Background: The Wyoming Supreme Court held that the State’s public-school funding model violated students’ state constitutional rights because its teacher-salary component no longer approximated true costs and the legislature had not properly accounted for inflation. The decision revives judicial enforcement of Wyoming’s distinctive school-finance doctrine: education is a fundamental right, and funding disparities not explained by…
Held: The court affirmed the operational-funding rulings. Wyoming’s legislative funding model must estimate, as closely as reasonably possible, the true cost of every component the legislature has deemed essential to an adequate education. The record supported findings that modeled salaries had not kept pace with what districts needed to recruit and retain qualified teachers. The court rejected the State’s theory that…
Background: The Utah Supreme Court reversed a court of appeals decision that had set aside Joshua Clayton Nelson's misdemeanor conviction for failing to stop at a peace officer's command. A state park ranger patrolling the Provo River saw Nelson and two friends kayaking without life jackets. The ranger ordered them to exit the river. They continued…
Held: Justice Diana Hagen Nielsen's opinion held that the court of appeals applied the wrong perspective to the evidence. A directed-verdict motion fails when some evidence, viewed with all reasonable inferences in favor of the jury's verdict, permits a reasonable jury to find the element beyond a reasonable doubt. Here, the ranger expressly warned Nelson to get out of the river…
Background: Matera operates an online platform for condominium associations that have adopted France’s cooperative-management model. Beginning in March 2020, it promoted its services through a campaign using slogans including “Thank your property manager for good—vote for Matera at the next general meeting” and “Thank your property manager and switch to Matera.” Its subscription provided access to…
Held: The Court of Cassation dismissed all appeals. It held that Matera did not unlawfully perform the functions of a condominium property manager. French condominium rules allow a cooperative property manager to obtain advice and technical assistance and, while retaining responsibility, entrust certain tasks to outside providers. Matera’s services remained assistance and support: it automatically generated documents without signing them, provided…
Background: Moshe Beigel, a British citizen born in 2000, came to Israel with his parents shortly after birth. His parents declared on his behalf that he did not wish to become an Israeli citizen, and he was registered as a permanent resident and issued an Israeli identification number. The family returned to Britain in 2004. Beigel…
Held: The Supreme Court dismissed the petition because Beigel had an adequate alternative remedy. The central dispute was his legal status in Israel, and his military-service arguments depended on the resolution of that threshold question. Under the Entry into Israel Law, he could appeal the permanent-residency determination to the Appeals Tribunal and, if necessary, bring an administrative appeal from the Tribunal's…
Background: Berwick Solar and Central Maine Power Company entered into a standard-form agreement for connecting Berwick Solar’s photovoltaic facility to CMP’s distribution system. Berwick Solar paid the estimated interconnection cost of $65,522 plus SCADA costs, and the project became operational in May 2021. Berwick Solar had declined a facilities study that would have produced a more…
Held: The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed. It held that the regulation unambiguously requires an interconnection customer to pay the actual construction costs of its interconnection and does not condition that obligation on the utility’s timely delivery of a reconciliation statement. The prescribed consequence for a utility’s failure to meet regulatory timelines is the possibility of financial penalties, not cancellation of…
Background: Nirmeen Noufl pleaded guilty to manslaughter in full discharge of an indictment alleging that she murdered her husband, Mamdouh Noufl. The plea was accepted on the basis of excessive self-defence. During a physical confrontation at their Greenacre home, Mr Noufl pursued and assaulted her, pinned her to the kitchen floor and choked her. Believing her…
Held: Hamill J convicted Noufl of manslaughter and imposed a total sentence of six years and nine months, comprising a three-year non-parole period and a balance of term of three years and nine months. The sentence was backdated to her arrest on 4 October 2024, making her first eligible for parole on 4 October 2027, with the full term expiring on…
Background: The husband and wife divorced after a marriage lasting approximately seven years. They have three young children, two of whom displayed signs of special needs. The District Judge made ancillary orders concerning joint custody, the wife’s care and control of the children, the husband’s access, child maintenance, spousal maintenance, and division of matrimonial assets.
Held: The High Court allowed both appeals in part. It rejected the husband’s arguments that child maintenance had to undergo a separate “top-down” test, should be benchmarked against Singapore’s median income, or amounted to disguised spousal maintenance. The children’s reasonable needs were to be assessed with regard to the parents’ means and station in life, including the children’s pre-existing standard of…
Background: Melvin Q. Young was arrested after Officer Justice Bowman saw him inside a parked car that had been reported stolen three days earlier. The car had a missing driver-side door handle, a punched ignition, and interior and exterior damage. As the marked police cruiser approached, Young exited the vehicle and walked away. The owner testified…
Held: The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed. Without deciding the mens rea required for unlawful entry of a vehicle, the court assumed for purposes of the appeal that the government had to prove Young knew he lacked permission to enter. It held that the evidence, though not overwhelming, was sufficient under that standard. The car’s obvious signs of theft…
Background: LBZ, a Chinese national living in the United Kingdom since 2018, claimed that he had been trafficked and exploited while working in kitchens and construction. The Home Secretary accepted his account of physical abuse, withheld or reduced wages, work-linked accommodation and vulnerability. A decision dated 28 October 2025 nevertheless found no reasonable grounds to believe…
Held: Mr Justice Sheldon refused permission on Ground 1. He held that it was not arguable that the statutory guidance or decision annex unlawfully restricted the concept of exploitation to forced labour or applied an incorrect definition of forced labour. The materials recognized several forms of exploitation and correctly treated adult trafficking as requiring action, means and an exploitative purpose. Their…
Background: Jamie Walsh was remanded in custody after the District Court refused him bail on 20 July 2026. He faced charges including robbery, burglary and failure to appear, as well as an earlier charge of possessing stolen property. Walsh, who was unrepresented at the District Court bail hearing, brought an inquiry under Article 40.4.2° of the…
Held: Mr. Justice Garrett Simons held that the 7 August proceeding was an application for conventional bail—not merely interim release during the Article 40 inquiry. The order’s language, the manner in which the hearing was conducted and the grounds on which bail was refused all showed that the High Court had exercised its full and original bail jurisdiction.
Background: The April 28, 2025 federal election in Terrebonne, Quebec, ended with Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste defeating Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné by one vote after a judicial recount. An Elections Canada employee had printed an incorrect postal code on prepaid return envelopes for several mail-in ballots. Although the employee discovered the mistake more than three…
Held: By a 6–3 majority, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal and annulled the Terrebonne election. It held that an “irregularity” under s. 524(1)(b) can include a serious administrative error that is honest, unintentional, and does not breach a statutory provision. The decisive consideration is whether the error was capable of undermining a voter’s franchise.
Background: Washington voters approved Initiative 2066 in November 2024. The measure required certain utilities and municipalities to provide natural gas to eligible customers, restricted rate plans and building-code provisions that could discourage gas use, constrained local governments and air-pollution agencies, removed certain zero-emission goals, and amended portions of the Washington Decarbonization Act for Large Combination Utilities.
Held: The court affirmed the judgment on the narrower ground that Initiative 2066 violated article II, section 19’s single-subject requirement. Although the initiative had a general title, its provisions lacked the required rational unity because they produced substantially distinct regulatory effects, including mandating access to natural gas, restricting local air-quality regulation, changing statewide building-code policy, and repealing the Decarbonization Act’s severability…