Free Republic

arlier today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutional order, limited the reach of expansive nondiscrimination laws, and protected a Christian couple from having to choose between their business and their conscience. The facts of the case are simple. The plaintiffs, Carl and Angel Larsen, are videographers who create “commercials, short films, and live-event productions.” While they work with anyone of any race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion, they will not produce videos that advance viewpoints that violate their Christian beliefs. That includes videos that “contradict biblical truth; promote sexual immorality; support the destruction of unborn children; promote...

The Satanic Temple is appealing a lawsuit against the State of Missouri on behalf of a woman who says her rights were violated when she was forced to wait 72 hours for an abortion and was required to read religious material that asserts life begins at conception. It claims the material provided is designed to produce shame over her decision and is contrary to science. According to the organization, the appeal is based on a 1989 decision handed down by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals "which explicitly states that the life of each human being begins at conception...

She’s not a senator, but Cynthia Nance plays an enormous role in shaping the debate over some of President Trump’s judicial picks. Ms. Nance, former dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, handles the American Bar Association’s judicial ratings for nominees to federal courts in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, which make up the federal 8th Circuit. The ABA’s role is one the more opaque parts of the process, but Republicans are pushing it into the light, accusing her of allowing personal bias, particularly a fealty to abortion rights, to color her ratings....

Two Christian filmmakers appeared before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul Tuesday to challenge Minnesota state law which they say illegally forces them to produce and create films expressing messages that contradict their core beliefs. Telescope Media Group owners Carl and Angel Larsen have already been threatened with hefty fines and up to 90 days in jail if they choose to disregard the law. The Larsens want to enter the wedding industry. However, the state's Human Rights Act stipulates if the couple creates films celebrating their Christian beliefs about marriage – that marriage is between one man...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said printing “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency is constitutional, citing its longstanding use and saying it was not coercive. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minnesota rejected claims by 29 atheists, children of atheists and atheist groups that inscribing the national motto on bills and coins violated their First Amendment free speech and religious rights.

Senate Republicans are set to confirm three more of President Donald Trump’s appeals court picks this week, a push that will help set a record for the most such appointments in a president’s first year in office. The Senate is expected to confirm Steve Grasz for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, and James Ho and Don Willett for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, over the objections of Democrats who question whether they can be unbiased. That would mean at least a dozen Trump appointees would join the nation’s appeals courts — which...

Cloture on 8th circuit nominee Leonard Grasz. The vote has been 47-47 for 45 minutes. Where the shell are the missing 5 republicans?? And after this (if the nominee gets through cloture), they have to wait 30 hours to vote. This is why they don't get much done.

Court ruling makes it harder for EEOC to pursue discrimination cases in the Midwest, maybe nationally CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- They were learning to become truck drivers, but wound up in a nightmare. In detailed accounts to a federal agency, dozens of female employees of one of the nation's largest trucking companies told of being propositioned, groped and even assaulted by male drivers during cross-country training rides. "I was beaten, I was fondled, I was humiliated and I was taught nothing," one trainee, Ramona Villareal, said in a deposition. But rather than leading to a workplace discrimination judgment, the Equal...

He garnered some sympathy from two lower courts, but a three-judge appeals panel isn't letting a Minnesota lawyer off the hook from repaying his massive student loan debt. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a bankruptcy court and a district court and found that attorney Mark Allen Jesperson could not discharge more than $360,000 in student loan debt in a Chapter 7 proceeding. The two lower courts had found that repaying the "shockingly immense" debt would create an undue hardship for Jesperson. But the appeals court on Wednesday determined that his "self-imposed limitations," which resulted in a gross...

"Machine guns are not in common use by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes and therefore fall within the category of dangerous and unusual weapons that the government can prohibit for individual use. Furthermore, Fincher has not directly attacked the federal registration requirements on firearms, and we doubt that any such attack would succeed in light of Heller."

Sioux Falls, SD -- Monday was the first day that Planned Parenthood, which operates the only abortion business in South Dakota, had to comply with a new state law telling women the truth about abortion. Rather than tell women abortion kills children and has numerous risks, Planned Parenthood closed its doors. The state law, which the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld last week, required abortion practitioners to inform every woman that she is terminating the life of a human being. It requires giving her information about the mental health complications such as a high risk of depression and suicide...

A federal court ruled against Planned Parenthood and rejected an injunction against a state law requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that they may face serious medical conditions and will "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit issued a 7-4 ruling Friday to lift an injunction against the South Dakota informed consent abortion law. Attorneys representing the Alliance Defense Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council in defense of the law. "A woman's life is worth more than Planned Parenthood's bottom...

A brief has been filed in a federal appeals court asking the justices to overturn a judge who ordered a school district specifically to ban the Bible in its policy regarding the distribution of literature to students. WND reported just a week ago when a federal judge declared unconstitutional a Florida law that was used to prevent Gideons from handing out Bibles to students on public property near schools.Now comes another dispute, this one in Missouri and pursued by Liberty Counsel in its request to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. It wants the court to...

Saint Louis (AP) -- A federal appeals court opened the way for Missouri to resume executing inmates, ruling Monday that the state's lethal injection procedure is not cruel and unusual punishment. The case filed on behalf of condemned killer Michael Taylor had effectively halted Missouri executions since early last year. A judge said he wanted to be sure that the three-drug injection method did not cause risk of pain and suffering. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found "no evidence to indicate that any of the last six inmates executed suffered any unnecessary pain," according...

(AgapePress) -- A civil liberties attorney is objecting to a federal appeals court's decision to side with a former teacher who complained about prayers at a graduation ceremony in an Arkansas school district. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of Steve Warnock in his dispute with the De Valls Bluff School District, but denied his request to stiffen penalties against the district. The ex-teacher had argued that a 2004 baccalaureate ceremony violated lower-court injunctions by including prayers by ministers, and the appeals court agreed with him, rejecting counter arguments that the baccalaureate ceremony was a...

Students shouldn't take freedom for granted, and the Constitution belongs to them as well as lawyers and judges, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said at Farrington High School yesterday. They need to know the meaning of freedom and pass it onto others less fortunate for democracy to flourish, Kennedy said. He quoted Thomas Jefferson, who once said: "Democracy depends on a virtuous enlightened people." "Overall, I'm very concerned that people think democracy is on automatic pilot -- and it isn't," Kennedy said, before addressing a group of about 150 Farrington and Kahuku High juniors and seniors. "It...