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Thursday, February 21, 2008
Courts - SCOTUS favors federal pre-emption in three cases yesterday
The Legal Times Tony Mauro reports today:
In three key business rulings handed down Wednesday, the Supreme Court continued its trend toward freeing companies from the conflicting regulation of 50 different states in favor of one federal regime.The Court favored federal pre-emption over state laws and state court remedies in the areas of medical device regulation, interstate shipping of tobacco and arbitration of contract disputes.
In announcing one of the cases from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia said the day's decisions made it clear that "we consider it part of our business" to sort out the balance between federal and state law. * * *
Of Wednesday's pre-emption cases, Riegel v. Medtronic may have the broadest impact. The Court ruled against the estate of Charles Riegel, who died after a catheter made by Medtronic malfunctioned during heart surgery.
Riegel sued in federal court, invoking New York state common law to argue for liability and damages. Like lower courts, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal Medical Device Amendments of 1976 specifically preclude states from imposing their own requirements on the makers of federally regulated medical devices. * * *
• Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association, in which the Court said the state of Maine could not impose its own legal requirements on delivery companies aimed at preventing the shipment of tobacco products to minors. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the decision for a unanimous Court, asserting that to allow Maine to regulate tobacco shipment would "severely undermine" federal regulation.
• Preston v. Ferrer, resolving a dispute between Alex Ferrer, who goes by the name "Judge Alex" on a syndicated television show, and Arnold Preston, an entertainment industry lawyer. The issue before the high court was whether a contract dispute between the two should be governed by state law or the Federal Arbitration Act.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 21, 2008 09:38 AM
Posted to Courts in general