Preparing: "The administration insisted Thursday that President Obama has both the authority and the determination to make his own decision on a military strike against Syria, even as a growing chorus of lawmakers demanded an opportunity to vote on the issue and Britain, the United States’ closest ally, appeared unlikely to participate," The Washington Post reports today. In this National Law Journal report, legal scholars debate the president's authority to order a strike Syria.
Settling: The National Football League will pay $765 million to resolve players' claims concerning concussions. More coverage here and here.
Disclosing: The Obama administration has agreed to release annual totals of surveillance orders issued by the Washington-based Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. POLITICO reports today: "Yet the government’s new, promised disclosures might prove a disappointment to companies like Google and Microsoft, which find themselves in a legal battle that’s doubled as a public-relations war."
Recognizing: The Los Angeles Times reports: "All legally married same-sex couples will be recognized for federal tax purposes no matter what state they live in, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department announced Thursday in a change that will affect numerous couples in states that have not permitted gay marriage."
Beginning: From today's National Law Journal: "The first federal trial over DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.’s metal-on-metal hip replacement device, which is the subject of about 10,000 lawsuits across the country, is scheduled to begin on September 9 in Cleveland."
Flying: A federal judge in Portland has kept a live a suit that challenges the government's no-fly list. "Although there are perhaps viable alternatives to flying for domestic travel within the continental United States, such as traveling by car or train, the court disagrees with (the government's) contention that international air travel is a mere convenience in light of the realities of our modern world," the trial judge wrote in her ruling. The Oregonian has the story here.
Fracking: "The New York Court of Appeals will weigh the right of local governments to ban the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking," The New York Law Journal reports today.
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