Many apologies for providing you all with just a linkdump for my Tuesday entry, but I’m lying in bed with a triple-digit fever.  Still, there are certainly other legal blogs that do a thoughtful job of covering class-action issues, and I’m lucky that several of them have great entries right now.

  • Justice Scalia has stayed a Louisiana state court ruling requiring tobacco companies to pay into a $241 million dollar "quit smoking" fund.  His reason: it’s "significantly possible" that the Court may overturn the decision on constitutional grounds.  Specifically: “the extent to which class treatment may constitutionally reduce the normal requirements of due process is an important question.”  [SCOTUSblog]
  • The Second Circuit has held, in a divisive 2-1 split, that the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) does not apply to corporations. This should have a huge effect on international human-rights class actions.  [Mass Tort Defense]
  • Wal-Mart’s certiorari petition asking the Supreme Court to review the Ninth’s Circuit’s Dukes v. Wal-Mart opinion has drawn a number of high-powered amicus briefs.  [WSJ Law Blog]

Come back again on Thursday, when regular content should resume.