Cultivated Compendium

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appear to be open to putting limits on police officers searching cellphones, Politico reports. Oral argument were heard in two criminal cases today involving warrantless searches of smartphones: "The arguments in both cases centered around whether cellphones and personal technology have created a fundamentally different world for police, and whether that means that warrants should be required for all searches of electronic devices," Politico further reports.
 

The U.S. Supreme Court, 6-2, has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to limit interstate pollution, the Washington Post reports. Richard Lazarus, an environmental law professor, told the Post the rule allowing the EPA to regulate pollution sent into downwind states from upwind states is "one of the most significant rules ever" promulgated by the EPA.

The New York Times' Adam Liptak is predicting a split decision in the case of a public employee fired in retaliation for his testimony in a public corruption case. While a majority of justices seemed ready during oral argument to protect Lane, Liptak reports that a ruling might not help him because he might not be able to show that his First Amendment rights were clearly established at the time he was fired. 

The federal government is opposing New York Times reporter James Risen's request for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider his case, which could have profound impact on media law and the amount of protection reporters have for their confidential sources, Politico reports. The Fourth Circuit ordered Risen to testify about his confidential sources in the federal prosecution of an alleged leaker. Risen was subpoenaed regarding his sources for his reportage about a CIA effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program.

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, reversed a $3.4 million restitution award granted against a man who viewed child pornography porn, The New York Times' Adam Liptak reports. The award was granted to a victim whose uncle recording his raping of her. The majority adopted a "vague" standard, Liptak reports, which will require trial courts to only order “reasonable and circumscribed” restitution “in an amount that comports with the defendant’s relative role.”

Three same-sex couples in Tennessee had legal recognition of their out-of-state marriages stayed after the Sixth Circuit entered a temporary order while the case is on appeal, The Tennessean reports. The plaintiffs argue Tennessee's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriages harms them.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that tax exemptions available to married couples must be provided to same-sex spouses even though the state bans gay marriage, Reuters reports. The tax exemption is for senior citizens and disabled veterans that sometimes take martial status into account, Reuters further reports.

'"For purposes of analyzing the effects of the exemption program, we hold that committed same-sex domestic partners who would enter into marriages recognized in Alaska if they could are similarly situated to those opposite-sex couples who, by marrying, have entered into domestic partnerships formally recognized in Alaska,' the Alaska Supreme Court's written opinion stated," Reuters reports.

The New York Times' Campbell Robertson and John Schwartz report today on why BP is now attacking a settlement process for economic-damage legal claims arising out of the Gulf oil spill. The energy firm, however, has not been able to unwind the settlement it agreed to: "While BP has won some arguments in court, its fundamental point — that the settlement has been brazenly misinterpreted to pay claims with no evidence linking them directly to the spill — was batted away in a recent decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 'There is nothing fundamentally unreasonable about what BP accepted,” Judge Leslie H. Southwick wrote, 'but now wishes it had not,'" The Times also reports.

The settlement allows for payouts for false positives in which businesses can show loss in income, even it was not related to the oil spill, The Times reports. Texas attorney Brent Coon told The Times BP "'underestimated how much law firms would go out and solicit clients. I cannot believe they didn’t appreciate that risk.'"

General Motors, embroiled in litigation and regulatory scrutiny because of a defective ignition switch in millions of cars, moved last week in bankruptcy court to be shielded from liability for incidents that took place before July 10, 2009, which is when the company emerged from bankruptcy restructuring, The New York Times reported. The protection already exists in the restructuring agreement, but a coalition of eight class-action plaintiffs argue that part of the agreement should be voided, The Times further reports. The plaintiffs accuse "G.M. of committing bankruptcy fraud by not disclosing potential liabilities" from  the faulty switch. G.M. has been aware of problems with the switch for more than a deacde before recalling vehicles with the problematic part, The Times also reports. G.M., however, is not seeking the waiver of liability regarding personal injury cases.

The Marshall Islands, a tiny nation in the Pacific, is suing the United States and eight other nuclear-armed countries in the International Court of Justice, the Associated Press reports: "The Marshall Islands claims the nine countries are modernizing their nuclear arsenals instead of negotiating disarmament, and it estimates that they will spend $1 trillion on those arsenals over the next decade."

The lawsuit is "unprecedented," the AP reports. A federal lawsuit also was filed.