Disabled teen wins case over $2.8M settlement
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has blocked North Carolina from trying to take more than $900,000 from a legal settlement won by the family of a 13-year-old girl who suffered devastating injuries during her birth.
The court ruled 6-3 Wednesday in favor of the family of the girl, identified only as E.M.A. She is severely disabled as a result of what her parents say was a botched delivery.
North Carolina has spent nearly $2 million for her medical care and when the family settled a malpractice lawsuit for $2.8 million, the state claimed a third of the settlement.
Writing for the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the state can’t claim a share of the settlement as reimbursement for medical care without determining how much of the settlement is attributable to the care.
Court sides with timber industry in runoff dispute
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with timber interests in a dispute over the regulation of runoff from logging roads in western forests.
In a 7-1 vote, the court reversed a federal appeals court ruling which held that muddy water running off roads used in industrial logging is the same as any other industrial pollution, requiring a Clean Water Act permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA itself disagreed with that court ruling, and Justice Anthony Kennedy said for the court that the agency’s reading of its own regulations is entitled to deference from the court.
In any event, the agency has since issued a new regulation that removes any doubt that water from logging roads is the same as runoff from a farmer’s field, not industrial pollution.
Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, saying that the court gives EPA and other agencies the authority to say what their rules mean “for no good reason.”
Justice Stephen Breyer did not take part in the case because his brother, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, was appointed to sit on the appeals court panel that issued the ruling overturned Wednesday.
The consolidated cases are Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, 11-338, and Georgia-Pacific West v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, 11-347.
Same-day audio for court gay marriage cases
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will release audio recordings of next week’s arguments in two gay marriage cases just a few hours after they conclude.
The court will post audio files and transcripts on its website (http://www.supremecourt.gov ) roughly two hours after the end of the proceedings on March 26 and March 27.
The justices will hear arguments over California’s ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday and the federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday.
The justices have never allowed cameras inside the courtroom, but occasionally provide same-day audio for cases with unusually high public interest.
The most recent instance was last year’s health care case. The first time was for the Bush v. Gore argument over the disputed outcome in Florida’s presidential vote in 2000.
In recent years, the court has posted the audio from arguments on its website at the end of the week in which they take place. Argument transcripts are routinely available a few hours after the justices hear a case.
Reporters are not allowed to carry recorders or cameras into the courtroom.
