Appeal over $63,000,000 judgment in Motrin case rejected by court
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from the manufacturer of Children's Motrin over a $63 million judgment awarded to a family whose daughter developed a life-threatening disease after taking the medicine.
The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that said Johnson & Johnson should pay the judgment awarded to the family of Samantha Reckis.
Reckis was 7 in 2003 when she was given the ibuprofen product for a fever. She developed a rare skin disease and was blinded.
A jury ruled in 2013 that the company failed to provide sufficient warnings about potential side effects.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts rejected the company's arguments that the family failed to prove the medicine caused the disease and damages were excessive.
New challenge to Obama health care overhaul denied
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has rejected another challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The justices on Tuesday left in place lower court rulings that dismissed a lawsuit against the national health care law. The suit argues that the law violates the provision of the Constitution that requires tax-raising bills to originate in the House of Representatives.
The court has twice turned back major challenges to the law, in opinions written by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2012 and in June. The court also has allowed family-owned businesses with religious objections to opt out of paying for contraceptives for women covered under their health plans. The Pacific Legal Foundation backed the latest lawsuit, filed on behalf of small-business owner Matt Sissel.
Court rejects appeal over Picasso work
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from descendants of famed composer Felix Mendelssohn who want German officials to return a Pablo Picasso painting that was subject to forced transfer under the Nazi regime.
The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that said the German state of Bavaria was entitled to sovereign immunity in a lawsuit over rights to "Madame Soler," valued at about $100 million.
The painting was sold under duress in 1934 by Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Justin Thannhauser, a German art dealer who later moved to New York. Thannhauser later sold the painting to Bavarian officials. It is now on display in a Munich museum.
Lower courts ruled that Bavaria was immune even though the painting was sold in the United States.
Arizona sheriff's appeal over immigration turned down
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from an Arizona sheriff seeking to halt President Barack Obama's plan to spare millions of people from deportation.
The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had no legal basis to challenge the program.
Arpaio claimed the program would let more immigrants enter the country illegally, creating a burden on law enforcement from increased crime.
A federal judge said Arpaio's complaints were speculative. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., agreed.
The high court separately decided to hear another case on Tuesday in which 26 states have challenged the constitutionality of the plan. The federal appeals court in New Orleans last year blocked the program while that lawsuit moves forward.
Justices refuse Arkansas bid to revive abortion law
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is refusing to revive an Arkansas law that would have banned abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy if doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat.
The justices did not comment Tuesday in rejecting the state's appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the law. Federal judges called the law inconsistent with Supreme Court rulings that generally tie restrictions to the fetus' viability, not the presence of a heartbeat.
The high court already has an abortion case on its agenda, examining restrictions on Texas abortion clinics that the state says are meant to safeguard women's health. Abortion-rights supporters argue that the restrictions' only aim is to make abortions harder to obtain.
Challenge over contractor contributions rejected
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court won't hear a challenge to a 70-year old law that bans government contractors from donating money to federal candidates or political parties.
The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower court ruling that said the ban is a reasonable way of addressing the government's interest in preventing political corruption.
Congress outlawed political contributions by federal contractors largely in response to a New Deal-era scandal involving Democratic Party operatives and contractors.
Challengers said the ban is unnecessary because career government bureaucrats decide who gets government contracts, not elected officials. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld the law.
The ban applies only to individual contractors and not to political action committees of corporate contractors, or to a corporation's officers and shareholders.
Published: Thu, Jan 21, 2016
