SCOTUS NEWS

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s handgun licensing regime, as well as a pair of cases seeking to hold oil and gas companies responsible for damage caused by climate change. The announcement came as part of a list of orders released from the justices’ private conference on Friday. The justices granted three cases from that conference on Friday afternoon, and they did not add any additional cases to their docket for the 2024-25 term on Monday.

The justices denied review in Maryland Shall Issue v. Moore, in which gun-rights groups and gun owners challenged Maryland’s requirement that most residents obtain a license before buying a gun. They argued that because state law already requires them to undergo a background check to buy a gun, the license requirement (which includes another background check and a gun-safety course) imposes too heavy a burden on their right to bear arms.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the law last year. It pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion for the court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, in which he indicated that laws requiring gun owners to undergo background checks or complete gun-safety courses will generally be constitutional under that decision’s new Second Amendment test.

The justices did not act on a petition seeking review of a ruling by the same appeals court upholding Maryland’s ban on assault rifles. The court will consider the petition in Snope v. Brown again on Friday, Jan. 17.

The justices also denied review in Sunoco v. Honolulu and Shell v. Honolulu, a pair of cases seeking to hold oil and gas companies responsible for their role in increased fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which led to climate change-related property damage in Honolulu.

In June, the justices asked the Biden administration to weigh in on whether federal law bars the oil and gas companies’ state-law claims; in a brief filed in December, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the justices to deny review. Prelogar told the justices that (among other things) at this time the Supreme Court lacks the power to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision allowing the lawsuit to go forward.

Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in the Honolulu cases. Although he did not explain the reason for his recusal, the financial disclosure forms that Alito filed in 2023 indicated that at that time Alito owned shares in three of the energy companies involved in the cases. 

The court asked the federal government for its views in four new cases:

• Fiehler v. Mecklenburg, a dispute over land ownership in Alaska that hinges on whether a state court has the power to correct a federal surveyor’s location of a water boundary.
• Borochov v. Iran, in which the justices have been asked to decide whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s “terrorism exception” to the general rule of immunity for foreign governments in U.S. courts gives U.S. courts the power to hear claims that arise from a foreign state’s material support for a terrorist attack that injures or disables, but does not kill, its victims.
• FS Credit Corp. v. Saba Capital Master Fund, involving whether Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act, which regulates investment companies like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, creates a private right of action.
• Port of Tacoma v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, in which the justices have been asked to decide whether a provision of the Clean Water Act allows private citizens to go to federal court to enforce state-issued pollutant-discharge permits that impose more stringent standards than the act requires.

This article was originally published at Howe on the Court. 

BALTIMORE — WSSC Water is urging its customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to conserve water amid an increase in water main breaks caused by frigid temperatures.

The company shared the alert on Sunday, Jan. 12, saying there are water main breaks in locations that have not been identified yet.

According to the company, there is no boil water advisory in place and water is safe.

On Monday morning, company officials said they are responding to 63 breaks and/or leaks.

Customers are urged to preserve water by taking the following steps:

• Use water only as necessary; take shorter showers and turn off faucets immediately after use
• Limit flushing toilets; do not flush after every use
• Limit using washing machines and dishwashers

Following the aforementioned guidance could prevent a boil water advisory as crews continue to address leaks and breaks, officials said. The company has called on additional crews and contractors to search for unreported breaks.

Any broken or leaking water mains will be shut down before repair crews are dispatched, which could create longer repair times and water outages.

WSSC Water customers are urged to call the company’s Emergency Services Center at 301-206-4002 to report any running water or chlorine odors.

Baltimore Water Main Breaks

On Sunday, Jan. 12, Baltimore City Councilmember Odette Ramos reported a water main break in North Baltimore on Linkwood Road that left an apartment complex without water.

In a social media post, Ramos said water was being delivered to Hopkins House Apartments Sunday evening as the repair may take a long time.

According to data from the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW), there were about 27 confirmed water main breaks in the city as of Monday morning. Data showed another 14 confirmed water main breaks across Baltimore County.

Freezing temperatures in Maryland

Maryland experienced freezing temperatures last week, along with a snowstorm that brought between 3 to 12 inches of snow to the region. Baltimore City saw about four inches of snow, while parts of the county saw between 3.5 to 7.5 inches, totals show.

Freezing temperatures caused dangerous conditions in the days following the heavy snowfall, and icy roads prompted school closures and delays across the state between Monday, Jan. 6, and Friday, Jan. 10.

Baltimore City issued a Code Blue Extreme Cold Alert through Saturday, Jan. 11 as wind chills dipped into the single digits for several days.

On Monday, temperatures in the Baltimore region ticked back up, though Arctic air is forecasted to return to the state by the middle of the week.