Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
New on the Short Circuit podcast: Do NIMBYs like big bats and they cannot lie? Plus some remands and removals.
- Special education student sues D.C., claiming inadequate education under IDEA. D.C. Circuit: Summary judgment for D.C. There’s no flaw in the student’s individualized education program, even if he didn’t reach the desired “educational outcome.” Concurrence: Summary judgment is an awkward fit for IDEA cases. Even with a closed record, factual disputes remain. We should use Rule 52 bench trials instead.
- Eylea is a very expensive macular-degeneration drug ($2,000+ annual Medicare copay) with a far cheaper competitor. To appeal to patients, the drug manufacturer wants to reduce that copay. But giving a copay rebate directly to the doctor or patient is an illegal kickback, so instead the manufacturer gives the money to a charitable foundation that then distributes copays. Still a kickback, says the feds, which makes the Medicare claims the doctors file “false or fraudulent” under the False Claims Act. First Circuit: Not quite. There’s no false or fraudulent claim if the doctor would’ve purchased Eylea anyway. The kickback must be a but-for cause.
- Bus company allegedly idled its buses for more than five minutes at a few Massachusetts bus stops, including the Harry Agganis Way shuttle stop. Apparently this violates state law and through some complicated regulatory machinations therefore violates federal law. Who knew? A few environmental groups. But do they have standing? District court: No more than anyone else who breathes air. Dismissed. First Circuit: Well, depends on the facts. Undismissed and remanded to figure those out.
- A student in Ludlow, Mass., informs school officials that they prefer to use a different name and pronouns. School officials honor that request, and, pursuant to an unwritten policy, do not divulge anything to the student’s parents. Parents eventually find out and allege the policy violates their fundamental parental right to direct the upbringing of their children. First Circuit: A fundamental right, yes, but not one implicated by the school maintaining its own environment and declining to disclose this information to parents. And it survives rational basis. Dismissal affirmed.
- A U.S.-Egypt dual citizen alleges that in the 1990s Egypt expropriated his shares in an Egyptian paper company, causing him a loss of over $15 mil. He obtains a ruling and a ministerial decree in Egypt that purportedly require his compensation. Unable to collect for years, the dual citizen eventually sues Egypt’s minister of finance in New York state court, who removes to federal court. There the suit is dismissed after the court finds it was effectively a suit against Egypt. Second Circuit: The minister is entitled to invoke the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and the dual citizen waived any argument that an exception to that immunity applies. Dismissal affirmed.
- Is using an iPhone camera to see through a tinted window a search? Nope, holds the Second Circuit. Kyllo (that case about using a thermal scanner
Article from Reason.com
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