Mississippi AG Objects to Google Rehearing Petition on 5th Circuit's Subpoena Case
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood formally objected Monday to Google’s petition to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its April ruling that invalidated a 2015 preliminary injunction against Hood that barred him from enforcing his subpoena looking…
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into Google’s search practices. The 5th Circuit said Judge Henry Wingate’s injunction “covers a fuzzily defined range of enforcement actions that do not appear imminent” (see 1604110058). Google had said a rehearing is needed because Hood subsequently withdrew his subpoena (see 1604280046). Google’s rehearing petition “is anything but narrow,” said Hood, a Democrat, in his objection (in Pacer). “In reality, Google’s requested relief would effectively transform the now-vacated injunction (which Google does not contest) into declaratory relief having virtually the same effect as the vacated injunction.” Google’s argument for rehearing “jettisons” the 5th Circuit’s ruling that at this stage “any claims [Hood] might bring in the future are ‘hypothetical situations,’” Hood said. “This rationale applies to claims for both injunctive and declaratory relief; possible future claims are no less hypothetical for one form of relief but not the other.” Whether Google’s claims are injunctive or declaratory, they “are not ripe and dismissal is correct,” Hood said.