Free Republic

A federal appeals court has blocked enforcement of a strict concealed-carry law in the nation’s capital that required gun owners to prove a “good reason” in order to obtain permits allowing them to carry handguns for self defense. In a 2-1 decision, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ordered lower courts to issue permanent injunctions blocking enforcement of the D.C. law. In rejecting the city’s law, the court ruled that while the Second Amendment allows for some limits on gun possession it does now allow for “bans on carrying in urban areas like D.C. or bans on...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday shot down protesters’ challenge of regulations that allow Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration Committee first dibs on the location of bleachers along the Friday’s inaugural parade route. As a result of the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the inauguration committee can keep set-aside bleacher seats in place at both Freedom Plaza and in front of the Trump International Hotel - locations protesters had sought to demonstrate in during Friday’s parade. The decision is a blow to anti-war group Answer Coalition, which has challenged the National Park Services’ allocation of...

A federal appeals court halted a key Obamacare case on Monday, agreeing to put off proceedings until after President-elect Trump takes office and figures out how he wants to proceed — and dealing a blow to President Obama in the meantime. In a short order the judges put the case in abeyance, and told both sides to give an update by Feb. 21, or a month after Mr. Trump is sworn in. It’s one of a series of cases that are being delayed to give the new administration a chance to put its stamp on legal strategy. Obama administration lawyers...

Opponents of the Obama administration’s landmark climate change rule will have to wait three more months to argue their case in federal court. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Monday that oral arguments in the case over the Clean Power Plan will be held Sept. 27, rather than June 2, when they were originally scheduled earlier this year. Additionally, the case will be heard by a full panel of nine of the court’s judges. Chief Judge Merrick Garland, who President Obama has nominated to sit on the Supreme Court, has recused himself from all cases,...

A federal appeals court has struck down as unconstitutional some of the District’s handgun registration laws, including requirements that gun owners re-register firearms every three years and are limited to registering only one pistol per month. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District ruled 2-1 on the case Friday, upholding some portions of the city’s gun laws but striking others because the District failed to prove that the requirements promoted public safety. Among the provisions that the appeals court struck down Friday was a requirement that registrants bring their firearms with them to MPD headquarters to be inspected and...

A key appeals court on Tuesday ruled that despite including a tax, Obamacare doesn’t violate the Constitution’s requirement that all tax bills originate in the House of Representatives, giving the Obama administration another health care win. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the Obamacare tax was “incidental” to the primary purpose of the Affordable Care Act, so it isn’t a revenue-raising measure as envisioned by the Constitution. “Some exercises of the taxing power are not subject to the Origination Clause,” the unanimous panel concluded. The issue had been in...

Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a third nominee of President Obama’s to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 53-38 vote, the Senate failed to get the 60 votes necessary to break a Republican filibuster and move to a final confirmation vote on nominee Robert Leon Wilkins. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) were the only Republicans to vote to end the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also switched his vote to no to preserve his ability to bring the nomination to the floor again. The GOP argues confirming Wilkins to the court would tilt...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans blocked another of President Barack Obama's picks for one of the nation's top courts on Tuesday, the latest skirmish in a nominations battle that has intensified partisan tensions in the chamber. The vote derailed Obama's selection of Georgetown University law professor Cornelia Pillard to fill one of three vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The roll call was 56-41 in favor of ending GOP procedural delays that have blocked Pillard from winning confirmation — four short of the 60 votes Democrats needed.