Free Republic

High Court Dilemma: Can Lie About Medal Be Crime? Xavier Alvarez was in good company when he stood up at a public meeting and called himself a wounded war veteran who had received the top military award, the Medal of Honor. Alvarez was lying about his medal, his wounds and his military service, but he wasn't the first man to invent war exploits. He was, however, one of the first people prosecuted under a 2006 federal law aimed at curbing false claims of military valor. Concerns that the law improperly limits speech and turns people into criminals for things they...

Today, the 9th Circuit upheld the absurd ruling of Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, striking down Proposition 8, the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would uphold traditional marriage in the state. The ruling itself was highly political and in no way legally oriented. “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians,” wrote the Court, “and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior… the Constitution simply does not allow for ‘laws of this sort.’” -snip-President Obama has...

News just began coming out a little after noon on the east coast. A California appeals court has struck down Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage in the state. A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8...

SAN FRANCISCO – Supporters and opponents of California's ban on same-sex marriage were anxiously awaiting a federal appeals court decision Tuesday on whether the voter-approved measure violates the civil rights of gay men and lesbians. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that considered the question plans to issue its long-awaited opinion 18 months after a trial judge struck down the ban following the first federal trial to examine if same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married. The 9th Circuit does not typically give notice of its forthcoming rulings, and its decision to do...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused Thursday to unseal video recordings of a landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban but said it needed more time to decide if a lower court judge properly struck down the voter-approved ban. Siding with the ban's supporters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the public doesn't have the right to see the footage that former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had produced with the caveat it would be used only by him to help him reach a verdict. Chief Judge Walker "promised...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Thursday said a 2008 law that granted telecommunications companies legal immunity for helping the National Security Agency with an email and telephone eavesdropping program is constitutional. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that found the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, passed constitutional muster. The appeal concerned a case that consolidated 33 different lawsuits filed against various telecom companies, including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on behalf of these companies' customers. The plaintiffs, represented by lawyers...

9th Circuit panel rejects suit filed by 'birthers' against ObamaBy Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times December 23, 2011 A group of Southern Californians who insist that President Obama was born in Africa and should be ousted from the Oval Office had their case thrown out by a federal appeals court Thursday, but vowed to press their conspiracy theory with judges at the top of the judicial chain. None of the "birthers" who filed suit on Inauguration Day 2009 can show that they suffered any harm from the Obama presidency that would give them the right to sue him, a...

<p>San Francisco, CA - Judge Pamela Rymer of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has died after a years-long battle with cancer.</p> <p>The federal court on Thursday announced the passing of the 70-year-old Rymer, .. Rymer was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died Wednesday with friends at her bedside.</p>

Poway Unified School District wins case against high school teacherA teacher in the Poway Unified School District has been ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals to remove two large banners that referred to "God" and the "Creator" from his classroom walls. Brad Johnson, a teacher at Westview High School, had been directed by the district to remove two large banners which read “IN GOD WE TRUST,” “ONE NATION UNDER GOD,” “GOD BLESS AMERICA,” “GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE” and “All men are created equal, they are endowed by their CREATOR.” The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals announced their...

Pacific Justice Institute has filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, located in San Francisco, in a case that challenges the constitutionality of taxpayer-funded charter schools that are based on occult teachings. "This case is truly stranger than fiction," noted Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. "It is incredible that we as taxpayers are still supporting schools founded on a belief system that incorporates elements of Hinduism, European occultism, and a heretical form of Christianity. We cannot have a constitutional double standard where mainstream Judeo-Christian beliefs are excluded from public schools while...

A federal appeals court ruling this week could significantly diminish public university religious groups' ability to restrict membership and leadership to students who agree with their teachings. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that San Diego State University's nondiscrimination policy for officially recognized campus groups is constitutional. The policy is based on a nondiscrimination policy used at all the schools in the California State University system. Two Christian groups sued SDSU in 2005, alleging the policy violated their free-speech and religious-freedom rights. For the groups to be recognized as official campus groups, they were required to allow all...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court has barred further enforcement of the U.S. military's ban on openly gay service members.</p> <p>A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Wednesday the "don't ask, don't tell" policy must be immediately lifted now that the Obama administration says it's unconstitutional to treat gay Americans differently under the law.</p>

The White House announced Wednesday evening that President Barack Obama is nominating Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. "I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States Court of Appeals," Obama said in a statement. "I am confident Justice Morgan Christen will serve the American people with integrity and distinction."

Republican opposition is steadily growing against controversial University of California-Berkley law professor Goodwin Liu, President Obama's nominee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, potentially imperiling a judicial appointment for the first time in his presidency. Senior Republicans launched an all-out push to quash the nomination, urging their conference colleagues to support a GOP-led filibuster. "(Liu's) record reflects a carefully honed and calculated philosophy that he developed and advanced over the course of his brief career in the ivory towers of academia and which threatens the American tradition of limited constitutional government," Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on...

(CN) - The 9th Circuit on Monday gave new life to a long-running dispute over a California county's ordinance that could ban gun shows on its property, finding that several U.S. Supreme Court decisions over the last six years call into question whether the ban violates the Second Amendment. More than a decade ago, Alameda County passed an ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to bring or posses a firearm or ammunition on county property. Gun show promoters Russell and Sallie Nordyke sued the county, arguing that the ordinance was really meant to prohibit gun shows that the couple had...

Only days after the White House released a copy of Barack Obama's "Certificate of Live Birth" from Hawaii, claiming to have put to rest the dispute over his eligibility to hold the office, attorneys will argue on Monday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the requirements of the U.S. Constitution simply are too important to ignore for the sake of political expediency, even when they involve a sitting president. The case has been pending since the 2008 election. The plaintiffs alleged that Obama's qualifications were not checked properly, and that has resulted in a violation of the...

The merchant shipping industry has failed a second time to short-circuit California's effort to combat the toll on the health of its population from air pollution caused by oceangoing vessels. The industry is contesting California's authority to regulate fuel used by seagoing vessels up to 24 miles off its coast. The Air Resources Board estimates the vessels' emissions of particulate matter cause 300 premature deaths across the state every year. California mandates that ships "use cleaner marine fuels in diesel and diesel-electric engines, main propulsion engines, and auxiliary boilers" while operating far beyond the traditional three-mile jurisdictional limit. The Pacific...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court rejected a shipping industry challenge Monday to California's offshore air pollution rules requiring vessels to use low-sulfur fuel within 24 miles of the coast, standards that the court said would save about 3,500 lives over six years while modestly increasing shipping costs. The ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is a milestone in California's efforts to curb a significant source of hazardous emissions. Low-grade bunker fuel from ships has a sulfur content more than 1,600 times as high as diesel fuel for trucks and exposes 80 percent...

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Phoenix is set to formally take a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A ceremony is set for Judge Mary Murguia on Friday at the federal courthouse in Phoenix. Among those attending will be U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

PASADENA -- The Stolen Valor Act, under which former water board member Xavier Alvarez was fined and ordered to perform community service in 2007, was upheld as being unconstitutional. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling determining that a law barring people from lying about their military heroics was a violation of free speech.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused today to let same-sex marriages resume in California while it considers the constitutionality of a 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Gay and lesbian couples and the city of San Francisco had asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month to lift its suspension of a federal judge's August 2010 ruling that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The couples and the city, plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Prop. 8, cited the appeals court's decision to put the case on hold while the...

The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a Sacramento man's conviction and life sentence Monday for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in her apartment, dismissing an appellate court's decision that the prosecutor may have had racial reasons for removing two African Americans from the jury. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had granted a new trial to Steven Frank Jackson in July. The court said the prosecutor at Jackson's 2004 trial had used pretexts to justify his challenges to the two African American jurors, because the reasons he gave could have applied to jurors he left on...

Supreme Court unanimous reversals of the Ninth Circuit are becoming so common as to be almost yawn inducing. Today comes the latest reversal of a Ninth Circuit ruling in favor of a sex offender who attacked a 72-year-old woman. In short, the big bench once again was forced to remind the S.F.-based court that it is supposed to defer to local court decisions.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ordinances approved by voters in Arcata and Eureka to prohibit military recruiters from contacting minors are unconstitutional attempts to regulate the federal government and limit its authority over the armed forces, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The measures, which won majorities of 73 percent in Arcata and 57 percent in Eureka in November 2008, were promoted as protections for local youths from heavy-handed and misleading recruiting pitches. Backers in the Humboldt County communities cited an international treaty, signed by the United States, that bars military recruitment of youngsters under 17. The ordinances prohibited contacting youths under...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ordered a trial judge to reconsider a lawsuit by a Santa Cruz man who was arrested for raising a Nazi salute during a city council meeting. Robert Norse claims his free speech rights were violated with the 2002 arrest.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that air quality regulators in California's smog-laden San Joaquin Valley have the right to charge home builders a fee to control their pollution emissions. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the local air district's rule requiring developers to reduce emissions from new housing projects by building features like bicycle lanes and energy-efficient cooling systems. If they don't do enough to preserve air quality, they must pay fees that have averaged about $500 per house. The valley, stretching 240 miles from Stockton...

Complete title: Homosexual nuptials: A sweetheart deal--Judges ignore conflicts of interest to push radical social agenda Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to disqualify himself from a case challenging California's homosexual "marriage" ban even though his wife has been directly involved in the case. His insistence on serving as one of three judges to consider Perry v. Schwarzenegger is an affront to the rule of law.The case involves a ban on homosexual "marriages" that was passed by statewide referendum. Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, himself a homosexual, ruled the law unconstitutional, and...

MISSOULA, MONT. --(Ammoland.com)- Plaintiffs in litigation to validate the principles of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA) have appealed an expected but adverse federal district court decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs in MSSA v. Holder include the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and MSSA President Gary Marbut of Missoula. The MFFA is designed to test the power of Congress to regulate everything without limits under the narrow power given to Congress in the Constitution to “regulate commerce … among the states.” The MFFA declares that any firearms, ammunition and firearm...

The Ninth Circuit has just announced that the panel hearing the appeal of Judge Vaughn Walker’s anti-Prop 8 ruling will consist of Stephen Reinhardt, Michael D. Hawkins, and N. Randy Smith. As regular Bench Memos readers know, Reinhardt (appointed by President Carter in 1980) may well be the most aggressive liberal judicial activist in the nation—and the most reversed judge in history. Hawkins, a 1994 Clinton appointee, is also regularly on the Left on the Ninth Circuit.

(11-01) 16:14 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court appeared willing Monday to reinstate, but weaken, a central provision of an Arizona law allowing police to stop and question suspected illegal immigrants. A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals indicated that it would authorize police to demand papers from those they reasonably suspected of being in the country illegally, but would not allow authorities to arrest or prosecute them under state law. That would still allow suspects to be referred to U.S. authorities for deportation, however.

SAN FRANCISCO — Three federal judges will hear arguments Monday by attorneys for the governor on why Arizona should be allowed to start enforcing SB 1070. John Bouma, Brewer’s lead attorney, will argue the law that Gov. Jan Brewer signed last April designed to give state and local police more power to detain and arrest those they suspect are in this country illegally is within the legal authority of the state. That will get an argument from lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice. Those attorneys contend only the federal government can regulate immigration. They want the law — or...

Excerpt from the US Constitution: Article III Section 1: “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. Section 2: The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States,...

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, has struck down the law requiring Arizona voters to present proof of citizenship to vote. Prop. 200, approved by Arizona voters in 2004, was found to violate federal law - the majority opinion was that the National Voter Registration Act precludes states from imposing additional requirements.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court says the military should keep in place its "don't ask, don't tell" policy for now.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed got a resounding victory recently in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals when all 11 judges upheld the state’s ban on voting by prison inmates. Washington’s felon voting law is reasonable. Newly adopted provisions that allow felons to reregister to vote after they have completed their prison time are reasonable, too. It’s encouraging to see the appellate judges uphold the ban — especially by such a wide margin. The 11-0 decision was a sharp turnaround from a three-judge panel of the appellate court which ruled in January that Washington...

SEATTLE — A federal appeals court reversed course Thursday and upheld Washington state's ban on voting by prison inmates in a case that challenged the disproportionate effect it has on minority voters. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals caused a stir by ruling in January that Washington's inmates should be allowed to vote. That decision was expected to give momentum to other efforts to expand voting to inmates; only Maine and Vermont allow those behind bars to cast ballots. But an 11-judge panel reconsidered the case at a hearing in San Francisco last month and...

In the first decision of its kind in the nation, an appellate court has ruled in a Sacramento case that DNA testing is a legitimate condition of release on bail for a federal defendant not yet convicted. Before a federal felony can be charged, there must be probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, a three-judge panel of the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted in Tuesday's 47-page opinion. Under those circumstances, the panel ruled, the government's interest in definitively identifying the defendant "outweighs the defendant's privacy interest in giving a DNA sample as a condition...

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway - and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements. That is the bizarre - and scary - rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government...

  The revolution in tort liability has claimed another victim. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is now traveling lighter by around $140,000. The reason is a decision handed down about a month ago by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concerning two of its San Diego-area outlets that supposedly wouldn't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The award might not be a king's ransom by the standards of one of the nation's most successful restaurant chains. But the ruling could have major consequences for the way business as a whole operates in this...

This week, two things happened in the gay marriage wars: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay overruling U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's decision to permit gay marriages to take place immediately, before higher courts have a chance to review his unprecedented ruling. And a new poll released by Public Policy Polling shows that Americans continue to oppose gay marriage by an almost 2-to-1 margin. Normally, when a lower court judge finds a new constitutional right never before acknowledged by any federal court except his, he is modest and reasonable enough to stay his decision, recognizing that...

When 52 percent of California voters passed Proposition 8 in November 2008, Attorney General Jerry Brown said he would defend the measure during the inevitable appeals. Then, as is his fashion, Brown changed his mind. Ditto Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed same-sex marriage bills passed by the Legislature in deference to California voters who passed an earlier same-sex marriage statute in 2000. But after Prop. 8 passed, both refused to defend the measure. This month, after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional, both Brown and Schwarzenegger urged Walker to lift a stay on his...

SAN FRANCISCO, August 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals intervened in the battle over Proposition 8 Monday afternoon, and gave an order preventing California officials from issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples until they can hear the case. The stay from the three judge panel of the appeals court blocked Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's decision overturning Proposition 8, the voter-approved state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.  Walker, one of three known openly homosexual judges in the federal judiciary, ruled in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case that...

A federal appeals court has extended a stay on same-sex marriages in California until it decides whether a ban on such unions is constitutional. It is just the latest turn in a protracted legal battle over Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban. The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, came less than a week after a federal district judge, Vaughn R. Walker, lifted a stay he had imposed to allow proponents of the ban to argue why same-sex marriages should not proceed. On Aug. 4, Judge Walker ruled that Proposition...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban. The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trumps a lower court judge's order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday. Lawyers for the two gay couples that challenged the ban said Monday they would not appeal the panel's decision on the stay to the Supreme Court.

The Ninth Circuit has stayed Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling in the high-profile Constitutional challenge to California's same-sex marriage ban. The case is scheduled to be heard in early December. So hold the wedding bells. There is some good news, though, for the same-sex plaintiffs: The court warned in its order that it's considering dismissing the appeal on the grounds that the appelants -- who don't include the Governor or Attorney General -- lack standing. "In addition to any issues appellants wish to raise on appeal, appellants are directed to include in their opening brief a discussion of why this appeal...

Federal appeals court blocks same-sex weddings

Orly Taitz closes her brief with the following: "Shortly after Judge Carter completely changed his tune, Taitz came to the court house, brought some pleadings and heard the Marine march playing. Judge Carter, a former Marine was celebrating the Marine Corps day. There was a huge teddy bear sitting in the midst of the hallway, it had a shirt with the Marine insignia, the band was playing, clerk Sidharth Velamoor was there, all the other clerks and employees were there. Everyone was waiting for Judge Carter and the cake. Taitz started choking and trying to gather some strength to hold...

The sponsors of California's gay marriage ban have asked an appeals court to stop a federal judge's order allowing same-sex weddings to begin next week. The lawyers defending Proposition 8 asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday to impose a stay that would halt gay marriages while the court considers the judge's ruling that struck down the ban.

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona is preparing to ask an appeals court to lift a judge's ruling that put most of the state's immigration law on hold in a key first-round victory for the federal government in a fight that may go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gov. Jan Brewer called Wednesday's decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton "a bump in the road" and vowed to appeal. Protesters in Phoenix went ahead with plans Thursday for a march to the state Capitol and a sit-in at the office of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The sheriff said if protestors were disruptive, they'd...

Arizona’s Gov. Jan Brewer and state legislators from both sides of the aisle vowed to fight all the way to the Supreme Court against a Justice Department suit challenging the state’s tough new immigration law. “I will not stop fighting to protect the citizens of Arizona and to defend Arizonans in federal court,” Brewer said. “Arizona will ultimately prevail against the lawsuits—including this latest assault by the Obama Administration. Our laws will be found to be constitutional—because that is exactly what they are.” Brewer called the DOJ lawsuit “a massive waste of federal funds.” “As a direct result of failed...