+ A climate case with nationwide stakes.

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The Daily Docket

The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Megha L.

Good morning. Facing climate lawsuits, Big Oil is turning to SCOTUS. Plus, a federal judge will hold a hearing over an immigration policy targeting noncitizen researchers and fact-checkers; the DOJ filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Minnesota judges who gave interviews about an immigration surge; and Harvard is sued by the EEOC for records in an anti-white hiring probe. Butterflies use illusion as a defense. Here's wishing you a crystal-clear Thursday!

Facing climate lawsuits, Big Oil again turns to US Supreme Court

 

REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

Two big oil companies are set to take their climate-liability fight to the U.S. Supreme Court next week in a closely watched case that could shape the future of dozens of similar lawsuits nationwide.

ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy are seeking to scuttle a lawsuit brought by officials in Boulder, Colorado, accusing the companies of contributing to climate change and misleading the public about the risks of fossil fuels.

Nearly 60 state and local governments have filed similar suits seeking billions of dollars from fossil fuel companies, and a ruling in favor of the energy giants could lead to many of those cases being dismissed.

Other big cases that could land on the high court’s docket for its new term include disputes involving a detention policy used in President Trump's immigration crackdown, the regulation of prediction markets and a Texas law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

 

Follow-up: Yesterday, we flagged the 3rd Circuit's decision upholding a ruling for Thomson Reuters in its copyright dispute with former legal research rival Ross Intelligence. Here's what the unsealed opinion reveals about the court's reasoning.
 
 

Coming up today

  • First Amendment: Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in D.C. will hold a motion hearing in a lawsuit challenging a U.S. immigration policy targeting noncitizen researchers, advocates and fact-checkers with visa denials, detention and deportation based on their work.
  • Tech: A judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will hold a hearing to determine how much Meta should pay in penalties after a jury found the company misled consumers about its data privacy practices and how it handles hate speech and misinformation posted by users.
  • Second Amendment: The Department of Justice will urge U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang to block Maryland's Montgomery County from enforcing a new law that bars gun owners from carrying firearms within 100 yards of places of public assembly.
  • Government: A U.S. federal court in Washington state will weigh arguments over President Trump's effort to block a court-appointed U.S. attorney from serving in Seattle. Roger Rogoff sued the Trump administration in July after the president fired him from the post.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

 

More top news

  • US trade court probes Trump's 'forced labor' tariffs
  • Second judge blocks Trump's $100,000 fee for new H-1B worker visas
  • Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survives execution attempt
  • Alleged Cornell gang rape prompts calls to revise New York sexual assault laws
  • Immigration judge rules US can deport president of Wisconsin's largest mosque
  • Republican US Senator Blackburn blocks Trump's pick for judge in Tennessee
  • FTC opens probe into AI giants including Anthropic and OpenAI
  • US Senate blocks bill to limit stock trading by lawmakers
 

Industry insight

  • The Justice Department filed a judicial misconduct complaint against judges in Minnesota who gave interviews to the New York Times about the immigration surge there, alleging it was unethical and partisan.
  • Texas AG Ken Paxton