Whether, or in what circumstances, a court may approve a settlement as 'fair, reasonable, and adequate' under Rule 23(e)(2) when it pays a substantial cy pres award to third parties from the settlement fund

QUESTION PRESENTED The Fighth Circuit affirmed Rule 23(e)(2) approval of a class-action settlement that distributed roughly $16 million to uninjured nonprofits as so-called cy pres, $12 million to class members (with about 98% of the class—about ten million members—receiving no cash), and $10 million to attorneys. The Eighth Circuit rejected First Amendment and fairness challenges to the settlement subsidizing left-leaning organizations without consent of class members because absent class members had no property interest in the settlement funds, breaking with decisions of the Fifth and Seventh Circuits that such settlement funds belong to the class, rather than the attorneys. The question presented is: Whether, or in what circumstances, a court may approve a settlement as “fair, reasonable, and adequate” under Rule 23(e)(2) when it pays a substantial cy pres award to third parties from the settlement fund.