Federal District Court
After Waiting Two Days, Justice Department Appeals Transit Mask Ruling
Mystery surrounds the decision by the Biden administration to not ask for an immediate stay of an unanticipated district court ruling to vacate the CDC's masks-on-transit rule. Two days later they appealed as coronavirus cases increase nationwide.
U.S. District Judge Ends Federal Mask Mandate on Transit
A Trump-appointed U.S. district judge in Florida voided the Biden administration's mask mandate that applied to plane, train and bus travel. It had just been renewed by the CDC on April 13 and was due to expire on May 3.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds New York State Vaccine Mandate
Health care workers in New York will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to reject hearing an appeal brought by workers who had sought a religious exemption. Also, an update on the federal vaccine mandate.
Biden's 'Path Out of the Pandemic' Imperiled by Multiple Court Decisions
The vaccine mandate that applies to federal contractors included in President Biden's COVID plan announced in September to slow the Delta surge was halted by a federal judge in Kentucky. That's the third requirement to be paused, leaving only one.
Another Biden COVID Vaccine Mandate on Hold
Last month, a court stayed Biden's large private employer mandate that requires workers to be vaccinated or test-and-mask. On Tuesday, a federal district court judge stayed the vaccine mandate that applies nationwide to most health care workers.
Pandemic Debate: Civil Liberties vs. Individual Liberties
The American Civil Liberties Union stepped into the nation's masking debate in K-12 schools on the side of parents of students with disabilities. They won the first round in the U.S. Southern District Court of Iowa. Mask mandates are permitted again.
Supreme Court Allows Indiana University's Vaccine Mandate to Remain in Place
The Supreme Court rejected a request brought by students to block Indiana University from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. Students, faculty, and staff are required to be fully vaccinated by August 15.
Coronavirus Litigation: Students Sue University's Mandatory Vaccination Policy
Eight college students have filed a lawsuit on June 21 against Indiana University's requirement that students, staff and faculty be vaccinated against COVID-19. The state attorney general supports the students.
Coronavirus Legislation: Vaccine Choice or Anti-Vax?
If vaccines provide the means out of the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy and opposition threaten to prolong it. Battles over public health are being fought in courtrooms and statehouses like in Ohio, where a 'vaccine choice' bill is being considered.
Coronavirus Litigation: Can Employers Require Employee Vaccinations?
The plaintiffs in one of the nation's first court cases over employer-required COVID vaccinations are among the heroes of the pandemic—nurses fighting to remain unvaccinated. Houston Methodist Hospital suspended unvaccinated employees on June 6.
HUD Rule Change Allows Landlords to Use Screening Services Despite Discrimination Concerns
A revised U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule makes it more difficult to submit claims of housing discrimination when a landlord's decisions is influenced by a third-party tenant screening service.
Justice Department Challenges Hawaii Quarantine
The U.S. Justice Department has intervened in a lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs challenging Hawaii's mandatory two-week quarantine for travelers arriving on the island state. The Trump-appointed judge did not react favorably.
Religion in the Pandemic: First Amendment vs. Public Health and Safety
Conflicts between church and state are being decided in state and federal courts as governors act to protect their constituents from the coronavirus while religious institutions and their supporters seek exceptions from social gathering restrictions.
Mountain Coal States vs. West Coast Cities
A legal battle is being waged between the coal-exporting states of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana and coastal cities in California, Oregon, and Washington that pits the power of local land-use authority against the protection of interstate commerce.
NIMBY Politics Sway the Fight to Contain Coronavirus
A week after the Orange County city of Costa Mesa filed a restraining order against the federal government and the state of California over the use of a state-owned facility as an isolation site for coronavirus patients, the feds dropped the plan.
Court Ruling: Chalking Tires Amounts to Unconstitutional Search of Vehicle
A unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 22 found that the chalking of tires by parking enforcement officers on public streets is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Department of Interior Plans to Open 1 Million Acres in California to Fracking
The Bakersfield Office of the Bureau of Land Management released an environmental study that is the basis for undoing a 2013 de facto moratorium on fracking on federal lands in California. The Supplemental EIS triggers a 45-day public comment period.
Judge Halts Sales of New Coal Mining Leases on Federal Lands
Once again, the president's efforts to undo his predecessor's environmental legacy were thwarted by a court ruling. In this case, the Interior Department's failure to conduct an environmental review of a Trump executive order ran afoul of NEPA.
Judge Rules Tolls Are Taxes to Dismiss Truckers' Lawsuit Against Rhode Island
The nation's sole truck-only tolling program survived its first lawsuit after a federal judge dismissed litigation brought by the American Trucking Associations, ruling that the proper venue was state court. ATA believes it is unconstitutional.
Federal Judge in Montana Halts Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline
The Trump administration's denial of climate change may serve a political purpose, but in the courtroom, it can prove a liability. A federal judge in Montana took into account the administration's "discarding" of climate science in its ruling.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
