Free Republic

The house always wins. That’s what matters—fairness, impartiality, the very idea of a non-partisan application of the law be damned. Welcome to the end of the republic. I think that it was the great Miranda Devine, she of the “laptop from hell” fame, who first called the world’s attention to the latest wrinkle in the long-running “Get Trump” extravaganza in New York. Anyway, I first heard about it from her post on X Friday. “If this is legit,” she wrote, commenting on a letter purportedly from Acting Justice Juan Merchan to Donald Trump’s Counsel and the Manhattan DA’s office, “it...

Now that former President Donald Trump's trial has wrapped up, all eyes are on Hunter Biden, who's facing trial in Delaware for federal gun charges. The sitting president's son is the first child of a president to be indicted on federal charges. According to Breitbart, Hunter Biden might have something to worry about, as the judge overseeing the case previously sentenced someone in a similar case to one year of prison. [snip] Judge Maryellen Noreika has experience sentencing defendants with similar crimes, including an instance recently in which she sentenced Zhi Dong for lying on his federal background check form...

COLORADO (KCNC) — A Colorado judge who accepted a public censure and resigned following accusations of sexually charged conduct at work is striking back at the state investigation into his behavior calling it “disproportionate punishment for the crime.” He is claiming state administrators wanted to embarrass, ridicule, and shame him for his alternative lifestyle. “The investigation was overzealous and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” said former Judge John Scipione in his first media interview, “It could have been resolved in its infancy. This case is about a waste of taxpayer dollars and a vindictive, nasty witch hunt aimed at destroying...

Most Americans probably do not like it, but it is a sign of the times. Judicial nominees appear to be no longer selected because of their education, experience, and exceptional knowledge and application of the law. But for their ideological bent, how they can help the party in power in Washington D.C. and elsewhere. They are picked, or not picked, for the cases they might hear, on their political views, and how those views might affect how they rule. It is during the nomination process that the responses of those nominees are getting downright silly, but they have real-world consequences.Biden...

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that New York Judge Juan Merchan should consider former President Donald Trump’s comments about being jailed while sentencing. Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump said, “I think it would be tough for the public to take, you know at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.” Guest host Kasie Hunt said, “Considering that the sentencing is likely to occur, just days before the start of the convention and months before he’s to be the Republican nominee in November do you think it would be...

Judge Merchan made sure to let the jurors know who is in charge of the sham trial. Per Paul Ingrassia: Judge Merchan tells the jurors that “nothing the lawyers said is evidence” and “nothing said during the summations is evidence.” Merchan: You and you alone are the judges of the facts of this case. Merchan: I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPLAINING THE LAW, NOT THE LAWYERS. YOUR SWORN DUTY AS JURORS IS TO FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LAW, AS YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD. Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors fumed after Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said Trump shouldn’t be sent to...

While Donald Trump mounts an interlocutory appeal that he hopes will end with Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ (D) disqualification from prosecuting him, Willis is challenging the dismissal of several charges against the former president and his allies. In a Thursday filing in Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s court, Willis filed her notice of “cross appeal” to overturn the judge’s March 13 ruling favorable to the defense — this, as the defense guns for the DA’s ouster. “The state’s cross appeal corresponds to the Defendants’ interlocutory appeal of this Court’s ‘ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS AND DISQUALIFY...

A high-flying Texas judge overseeing a number of significant criminal trials has mysteriously been missing from the courtroom for nearly a month amid concerns of manic behavior and a police interaction, according to a report. Judge Kelli Johnson, one of Harris County’s longest-serving current jurists, hasn’t been seen at the 178th District Courthouse in Houston since May 1 — with no explanation on where she has gone or when she’s set to return, ABC13 reported. A court spokesperson has so far only confirmed “Johnson is out for personal matters” after initially refusing to address the judge’s unexplained absence. But an...

Sen. Ted Cruz did a masterly takedown of a radical left-wing magistrate judge in a line of questions over her decision to place a 6 foot 2 inch transgender 'woman' with full male genitalia convicted of child rapes and passing child pornography into a women's prison after she dismissed warnings from prison officials. The exchange can be seen here: Absolute FIRE line of questioning from @SenTedCruz today 🔥🔥🔥 bravo! "Do they have the right to not have a 6'2" man who is a repeat serial rapist put in as their cell mate?" pic.twitter.com/TSzIMjdmmi — Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 23, 2024The...

An Oklahoma judge already facing a felony case in Texas in connection with an alleged drive-by shooting and road rage crash now faces an indictment for allegedly perpetrating a drive-by shooting at his brother in-law’s house in the Sooner State. Investigators said the victim was stopped at a traffic light and Lovell “nearly” pushed her car “into cross traffic.” After his arrest, the judge allegedly claimed not to remember anything about the shooting but acknowledged rear-ending the other driver who “cut him off.” Cops said he “did not admit the collisions were intentional,” though. Read the Oklahoma indictment here. The...

A federal judge ruled against Jack Smith in the ‘election interference’ case against Donald Trump. The judge restricted Smith’s actions after Trump’s legal team accused Smith of violating a stay order. Trump’s team appealed to determine if he’s covered by presidential immunity. The judge agreed with Trump’s team, restricting further substantive pretrial motions. However, the judge refused to hold Smith and his prosecutors in contempt due to unclear restrictions. "The court agrees … diligent defense counsel will need to conduct a preliminary review of each substantive motion the Government files in order to know whether they need to take further...

The litigation is the latest in a long line of complaints against a dysfunctional elections commission and its embattled administrator.A Marinette County judge on Friday slapped a temporary restraining order on the Wisconsin Elections Commission in a lawsuit alleging the election regulator puts Badger State voters in the untenable position of committing election fraud or opting not to cast an absentee ballot. The litigation is the latest in a long line of complaints against a dysfunctional elections commission and its embattled administrator, an agency that has had trouble following Wisconsin election law over its tumultuous existence. WEC’s latest controversial decision...

CNN — In the high-stakes criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, the defendant isn’t the only one campaigning. In an election year oddity, both the prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and the judge presiding over the case, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, are fighting to keep their seats. “They probably a little nervous,” Willis said with a nod to her team as she took the stage at a recent Democratic Party awards dinner. “They write all these speeches and then I say what I wanna say.” Such is the high-wire act for the...

CHANDLER, Arizona — In a packed courtroom on Tuesday, a judge dismissed charges filed against 71 protesters arrested in late April at the Arizona State University Campus. The judge dismissed the cases without prejudice at the University Lakes Justice Court in Chandler, Arizona. The ruling by Democrat Justice of the Peace Tyler Kissell means the protesters are free to go but may face future prosecution if authorities file charges within the next year. According to a court spokesperson, the pro-Hamas protesters all faced trespassing charges. Breitbart Texas attended the hearing and observed supporters gathering outside the courthouse to rally on...

A “woke” Washington, DC, judge is facing backlash after he opted to cut loose an 18-year-old accused of firing more than two dozen rounds from an AR-15 into a car full of people. Lloyd U. Nolan Jr., a judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, last week ordered Amonte Moody to be released on house arrest ahead of his trial — despite acknowledging that the teen’s alleged actions could have killed someone. Moody, who was slapped with charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, had allegedly sprayed 26 shots at an SUV carrying four people on Independence...

The Justice Department faced criticism on Friday for pushing back on a federal court's order to expedite the timeline for determining whether recordings of President Biden's interviews with then-Special Counsel Robert Hur should be released. The situation developed after advocacy groups filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the recording last month. The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, as well as Judicial Watch and CNN, all filed requests seeking the release of the tapes, which congressional Republicans have sought and unsuccessfully subpoenaed. The three organizations' FOIA requests were combined into one suit. In April, the DOJ announced it would...

Judge Juan Merchan admitted in court Monday that former President Donald Trump could become “the next president” — a tacit acknowledgement not only of recent favorable polls, but that his business records trial is occurring in the middle of a presidential election with direct bearing on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. “The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan warned Trump about violating a gag order placed on him. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” Merchan said Monday he would consider jail time for Trump if he continued to violate a gag order he...

NEW YORK — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has fined him $1,000 for violating his gag order and sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time. The fine marks the second sanction for Trump for inflammatory comments about witnesses since the start of the trial last month. He was fined $9,000 last week for nine violations. Judge Juan M. Merchan warned Monday that additional gag order violations could potentially result in jail time, though he said that was “the last thing I want to do.” Prosecutors in Trump’s hush money trial...

NYC judge retiring to Florida days after setting free deranged brute who broke mom-of-three’s jaw The turn-em-loose judge who released an alleged predator who randomly sucker-punches people left the bench Friday — just days after the bizarre ruling — and is moving to Florida. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Sciarrino retired with more than a year-and-a-half left on his mayoral appointment, two days after setting free the deranged suspect accused of socking Dulche Pichardo of Crown Heights in the face and breaking the 57-year-old mother-of-three’s jaw.

New York County Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that former President Donald Trump violated a gag order during his trial, holding him in criminal contempt and threatening him with jail time for any further infractions.