WJI daily reads for Dec. 17, 2021

 The New York Times: Judge rejects Sackler family bankruptcy settlement that let them avoid lawsuits over opioids.

The judge, Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said that the settlement, part of a restructuring plan for Purdue approved in September by a bankruptcy judge, should not go forward because it releases the company’s owners, members of the billionaire Sackler family, from liability in civil opioid-related cases.

Although the Sacklers did not file for personal bankruptcy protection, they had made immunization from opioid claims an absolute requirement in exchange for contributing payments amounting to $4.5 billion to the agreement.

But the bankruptcy code, Judge McMahon said, does not explicitly permit a judge to grant such releases, which she called “the great unsettled question.”

CNN: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sends Texas abortion law case to appeals court instead of a district court less likely to agree with him.

"Last week's decision already made it unlikely that providers would be able to resume offering abortions in Texas after any time soon," said Steve Vladeck, a CNN legal analyst and a professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law. "Today's order will only increase that delay, especially if the Court of Appeals certifies a question to the Texas Supreme Court rather than returning the case to the district court," he said.

WXOW: Wisconsin appeals court refuses to reinstate frac sand pit permit.

Law & Crime: Man gets longest sentence thus far in Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

AP: Court upholds Trump administration ban on gun bump stocks.

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