Circuit circus: Gun rights, kava bars and “Que Sera, Sera”

Luigi Mangione + Daniel Penny = 2024 in NYC

(AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Should smoking pot warrant a loss of Second Amendment rights? How about previously committing a nonviolent felony, or being committed to a mental institution?

In a loaded week for the U.S. Circuit Court, the federal appeals courts held oral arguments for a range of gun cases. Beyond firearm ownership rights, both the Second and Fifth Circuits are grappling with rapid-fire trigger bans, while the 10th Circuit considers claims that a Sig Sauer pistol is prone to accidental firing.

It wasn't just American weaponry at issue as the circuit courts cleared their dockets before the holidays.

In Cincinnati, the daughter and granddaughter of Jay Livingston, who composed "Que Sera, Sera" and "Silver Bells," squabbled over royalty payments.

A chain of New York City bars serving kava, a root tea, fought a health department shutdown and posed the question of what's considered a food additive. (“This is very metaphysical to me,” one judge remarked.)

And in Colorado, an environmental group asked the 10th Circuit to block the EPA's approval of a state regulation to curb ozone.

While we wait on a litany of rulings to come, there's tons more Courthouse News to keep you busy.

Here’s what else happened in court this week:

Suspect Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. (Janet Klingbeil/AP)

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in NYC last week, is fighting extradition to face charges in Manhattan after his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald's.

Mangione captured New Yorkers' attention (and, frankly, some hearts) just as proceedings in another high-profile death came to an end: Jurors acquitted ex-Marine Daniel Penny, who put a homeless busker in a fatal chokehold after he threatened passengers on the NYC subway last spring. [Josh Russell, Erik Uebelacker]

• Amazon lost a play to get out of class claims that it underpays and discriminates against female employees. [Monique Merrill]

• After a pair of judges' rulings stalled a planned $24.6 billion grocery merger over antitrust concerns, supermarket chain Albertsons scrapped the deal entirely and in a lawsuit blamed rival Kroger for its downfall. Colorado, though, doesn't want to drop its case challenging the merger. [Monique Merrill, Jackson Healy, Amanda Pampuro]

• Monarch butterflies finally landed federal protections as an endangered species. [Matt Simons]

• President Joe Biden pardoned 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes and commuted the sentences of 1,499 people released on home confinement during the pandemic. [Ryan Knappenberger]

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(Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Brooklyn hip-hop superstar Jay-Z denied new accusations in a civil lawsuit that he and indicted entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a 13-year-old girl at an awards show afterparty in September 2000. [Josh Russell]

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Top 8: What you’ve been reading

1. White House threatens to boot judgeships bill amid partisan scrap in Congress

2. Smoking pot shouldn’t burden Second Amendment right, Pennsylvania man tells appeals court

3. Yelp urges Ninth Circuit to revive suit against Texas AG over crisis pregnancy center labeling

4. Justice Thomas slams Hawaii’s gun permit laws in SCOTUS denial

5. Fifth Circuit skeptical of ATF’s forced reset trigger ban

6. Motorcyclists push Seventh Circuit to reopen antitrust suit against Harley-Davidson

7. Yearslong legal battle between NRA and NY attorney general ends with final compliance judgment

8. Chicago’s new top prosecutor, backed by police, offers hints she could retain parts of progressive agenda

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(Fundamental Rights Agency)

Photobucket users sued the image hosting company to prevent the sale of their pictures to biometric and generative AI companies. [Amanda Pampuro]

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Rulings on our radar 📡

» U.S. Court of Federal Claims: The son of a man who filmed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy secured a victory in his Fifth Amendment takings claim against the federal government.

» Boulder County Court: Homeless Boulder residents lost a challenge to the city’s blanket and tent bans.

» Western District of Louisiana: A racetrack casino and hotel won summary judgment against a gambling patron who said she slipped on a pickle slice in the restaurant, injuring her neck, back, knee, hip and wrist.

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