The only thing predictable about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions on federal preemption — a subject that strikes at the heart of federalism — is the odd way that the Justices spell “pre-emption.” While the Court’s implied preemption (field preemption and conflict preemption) case law is particularly difficult to reconcile, the Court in recent years […]
Can Federal Contract Requirements Preempt State Law? Read More »
What do prescription drugs, motor boats, pesticides, automobiles, medical devices, locomotives, cigarettes, vaccines, and oil tankers have in common? During the past 25 years, each has been the subject of at least one Supreme Court opinion concerning federal preemption of state-law product liability claims. No uniform rule has emerged from those opinions (e.g., there is
Supreme Court Punts On Another Federal Preemption Product-Liability Conundrum Read More »
Every first-year law student learns the taxonomy of federal preemption principles: Although the Supreme Court’s Supremacy Clause cases frequently rely on this preemption lexicon, the Court long ago indicated that these categories are not “rigidly distinct.” English v. Gen. Elec. Co., 496 U.S. 72, 79 n.5 (1990). The Court’s April 19, 2016 opinion in Hughes
Is It Express? Is It Implied? Is It Preempted? Read More »
Federal preemption aficionados will find today’s seemingly ho-hum Supreme Court decision in Gobielle v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. to be of considerable interest. The Court held that ERISA expressly preempts a Vermont statute requiring disclosure of ERISA-regulated health care plan payment information. According to Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion, ERISA “contains what may be the most
Can Congress Go Too Far in Preempting State Law ? Read More »
Most of the commentary on the Supreme Court’s June 9, 2014 decision in CTS Corp. v. Waldburger, No. 13-339, has focused on the holding that CERCLA does not preempt state statutes of repose which, after a set number of years, extinguish environmental and toxic tort claims—even if the plaintiff-friendly state statute of limitations that § 9658 of CERCLA mandates has not
Supreme Court Still Divided Over How To Interpret Express Preemption Provisions Read More »
Larry Ebner’s Legal Backgrounder, published by the Washington Legal Foundation, discusses a Presidential Memorandum that purported to curtail the ability of federal department and agencies to issue regulations that preempt state and local law.
President Obama’s “Preemption Memo”: Much To Do About Very Little Read More »
Larry Ebner’s Legal Backgrounder, published by the Washington Legal Foundation, debunks four myths about federal preemption of state tort claims that involve federally-regulated products.
Four Myths About Federal Preemption of State Tort Claims Read More »
An article written by Daniel Fisher at Forbes.com quotes Larry Ebner about the significance of Food and Drug Administration approval of label warnings that are alleged to be inadequate in failure-to-warn suits. “The Supreme Court seems to make it more confusing every time it issues one of these decisions,” Ebner said.
Ebner Quoted On FDA Drug Preemption Read More »
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2005 opinion in Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, 544 U.S. 431, pesticide manufacturers need to develop new, sophisticated approaches when raising FIFRA preemption as a defense to inadequate labeling and failure-to-warn claims. Read more in this article.
FIFRA Preemption After Bates v. Dow AgroSciences Read More »
