Supreme Court stays out of W.R. Grace dispute
June 23, 2008
The Supreme Court declined to step into a dispute over the definition of “asbestos,” dashing the hopes of Columbia-based W.R. Grace & Co. and six of its former executives. The decision allows the prosecution to move forward with criminal charges under the Clean Air Act for the release of asbestos from its vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana, prior to 1990.
If convicted, Grace faces fines of $280 million and the individual defendants face prison time of up to 15 years, Bloomberg News reports. The case is W.R. Grace & Co. v. United States, 07-1286 and 1287. We’ll have more on this story in tomorrow’s Daily Record.
In other action, the high court issued three opinions – one on sentencing, one on right to counsel, and one on a collection agent’s right to sue Sprint and AT&T on behalf of pay-phone operators (PDFs). Details are available on our sister blog, DC Dicta.
Nothing yet on the Exxon Valdez damages award, the D.C. handgun-ban challenge or whether rape can be a capital crime, all of which will be coming out any day now. Literally.
BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
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