome in August at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He was 71.

Seventh Circuit Judge Terrence Evans died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and acute respiratory distress syndrome last week at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He was 71.

Judge Evans, a native of Milwaukee, Wis., received his BA and JD from Marquette University. After graduation, he clerked for Justice Horace Wilkie on the Wisconsin Supreme Court before working both in private practice and as a district attorney. He had served on the federal bench since 1980.

The Indiana Attorney General’s office filed an appeal in the Seventh Circuit on Monday challenging a federal district court injunction barring enforcement of a new state law that would pull Planned Parenthood funding.

The law, enacted under Indiana House Bill 2010, prohibits Indiana agencies from entering contracts with, or making grants to, any entity that performs abortions or maintains or operates a facility where abortions are performed.

Here’s a future law job announcement from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has filled its Fall 2011 position for staff clerkships starting in August, but after Labor Day 2011, it will begin considering applications for the 2012-2014 clerkship program, according to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals website.

To get an idea of the position, have a look at last year’s posting.