Good morning. A federal judge in Boston will weigh putting a new block on President Trump’s birthright citizenship order. Plus, another federal judge in Boston will consider keeping in place a block on a Trump administration policy that prevents Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements, and the State Bar of Wisconsinchanged its definition of “diversity.” We made it to Friday! Here are some odd photos to kick off your weekend.
U.S. DIstrict Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston could deal another blow to President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. Here’s what to know:
The case is back in Sorokin's courtroom so he can assess the impact of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision from June 27 involving birthright citizenship which curbed the ability of judges to issue such sweeping rulings. But the court raised the possibility that universal injunctions are still permissible if they are the only way to provide "complete relief" to litigants in a particular lawsuit.
Legal experts say today’s hearing will shed light on how lower courts plan to address that language in the Supreme Court's decision. Read more about that here.
The states argue that Trump's executive order, if allowed to take effect, would wreak havoc on the administration of federal benefits programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. They also claim that because children often move across state lines or are born outside their parents’ state of residence, a "patchwork" of injunctions would be unworkable.
The DOJ has countered that Sorokin's injunction from February was "clearly overbroad and inappropriate."
A ruling from Sorokin in favor of the states would be the second blow to Trump's executive order this month. Last week, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in New Hampshire imposed a fresh judicial order blocking implementation of the policy nationally.
A U.S. Senate panel advanced President Trump’s nomination of his former personal lawyer Emil Bove to be a 3rd Circuit judge over protests from Democrats, who accuse Bove of using aggressive tactics to enforce Trump’s agenda at the DOJ.
The State Bar of Wisconsin has modified its definition of “diversity” for applicants to its leadership programs, ending a two-year-old lawsuit brought by a conservative legal group alleging the programs discriminate based on race. Read more here.
That’s how much in legal fees two prominent law firms were awarded despite saying they had invested more than $100 million in attorney litigating time. The fees were awarded to Cohen Milstein and Quinn Emanuel for their work netting $71 million in settlements in a complex antitrust case. Read more here.
In the courts
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in D.C. ruled that President Trump's firing of FTC member Rebecca Kelly Slaughter earlier this year was illegal. Read more here.
A group of Democratic state AGs sued the Trump administration to
