Federal Appeals Courts Weigh In on Civil Rights, Regulatory Power, and Due Process

The Institute for Justice has released the latest edition of its weekly legal digest, highlighting a series of significant rulings from federal courts of appeal across the United States. Among the notable developments, the Fifth Circuit issued a major decision regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s use of in-house administrative law judges. Citing recent Supreme Court precedent, the court rejected the agency's attempt to impose a long-term advertising injunction against Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, effectively curbing the authority of these internal adjudicators.

Other rulings address a wide spectrum of constitutional and procedural issues. In the First Circuit, a challenge regarding special-education services for private school students was dismissed, with the court finding that the Constitution does not mandate public support for private educational choices in this specific context. Meanwhile, the Fourth Circuit dealt with a case involving the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, ruling that high-level state officials were not appropriate defendants in a dispute over improperly obtained debt judgments against military personnel. These cases, alongside ongoing research into the systemic failures of civil forfeiture laws, underscore the complex and often contentious landscape of American jurisprudence as federal courts continue to interpret the limits of government power and individual rights.