DC statehood approved by House as Senate fight looms
A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state.
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Supreme Court cuts back FTC power to seek ill-gotten gains
A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday cut back the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to recover ill-gotten gains, overturning a nearly $1.3 billion award against a professional race car driver who was convicted of cheating consumers through his payday loan businesses.
Pelosi floats new proposal for bipartisan Jan. 6 commission
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is renewing her push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, floating a new proposal to Republicans that would evenly split the panel’s membership between the two parties.
Whistleblower blasts Biden pick for key DOJ job over deal in sex case
President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division is facing new scrutiny over a plea deal he brokered with a Louisiana district attorney who was accused of coercing sexual favors from as many as two dozen women.
Indiana budget plan invests revenue bump in education, infrastructure
An extra $2 billion in revenue has led to new and “historic” investments in education, small businesses and broadband, Indiana legislative and executive leaders announced Tuesday.
Sikh group wants probe of gunman’s possible supremacist link
A Sikh civil rights organization called on law enforcement Tuesday to investigate whether a former FedEx employee who fatally shot eight people — four of them Sikhs — at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last week had any ties to hate groups.
Holcomb signs bill expanding aid to small businesses hurt by pandemic
Additional relief from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be on the way to Hoosier small businesses, as Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Monday creating a grant program that extends and expands existing aid.
Justice Barrett selling South Bend home
The South Bend home where Justice Amy Coney Barrett, her husband, Jesse, and their seven children have lived for 19 years is being sold as the family prepares to relocate to Washington, D.C., to be closer to her work at the U.S. Supreme Court. She isn’t the only Hoosier pulling up stakes in South Bend to go serve in the nation’s capital.
After outcry, Biden plans to lift refugee cap in May
President Joe Biden plans to lift his predecessor’s historically low cap on refugees by next month, after initially moving only to expand the eligibility criteria for resettlements and getting swift blowback from allies in return.
Guitarist from Indiana first suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot
A 53-year-old heavy metal guitarist from Columbus on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Democrats begin long-shot push to expand the Supreme Court
A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to add four seats to the Supreme Court, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary.
Congressional panel votes to advance bill on slavery reparations
A United States House panel advanced a decades-long effort to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves by approving legislation Wednesday that would create a commission to study the issue.
SCOTUS to consider civil forfeiture case of truck seized over 5 forgotten bullets
Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Now the U.S. Supreme Court might take up the case.
Biden begins to undo Trump’s ban on abortion referrals
The Biden administration on Wednesday began to undo a Trump-era ban on clinics referring women for abortions, a policy directive that drove Planned Parenthood from the federal family planning program and created new complications for women trying to get birth control.
Watchdog lays bare Capitol Police’s riot security failures
A blistering internal report by the U.S. Capitol Police describes a multitude of missteps that left the force unprepared for the Jan. 6 insurrection — riot shields that shattered upon impact, expired weapons that couldn’t be used, inadequate training and an intelligence division that had few set standards.
Innovation needed to bridge patent diversity gap, attorneys say
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in March seeks to quantify the lack of diversity among patent holders. The Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement Act of 2021 — or IDEA Act — would require the USPTO to collect inventors’ demographic information, including race and gender.
Inventing opportunity: IP attorneys see more patent filings during pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic killed millions worldwide and uprooted livelihoods and industries in the past year. But at least one industry has emerged relatively unscathed, if not stronger. Some Indiana intellectual property attorneys have seen an increase in patent requests and inventions during the pandemic as individuals utilized their creative skills while quarantining.
Hartz: New procedures on the way from recent (and future?) IP legislation
Amid all the news around the new year, you might have missed that the variety of changes to federal intellectual property laws, the Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) and the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act).
Perry and Cahr: Important new laws will have ripple effect for IP owners, practitioners
A final surprise for 2020 emerged from December’s marathon omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief negotiations. Congress included a trio of notable and hotly debated intellectual property measures in its multi-trillion-dollar spending and relief package which could fundamentally alter the manner in which intellectual property owners protect and enforce their rights.
Bont: White collar update — Walmart pharmacy defense plays offense
Walmart took issue with the government’s assertion that national pharmacy chains are required to analyze and share prescribing data across its stores and with line pharmacists. After waiting four years for the government to initiate legal proceedings, Walmart took the offensive and filed a declaratory judgment action in the Eastern District of Texas. In essence, Walmart alleged to the court that the government was creating and enforcing laws that did not exist.