Law & Court Decisions — 2026-05-13

Supreme Court & Federal Courts

Alito's VRA Opinion Cited Misleading DOJ Data — U.S. Supreme Court (Aftermath)

• Holding: A Guardian analysis published May 8 found that data from a DOJ filing quoted in Justice Alito's landmark Louisiana v. Callais majority opinion "relied on questionable methodology," raising questions about the evidentiary foundation of the ruling that effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act's key enforcement provision.
• Vote / posture: The original 6-3 ruling was finalized and given immediate effect earlier this week after the Court rejected a last-ditch request to stay or reverse it.
• Why it matters: If the empirical basis of the majority opinion is flawed, it strengthens arguments for congressional action to restore the VRA and may fuel future litigation over redistricting maps now being redrawn under the new standard. Civil rights groups are already mapping challenges under state voting-rights statutes.

11th Circuit Rejects Trump Mandatory Immigration Detention Policy — U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit

• Holding: A divided Eleventh Circuit ruled against the Trump administration's blanket no-bond detention policy for noncitizens arrested in immigration enforcement operations, holding it conflicts with the governing statute.
• Vote / posture: Decision issued May 6; deepens a circuit split—the Second and Eleventh Circuits now oppose the policy while at least one other circuit has allowed it to stand.
• Why it matters: The circuit split makes Supreme Court review highly likely. Until then, the policy's enforceability varies by geography, creating immediate confusion for immigration courts. Detainees in the Second and Eleventh Circuits now have renewed grounds to seek bond hearings.

State AGs Accelerating Independent Antitrust Enforcement — Multiple Federal Fora

• Holding: A Reuters legal analysis published May 7 documents a sustained surge in state attorney general antitrust enforcement, with states continuing cases independently even when federal agencies settle—as illustrated by state co-plaintiffs winning the Live Nation litigation after DOJ settled during trial.
• Vote / posture: Ongoing enforcement pattern; no single ruling, but describes a structural shift in how antitrust law is being applied across the country.
• Why it matters: Companies that negotiate federal settlements can no longer assume they have resolved all exposure. State AGs with independent authority are pursuing remedies—including breakups and behavioral restrictions—that exceed what federal agencies accepted.

Tech Antitrust & Regulatory Battles

Amazon & Microsoft vs. EU Regulators (DMA Cloud/AI Investigation) — European Commission

• What happened this week: Reuters reported (April 28–29) that EU regulators have opened investigations into whether Amazon and Microsoft should be formally designated as "gatekeepers" for their cloud-computing services under the Digital Markets Act, extending DMA reach beyond the consumer-facing platforms that were the law's original focus.
• Stakes: Gatekeeper designation would require the companies to open interfaces to rivals, limit self-preferencing, and face fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for non-compliance. Regulators are also examining whether the DMA's text adequately covers anticompetitive AI practices.
• Status: Investigations ongoing; no formal designation yet. If designated, compliance timelines would follow.

FTC vs. Meta (Antitrust Appeal) — U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit

• What happened this week: The FTC's appeal of its November 2025 district court loss against Meta remains pending. The agency is seeking to reverse the ruling that found Meta did not hold an illegal social media monopoly. The lawfold.com case tracker (updated May 11) notes the appeal could reshape how platform markets are analyzed.
• Stakes: If the FTC prevails, Meta could face a forced spin-off of Instagram and/or WhatsApp—the agency's original demand.
• Status: Appeal pending in D.C. Circuit; no oral argument date set as of this writing.

Google Search Antitrust — Remedies Phase — U.S. District Court (D.D.C.)

• What happened this week: The DOJ's remedies phase in United States v. Google continues; hearings on proposed structural and behavioral remedies are ongoing. No new ruling issued this week, but the remedy proceedings remain the highest-stakes antitrust matter in active litigation.
• Stakes: Possible remedies include mandatory default-search unbundling, divestiture of the Chrome browser, and data-sharing requirements.
• Status: Remedies trial ongoing; Judge Mehta has not yet issued his remedy order.

Other Notable Rulings & Enforcement

• EU Big Tech Crackdown Roundup (Reuters, April 29): A Reuters overview published this week confirms that Apple was fined €500 million and Meta €200 million under the DMA in April 2025 for non-compliance. In the same period, Britain's Competition and Markets Authority invoked new statutory powers to demand specific behavioral changes from major platforms. This sets the legislative and enforcement backdrop against which the new cloud/AI investigations are unfolding.

• Starbucks / NLRB Subpoena Ruling (5th Circuit): The Fifth Circuit ruled that the NLRB wrongly found Starbucks violated federal labor law by issuing overly broad subpoenas in an unfair labor practice case—a case Starbucks ultimately won. The decision limits the NLRB's authority to police discovery conduct in cases where the underlying charge later fails, a procedural win with implications for how the Board conducts parallel investigations.

Case of the Week — Deep Dive

The VRA Data Controversy: How Flawed Evidence Reached the Supreme Court

Background: In Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court's six conservative justices—led by Justice Alito—held 6-3 that Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district violated the Equal Protection Clause, effectively gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as a tool for minority representation claims. The decision was finalized and given immediate effect this week after the Court refused a last-ditch effort to stay or reverse it.

What the court/regulator said: The Guardian's exclusive analysis, published May 8, reveals that statistical data cited in the majority opinion came from a DOJ filing that used "questionable methodology." The Guardian's review found the underlying numbers do not support the conclusions drawn from them in the opinion. Neither the DOJ nor the Court's press office has publicly responded to the findings.

Ripple effects: The revelation lands at a uniquely sensitive moment. State legislatures across the South are already redrawing maps under the new standard, and any uncertainty about the opinion's factual foundation will fuel litigation over those maps. Civil rights organizations have already signaled they will challenge redrawn maps under state constitutional provisions—a strategy the VRA ruling does not foreclose. Congressional Democrats are circulating legislative responses, though passage in the current Senate remains unlikely. Academic legal scholars note that bad empirical premises in a SCOTUS majority opinion cannot be corrected through the normal appellate process; only congressional legislation or a future case can address the doctrinal outcome.

What to Watch Next

• May 15 (approx.) — Google Search Remedies Hearings Continue (U.S. District Court, D.D.C.): Judge Mehta's next scheduled remedies session will hear witnesses on the DOJ's proposed structural relief; could produce the first substantive signals on whether Chrome divestiture is on the table.
• May/June window — EU DMA Cloud Gatekeeper Determination: The European Commission is expected to issue a preliminary finding on whether Amazon and Microsoft cloud services qualify for gatekeeper designation; formal designation would trigger a 6-month compliance clock.
• Ongoing — 11th Circuit Immigration Detention Cert Watch: With the 2nd and 11th Circuits now conflicting with other circuits on mandatory detention, the Supreme Court is likely to grant certiorari in the October 2026 term—watch for a cert petition from the Solicitor General.
• June 2026 (estimate) — FTC v. Meta D.C. Circuit Briefing Schedule: Expect FTC's opening brief to be filed, laying out the legal theory the agency will press to revive the case.

Reader Takeaways

• If you run a business with operations in Europe: The EU is now seriously exploring DMA gatekeeper status for cloud services, not just consumer apps. If you rely on AWS or Azure and those platforms face new interoperability mandates, your procurement and vendor-lock-in risk calculus should be reassessed now—before any formal designation.
• If you build tech products: The Google remedies trial and the FTC's Meta appeal are the two proceedings most likely to reshape the rules of platform competition in the next 12 months. Both could require competitors' products to be distributed through dominant platforms, create new data-sharing obligations, or produce forced divestitures—any of which opens market opportunities as well as compliance burdens.
• If you're a consumer: The Supreme Court's VRA ruling means congressional maps in multiple Southern states will be redrawn to reduce majority-minority districts before the 2026 midterm elections. Your representative—and therefore your legislative representation—may change as a direct result, regardless of any new reporting about the opinion's data quality.