The court holds that it cannot declare as a matter of law that a Minnesota statute prohibiting the sale of petroleum-based cleaning products does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court first holds that the statute's language clearly and unambiguously prohibits all Minnes...

The court remands the question whether a South Carolina statutory cap on in-state commercial incineration of infectious waste violates the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause for further proceedings on whether the state legislature enacted it for a discriminatory purpose and whether the statute disc...

The court reverses and remands district court judgments that applied the incorrect legal standard concerning challenges under the dormant Commerce Clause to two Pennsylvania counties' solid waste flow-control plans, which generally require waste haulers to dispose of solid waste generated within the...

The court holds that New Jersey solid waste flow-control regulations probably violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, but grants only a conditional preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the regulations for construction and demolition debris. The court first addresses the cla...

The court holds that under New York law, an unconstitutional section in a local waste flow-control ordinance is severable from the constitutionally valid remaining provisions of the ordinance. The court first holds that plaintiffs' claims are ripe for adjudication. Plaintiffs do not have to obtain a...

The court holds that New Jersey's solid-waste flow-control laws and regulations violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court first notes that the laws and regulations are subject to strict scrutiny because the Third Circuit has already held that they discriminate against interstat...

The court holds that a city's denial of a developer's permit application to develop 37.6 acres of oceanfront property did not substantially advance a legitimate public purpose and denied the developer all economically viable use of its property. The developer brought a civil rights action under 42 U...

The court reverses and remands a district court contempt order imposing over $114 million in sanctions against a chemical manufacturing company for violating the court's discovery orders. The district court found that the company deliberately withheld critical test documents during a trial regarding...

The court holds that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) acted within the scope of its discretion in issuing a regulation that established a rebuttable presumption that loose closures on railroad tank cars transporting hazardous materials result from the shipper's failure to conduct a proper...

The court rejects a district court trial plan that provided for a unitary trial on general liability and causation in a mass tort case against an oil company that owned a crude oil storage waste pit on which plaintiff-appellees' homes were built. The trial plan provided for a bellwether group of 30 ...