PRACTITIONER BLOG
Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law
Class Action Challenging Voter Suppression in Tennessee Survives Motion to Dismiss
Under Tennessee law, anyone convicted of a felony after 1981 is stripped of the right to vote. The result of this policy is that more than 9% of the total voting age population of Tennessee – and more than 21% of African-American voting age population – cannot vote. Despite more than 365,000 Tennesseans having completed their entire felony sentences, including probation and parole, only about 3,400 people have successfully obtained Certificates of Restoration since 2016 – less than 1%.
“With Friends Like These” - How Not to Write an Amicus Brief: More Lessons On Class Action Law From Mr. T v. Social Media
Prompted by former President Trump’s spate of class actions against Facebook, Twitter, and Google, we recently shared some best practice tips on filing class actions, a topic close to our hearts. A new court filing and order in Mr. Trump’s case against Twitter offers us yet another opportunity to weigh in on a different and important subject to the Impact Fund’s mission—writing effective amicus briefs. So what have we learned? Write an amicus brief that actually says what you say it says. Write an amicus brief that is about an issue actually in the case. Don’t include six-page footnotes. Don’t suggest that the judge needs something explained at a fifth-grade level. Don’t tell the judge to issue an edict that the legislature pass a better law than the one on the books.
SCOTUS Rules on TransUnion v. Ramirez Class Action: "We Decide If It’s a Federal Case, Not Congress."
On the one hand, the outcome is hardly surprising. The conservative majority has once again limited access to the federal courts for consumers to challenge corporate malfeasance, erecting ever higher threshold procedural hurdles. On the other hand, the decision holds some interesting surprises, including a full-throated defense of the rights of the injured consumers by the dissenting Justice Thomas, joined by Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor. The decision is well worth a close read.