IJ client Katy Duckstein is a former public school math teacher who opened Roots Learning Academy, an innovative hybrid homeschooling program that's open three days a week and is a real boon to her community north of Pittsburgh, Pa.
asserted
that → open → Pittsburgh
But earlier this year, state officials ordered her to shut down, accusing her of operating an unlicensed daycare.
asserted
officials → order → daycare
- If you're on law Twitter, you've probably seen the opinion in which Judge Pillard calls one of the federal gov't's arguments "weak sauce."
asserted
Pillard → see → arguments
But while everyone's been debating whether that phrase is or is not too informal, nobody seems to be talking about the D.C. Circuit's actual decision, which affirms a preliminary injunction prohibiting the IRS from sharing data on allegedly undocumented immigrants with ICE.
uncertain
which → debate → ICE
- Ain't many examples of the federal gov't screaming "emergency!" and not getting what it wants.
asserted
it → be → what
But to that short list you can add this D.C. Circuit rejection of the feds' order that a due-to-retire coal-fired power plant remain open.
asserted
plant → add → order
- Restaurant/bar owner alleges one of D.C.'s (in)famously hyper-local neighborhood commissions held up his liquor-license renewal with a frivolous objection in retaliation for the owner's civil disobedience and criticism of late-COVID-era masking and vaccination requirements.
asserted
one → allege → requirements
Violating the COVID orders wasn't itself First Amendment-protected expression, but there are sufficient allegations of retaliation against the associated speech to state a claim.
uncertain
Violating → violate → claim
A firearms trade group brings a federal constitutional challenge against a N.J. public nuisance law (said to impose vague requirements on gunmakers), but the Third Circuit (2023) says it cannot proceed
asserted
it → bring → gunmakers
: The state hasn't enforced the law against the group (and says it won't).
asserted
it → enforce → group
Months later, the state enforces the law against one of the group's members.
asserted
state → enforce → members
And it'd be quite the Catch-22 not to let this proceed now.
asserted
this → let → ?
- New Jersey officials reject pipeline company's application to dredge a channel in Raritan Bay—it'd stir up arsenic, manganese, mercury, etc. in the sediment.
asserted
it'd → reject → sediment
Five years later, the company submits essentially the same application, with no new plan for managing the arsenic, etc.
asserted
company → submit → etc
It's approved.
asserted
It → approve → ?
Substantial deference is due to these state officials, but even so they need to have another look.
asserted
they → need → look
Congress reformed the immigration removal system three decades ago, allowing some—but not all—aliens to be released on bond pending their hearing.
asserted
aliens → reform → hearing
A regulation issued soon after explaining that bond was available only for people already within the U.S., not for those arriving at the border.
asserted
bond → issue → border
The feds reversed course last summer; now, no bond for any aliens.
asserted
feds → reverse → aliens
And this week, the Fourth Circuit (2-1) joins the latter camp, comparing the feds' new policy to Japanese internment.
asserted
Circuit → join → internment
(There are no immigration detention facilities in D.C., so that's all circuits accounted for.
asserted
that → be → D.C.
- North Carolina prison officers keep woman shackled during active labor, as well as at other times before, during, and after giving birth.
asserted
woman → keep → birth
No security or flight risk = an Eighth Amendment violation, as was discontinuing her opioid-withdrawal meds after she'd given birth.
asserted
she → = → birth
A jury must determine whether some of the defendants acted with deliberate indifference.
asserted
some → determine → indifference
- Allegation: Jackson, Miss. officials knew that the city's lead-contaminated drinking water was unsafe and told residents otherwise.
asserted
water → know → residents
A former mayor even scrapped planned upgrades.
asserted
mayor → scrap → upgrades
Can the city and its officials be sued for violating residents' right to bodily integrity?
asserted
city → sue → integrity
Plaintiffs also advanced a plausible state-created-danger theory; we should have joined the ten other circuits that recognize that theory (and then granted qualified immunity because it wasn't clearly established).
asserted
it → advance → immunity
- Louisiana magistrate judge oversees a trial and eventually awards $120 mil to the plaintiff.
asserted
judge → oversee → plaintiff
She fails, however, to disclose that plaintiff's attorney has been a close family friend for nearly 40 years.
asserted
attorney → fail → years
- Man jailed for failure to pay child support is put in a Barren County, Ky. cell with two inmates who have, between the two of them, previously attacked cellmates 11 times.
asserted
who → jail → cellmates
They attack him almost immediately, leaving him paralyzed and in assisted living.
asserted
They → attack → living
Sixth Circuit (2025): The county might be on the hook for keeping them in gen pop.
uncertain
county → keep → pop
Sixth Circuit (en banc, 2026): The county might be on the hook for keeping them in gen pop.
uncertain
county → keep → pop
- Marijuana vendor breaches contract to purchase a marijuana farm's output because the vendor could get a better price elsewhere.
uncertain
vendor → breach → price
Sorry to narc, but even though the sales were legal under Michigan law, they were still technically a crime under federal law (even if that's rarely enforced), and federal courts can't be in the business of enforcing contracts in violation of federal statutes.
asserted
courts → narc → statutes
- Non-Indian energy company drills on N.D. reservation land with federal approval and pursuant to side agreements with a family that owns the allotments.
asserted
that → drill → allotments
As part of the side agreements, the company promises to ban smoking near oil & gas wells.
asserted
company → promise → wells
The family alleges the company breached, sues in tribal court.
asserted
company → allege → court
But this belongs in federal court.
asserted
this → belong → court
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia