ABA Judgment Wasn't a Settlement, N.Y. OAG Tells 2nd Circuit

A district court's decision barring New York from enforcing the 2021 Affordable Broadband Act is an appealable final decision because that stipulated final judgment wasn't the result of a settlement among the parties, the state Office of the Attorney General told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday in docket 21-1975. Its letter expanded on issues brought up in oral argument earlier this month (see 2301120041). The parties "remain adverse" despite the stipulated final judgment, and defendant-appellant New York Attorney General Letitia James "remains aggrieved by the final judgment," it said. Even if the stipulated final judgment were "somehow akin" to a consent judgment, the state still has the right to appeal the declaratory judgment and permanent injunction, it said. Counsel for the plaintiff-appellees didn't comment.