Class action

Los Angeles is in confidential mediation with attorneys monitoring a nearly $1.4 billion, 30-year settlement requiring the city to repair sidewalks and build curb ramps for residents with mobility disabilities. The settlement, from a class-action lawsuit, is in its 10th year. Monitoring lawyers say the city has repeatedly breached its terms, citing a backlog of nearly 5,000 repair requests and slow curb-ramp installation during street resurfacing. The city has completed about 1,750 repairs since 2016 and says it meets the required $31 million annual funding level (now about $36 million with inflation adjustments), though officials acknowledge that funding is insufficient to clear the citywide backlog. If mediation fails, lawyers may ask a federal court to intervene.

Folly Beach City Council voted 4-3 at a Sept. 22 special meeting to authorize its attorney to consent to moving a lawsuit over the island's short-term rental limits directly to the South Carolina Supreme Court, skipping the Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs Elizabeth Spratt Cooper and Park Lane Partners, LLC, requested the transfer on Sept. 18, arguing that because the rental limits were enacted via a 2023 citizen referendum, state rules give the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction over election-related appeals.

The underlying case stems from a 2024 lawsuit challenging the city's rental permit limits. In August, a Charleston County circuit judge ruled the city's rental registration fee an unlawful tax; Folly Beach has since eliminated the fee, though a class action over it has been proposed. The city is appealing the ruling. City Administrator Aaron Pope noted the transfer would speed up resolution and make the ruling final, but would eliminate further appeal options. The Supreme Court must still agree to hear the case, which it may do if the matter involves significant public interest or major legal principles.

Ohio's Bureau of Motor Vehicles misinterpreted a 2019 law entitling qualifying disabled veterans to free specialty license plates, then spent years and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars fighting a lawsuit over the error rather than promptly correcting it. Army veteran Jack Kacin sued in 2023 after the BMV charged him for plates and failed to refund him despite years of attempts. The agency acknowledged the overcharges but still contested Kacin's bid for class-action status before losing on appeal.

A settlement approved by Judge Lisa Sadler, which could become final by mid-2027, requires the BMV to pay $365,000 in legal fees plus $10,000 to Kacin and to notify veterans who may be owed refunds. The BMV previously refunded about $535,885 to 3,600 veterans, but Kacin's attorney says roughly 23,000 more may still be eligible. Officials cited a "duty to defend" state actions even when disagreeing with them, while critics questioned the cost of contesting a claim the state admitted was valid.

Missouri's congressional map dispute continues even after two Supreme Court setbacks for Republicans. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins conceded during a contempt hearing and reverted to the state's 2022 congressional map after the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously found he improperly blocked a citizen referendum, which had gathered roughly 300,000 signatures, to suspend the GOP's 2025 map. That map would have shifted the delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 Republican.

Five Missouri voters have since sued Hoskins, seeking roughly $80 million in damages on behalf of about 162,000 people whose referendum signatures were verified, alleging he violated statutory duties by improperly rejecting the petition and repeatedly directing election authorities to use the invalid 2025 map.

Republicans, including Rep. Bob Onder, Gov. Mike Kehoe, and Hoskins, are still pursuing the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has expedited briefing ahead of the Sept. 19 overseas ballot deadline. Legal scholars note the Supreme Court's stay effectively controls the outcome regardless of the appeals court's ruling, with broader implications for the 2026 midterm balance of power.