On December 18, 2018, the parties to this class-action dispute reached an amicable settlement, and (at their request) the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the certiorari petition filed in the case. In August, WLF filed a brief urging the Court to grant the petition. WLF sought to overturn an appeals court decision that undermined class-wide settlements by permitting States to file copycat lawsuits despite benefiting from the prior settlement. WLF argued that States are entitled to the same procedural protections afforded to other class members—no more and no less—and that the Eleventh Amendment does not protect States from being bound by class-action settlements. After participating as an absent class member in a class-wide settlement of antitrust claims against a drug company, Louisiana filed its own, identical claims against the company. The appeals court refused to enjoin the copycat lawsuit, concluding that the Eleventh Amendment immunizes States from being bound by class actions.
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