In Wildearth Guardians v. Zinke decided today by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Contreras, J.), the court returned to the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) the BLM’s authorization of oil and gas leasing on Federal land in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The court stated:

[T]he Court concludes that—withholding judgment on whether BLM’s leasing decisions were correct—BLM did not sufficiently consider climate change when making those decisions. BLM summarized the potential on-the-ground impacts of climate change in the state, the region, and across the country. It failed, however, to provide the information necessary for the public and agency decision makers to understand the degree to which the leasing decisions at issue would contribute to those impacts. In short, BLM did not adequately quantify the climate change impacts of oil and gas leasing.

Terry Cuff is a lawyer whose practice is focused on partnership taxation. He has submitted a long and detailed letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. The letter suggests areas in which partnership tax returns and audits might be improved.

A good deal of Terry’s letter deals with areas that only partnership tax practitioners who are “made men” (or, of course, “made women”) can fully comprehend and appreciate. (As Terry explains on page 32 of his letter “Partnership Tax is Difficult.”) However, Terry offers comments that should be of interest to a more general audience such as:

• Low Audit Rate Encourages Abuse;
• Partnerships Are Playgrounds for Abuse;
• Only 0.4% of Partnerships Are Audited;
• If You Cheat on Your Taxes, Use a Partnership;
• Examiners Need Better Pay and Better Support; and
• The IRS Competes Unfavorably With Private Industry in Recruiting Examiners.

I note that Terry has given me permission to post his letter.

I have posted the opinion of the First Judicial Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court in Zervos v. Trump. The case holds that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution does not require a state court to to defer litigation of a defamation action against a sitting president until his term ends.

I have posted the opinions, both the opinions of the Court and the dissent, in Soto v. Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC. The opinion holds that the plaintiffs’ claims under state law were not barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). Both opinions are placed together as a single file.

I could not locate a written transcript of Judge Berman’s sentencing of Paul Manafort, but I will continue to look and will post a copy as soon as I can. I have, however, uploaded a copy of her forfeiture order and a copy of the Manafort indictments in New York state.

It astonishes me that even at this late date there are people, even reasonably well-educated people, who believe that climate change will not affect them.

A report from First Street Foundation and Columbia University tracking the loss in property values along the coasts of 15 East Coast states shows that economic losses are not only occurring now, but that the losses are being incurred by literally millions of people.

The states of Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin and the District of Columbia have filed suit to block the Trump Administration’s attempt that would effectively strip millions of federal dollars from reproductive health providers that perform abortion services and referrals. A copy of the complaint is here. Here’s a link to the press release from the New York Attorney General.

In addition, the AMA, Planned Parenthood of America, and other related organizations and individuals have also filed a complaint to the same end. A copy of that complaint is here.

My understanding is that other lawsuits either have or will shortly be filed. I will attempt to track and post copies of the complaints.

California has filed a lawsuit to block the Trump Administration’s attempt that would effectively strip millions of federal dollars from reproductive health providers that perform abortion services and referrals. I have posted a copy of the complaint.

Tomorrow, there will be a similar lawsuit filed in Oregon by that state joined by about twenty other states. I will post the complaint in that case as soon as I can obtain a copy.

I have posted the written testimony of Michael Cohen submitted to the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the U.S. House of Representatives.

I have posted the statement of former security officials that has been submitted to Congress. In that statement, the former officials lay out concisely the case for concluding that “there is no factual basis for the declaration of a national emergency for the purpose of circumventing the appropriations process and reprogramming billions of dollars in funding to construct a wall at the southern border, as directed by” President Trump.