Free Republic

When Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), spoke at CPAC on February 10th, he predicted that if Barack Obama wins a second term it will usher in an all-out attack on the Second Amendment. In so many words, he said the same people who brought us Fast and Furious, “a criminal enterprise” for which there has yet to be prosecutions, will use four more years to gut constitutional protections on the right to keep and bear arms. And anyone who wonders what this assault on the Second Amendment might look like need look no further...

Judicial Watch filed a freedom of information request for documents pertaining to the possible leak of the information relating to the killing of Osama bin Laden to a Hollywood producer in August 2011. The administration has yet to cough up the information, so Judicial Watch is suing them. The DOD admitted receiving the FOIA request on August 22, 2011, but advised Judicial Watch that “at this time, we are unable to make a release determination on your request within twenty (20) working days” of August 9, which would have been by September 6, 2011. The CIA acknowledged receiving the FOIA...

Obama’s behavior yesterday is even more disturbing than Nixon’s. Nixon at least respected the judicial branch enough to have his attorney’s show up in court and follow procedure. Nixon’s fight in the courts followed existing law. Nixon acknowledged the authority of the judicial branch even while he fought it. Obama, on the other hand, essentially said yesterday that the judicial branch has no power over him. He ordered his attorneys to stay away from the hearing. He didn’t petition a higher court in a legitimate attempt to stay the hearing. Instead he showed complete contempt for the entire judicial branch...

Outdoors advocate & defender, Judge Bob Moon, 60 Popular Hamilton County (Chattanooga, Tenn.) General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon, known for his outdoors advocacy and strict dealings with game law violators, died Wednesday from an apparent heart attack. He was 60. In 2008, Judge Moon made national headlines when he advised a woman who had been pulled from her car and beaten in the head to "purchase a weapon, obtain a gun permit and learn to protect yourself." He will be missed. Richard Simms at Nooga.com.

Last night on Glenn Beck's GBTV.com television show, Glenn and historian David Barton discussed Judicial Tyranny where many recent Federal judges have been legislating from the bench creating a judicial tyranny. This discussion is remarkable close to the firestorm and headlines caused by Newt Gingrich's position that federal judges that cross the line when they outlaw school prayer and the mention of God at school graduations, should be brought before Congress to EXPLAIN their tyrannical judicial decisions. Remember, the constitution gives Congress the power to set up the court system. Congress in essence oversees the federal court system. In this...

West Virginia again listed as a 'judicial hellhole'State ranked No. 3 by Cheryl Caswell - Daily Mail staff Charleston Daily Mail Thursday December 15, 2011 CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The American Tort Reform Association has again placed West Virginia at the number three spot in its annual list of "judicial hellholes." The group lists Philadelphia in the top (worst) spot, and California as number two. Other states/regions that made the list are Southern Florida, Madison and St. Clair Counties in Illinois, New York City and Albany, Clark County in Nevada and McLean County in Illinois. The list is put out by...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s idea for checking judicial activism is a textbook case of historical revisionism that is strikingly similar to the court-packing scheme of liberal icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Gingrich said Congress should just pass a law eliminating specific judgeships, presumably immediately ousting the activist judges currently filling those seats. Gingrich lionizes an incident now regarded as profoundly troubling by constitutional scholars. When Thomas Jefferson replaced John Adams as president in 1801, the outgoing Congress created new federal courts and judgeships which Adams promptly filled. The new Congress repealed the law and the judges were ousted. Jefferson considered...

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), the second-ranking Democrat in the House, reacted angrily Tuesday to the suggestion by Texas Gov. Rick Perry that Congress become a part-time institution. “Is this a serious proposal he’s making for a country that has very high unemployment, who’s budget deficit is larger than it’s ever been in history, which has two wars that we’re confronting and trying to bring to a conclusion?” Mr. Hoyer said of the Republican presidential hopeful. “If this is what he thinks is pandering to the Tea Party, it is not in my opinion speaking to the issues that the...

BETTENDORF, Iowa - An early copy of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's government reform speech shared with the Des Moines Register shows the Texas governor is planning to propose widespread changes for the federal government, including term limits on federal judges and Supreme Court justices, a part-time Congress, and laws criminalizing insider trading. The governor first previewed the reforms in a speech Monday evening at an event by the Scott County Republican Party, where he said, "Washington doesn't need a new coat of paint, it needs a complete overhaul." Today, he will deliver the details of his plan in a...

Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home) used uncharacteristically blunt words to condemn Likud ministers who opposed the bill that would make Supreme Court nominees subject to parliamentary hearings before confirmation. He said they were "serving the Left" by opposing the vetting process. The bill, which was initiated by MKs Yariv Levin and Ze'ev Elkin (Likud), will be debated at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation next week. It was supposed to be debated today (Sunday) but the controversy around it caused the discussion to be postponed by one week. "It is strange that ministers from the Likud are...

“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” Senate Judiciary Committee Full Committee View a webcast of this hearing DATE: November 8, 2011 TIME: 10:00 AM ROOM: Dirksen 226 OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST: October 31, 2011 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” for Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. By order of the Chairman. Witness List Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Dirksen Senate Office Building,...

American jurisprudence: Fair, reasonable, following the rule of law and delivering the best chance for justice anywhere, right? Well, how about a Texas district court case in which there are allegations a judge threatened a participant, ordered that his assets be seized, told him he was not allowed to hire defense counsel and then pronounced he had the full power of the Navy, Army and Marines to enforce his will? Those are the allegations contained in a case pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that – by the description of a volunteer attorney working on arguments –...

Scandal-Ridden Activist Group Lives on in the Form of “Bullet Proof Community-Organizing Frankensteins” Created Across the Country Contact Information: Press Office 202-646-5172, ext 305 Washington, DC -- September 28, 2011 Judicial Watch, the public interest organization that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released “The Rebranding of ACORN,” a special report on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) network, following an extensive investigation of the organization’s transformation into various “spinoffs” and affiliated organizations. The ACORN-affiliated groups existing today are ACORN in all but name. These groups tend to occupy ACORN’s former offices, are staffed in many cases...

Democrats Want Senate Vote on Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick McConnell Washington, DC -- Senate Democrats want a vote soon on a pro-abortion activist President Barack Obama selected for a federal district court position in Rhode Island, Jack McConnell. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/05/03/democrats-want-senate-vote-on-pro-abortion-judicial-pick-mcconnell/

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The jury has found that a proposed protest by Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, the largest mosque in the United States, is likely to breach the peace and incite violence. The jury has been debating since 3:30 p.m .Thursday. The main issue of the trial was whether or not Jones' main purpose was to say or do something that would incite violence.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS), under enormous public pressure, proposed that Provenge, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for prostate cancer, be covered by insurance following a controversial “review.” A final decision on the issue is expected to be published 60 days after the public comment period for the proposed decision has ended. On the same day as the CMS decision, Judicial Watch released hundreds of pages of documents from the Obama Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) detailing how and why the review was instituted. And here’s one of our major finds: While the...

On April 5 Wisconsinites will be voting for assorted alderpersons, trustees and school board candidates. The marquee event however, is the hotly contested Unions vs. Gov. Scott Walker race. Oh sure, the ballot will say something about JoAnne Kloppenburg vs. David Prosser for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, but they're just bit players in the unions' big play to get revenge on Walker for his budget repair bill. Unions are casting Justice Prosser as a Walker clone and urging Walker haters to use the high court race to punish Prosser/Walker by voting for his opponent, whoever she is. Prosser, who has...

Pelosi Logged 43 Flights Covering 90,155 Miles from January to October 2010 Received "Chocolate-Covered Strawberries" for Birthday Surprise WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained new documents from the United States Air Force detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's use of United States Air Force aircraft in 2010. According to the documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Pelosi used Air Force aircraft for 43 flights from January 1 to October 1, 2010. According to documents previously uncovered by Judicial Watch, by...

According to an official estimate by the Obama Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), at least 222 companies and unions have received waivers from Obamacare so far. Yet, as this number continues to soar, HHS refuses to explain to the American people how decisions are being made regarding which organizations receive a waiver and which do not. One certainly cannot find any explanation in the Obamacare law itself. The Obama administration did not anticipate (despite repeated warnings) how much chaos would be created by the requirements of their massive healthcare overhaul. And so they have been forced to resort...

A 30 year old Youngstown man facing 13 years in prison on a plea agreement has escaped after being allowed 3 weeks at home prior to his sentence commencing. Lexter Williams and 3 others, burst into a Livingston St home on January 22, 2009, demanding money and valuables from the occupants. While the others held the men at gunpoint, Williams, who was also armed, took a female into the basement and raped her. Williams was charged with 5 counts of Aggravated Robbery, 4 counts of Kidnapping, and 1 count each of Rape and Having Weapons While Under Disability, which could...

Organizations Hand-Picked by Justice Department Reap Large Financial Rewards from Lawsuits to which They Have No Official Connection WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain information about a DOJ policy that directs large sums of cash settlements from DOJ Civil Rights Division discrimination lawsuits to organizations that are not officially connected to these lawsuits (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 10-1783)). According to Judicial Watch's...

The 3 Judges That Usurped Voters and Legalized Same-Sex Marriage In Iowa-OUSTED

ALG Ad Urging Patrick Leahy to Oppose Robert Chatigny for 2nd Circuit Court

Senate to Reconsider Obama's Pro-Abortion Judicial Picks Washington, DC -- The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider sixteen of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees during a hearing Thursday, including several who have been panned for advocating abortion. Some of the more controversial nominees include Goodwin Liu, Edward Chen and Louis Butler, nominated to appeals court and district court positions. http://LifeNews.com/nat6708.html

Jeff Anderson says this isn't for the faint of heart. He's intent on continuing his own quest for whatever it is he's questing for, in his office, replete with ecclesiastical furniture, and shrines to civil rights battles of the past, and it seems to be clear that he's intent upon winning another one. The ACLU member and Democratic Party supporter is not deterred by the recent collapse of the Kentucky case. There are dark and powerful forces on his side which have collaborated with those powers within the Church, to destroy the Church.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling striking down California's ban on same sex marriage, is a slap in the face to states' rights in this country. Every man, woman and child living in the United States should be outraged that with a single swipe of his pen, Walker has ruled that the will of over seven million voters was deemed null and void. In his 136 page opinion, Walker wrote "because Proposition 8 disadvantages gays and lesbians without any rational justification, Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Rather than being different, same-sex and opposite-sex...

John Joseph Merzbacher, a notorious Baltimore child abuser accused of molesting dozens of students at the Catholic school where he taught, could soon be released from a life sentence, under a federal court order handed down Friday

PHOENIX – A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown. The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places. In addition, the judge blocked officers from making...

It’s hard to imagine a greater victory for the conservative legal movement than the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which overturned D.C.’s ban on handguns. Not only did the Court definitively settle the long-contested question of whether the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and bear arms, but it did so using the language of “originalism”—the school of thought, long championed by conservatives, that says the Constitution should be read according to its original public meaning. It was therefore surprising when a leading conservative jurist, Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson III of the U.S....

The search for the people who killed an 80-year-old woman found beaten under a church pew has gone nationwide. Cross County Sheriff J.R. Smith said possibly two "people of interest" fled the area after the church pastor discovered Lillian Wilson's lifeless body Sunday. Sheriff Smith said investigators know who they're looking for and where they are from, but would not confirm details of the ongoing investigation. The Central United Methodist Church sits along Highway 64 in the small community of Hamlin, west of Wynne, Arkansas. It's where Wilson grew up and where she held her 50th wedding anniversary. The church...

TRENTON — The month-long controversy over Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to replace Supreme Court Justice John Wallace took a new turn today. Christie, who has faced a series of rebukes from critics who say the move jeopardizes the independence of the Judiciary, lost the services of a state advisory panel today after its members resigned in protest. Previous coverage: • Justice Wallace grateful for colleague support as term ends • Ousted N.J. Supreme Court Justice John Wallace thanks colleagues for support • N.J. lawyers group honors ousted state Supreme Court Justice John Wallace Jr. • N.J. attorneys voice concern over...

Judicial Watch Statement on Sestak ScandalThu May 27, 2:40 pm ET WASHINGTON, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement today regarding the federal position allegedly offered by the Obama White House to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA). Rep. Sestak has claimed repeatedly that the Obama White House tried to persuade him to abandon his Democratic primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter by offering a high-level position in the Obama administration. Rep. Sestak's allegations are extremely serious and yet we've heard nothing from the Obama White House so far but vague denials of wrongdoing and outright...

Many of today’s debates between statists and libertarians are argued on the grounds of efficiency. The libertarians say that when you let the government do something, you invariably get the DMV or the post office. Statists argue that a centralized public service provides better results because it can gain efficiencies of scale and because the lack of a profit incentive eliminates greed. They cite examples like NASA and the Internet to claim that government can do things that would be impossible in the private sector. I am sympathetic to the libertarian argument on this topic, but in this essay I...

A contrite Robert Chatigny apologized dozens of times to Senate Republicans at a brutal hearing Wednesday for his conduct relating to the conviction of a notorious serial killer. But his face – lips puckered, brow furrowed – may have said more than any of his answers. The questions were so painful that Chatigny’s Republican tormentors repeatedly apologized for broaching them.

Senate Confirms David Hamilton, Obama's First Pro-Abortion Judicial Pick Washington, DC -- The Senate voted today 59-39 to confirm a pro-abortion federal judge President Barack Obama appointed to become a new appeals court justice. David Hamilton, of Indiana, is the first pro-abortion judge Obama selected, but he was held up for months because of his extreme views. Story, votes and action alert at http://www.lifenews.com/nat5689.htm

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Court Dismisses Kerchner Complaint/Petition for Lack of Standing. The Decision Will Be Appealed. The Hon. Jerome B. Simandle of the Federal District Court in the District of New Jersey at 10:39 a.m., on October 21, 2009, filed his long-awaited opinion dismissing the Kerchner et al. v. Obama et al. complaint/petition. We allege that Obama has not conclusively proven that he was born in Hawaii. We also allege that even if he was so born, he is not an Article II “natural born Citizen” because his father was a British subject/citizen when Obama was born and Obama...

He's just getting started. And if this fellow is any indication of the kind of judges we can expect to populate our federal courts, I guarantee you we will spend the next decade or more scratching our heads at the idiotic leftist decisions that will become commonplace on the federal bench. From an editorial in the Washington Times: On Oct. 1, the president nominated Louis Butler, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, to the U.S. District Court of his state's Western District. While Mr. Butler's resume is in order, his appreciation of a judge's proper role seems lacking. Mr. Butler...

In the DeLano case, 06-4780-bk, Judge Sotomayor, presiding, and her colleagues on a panel of the Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit (CA2), issued a summary order to protect, not the rule of law, but rather their appointee to a bankruptcy judgeship, Bankruptcy Judge John C. Ninfo, II, WBNY. Her conduct in that case and the order are so contemptuous of the most important Constitutional guarantee that a judge, let alone a justice of the Supreme Court, must safeguard, namely, due process of law, that Judge Sotomayor withheld the order from the Committee in her three principal and supplementary responses to...

In Tennessee, a judge is legally required to be “patient, dignified and courteous” with people in court. He is also required, not unreasonably, “to respect and comply with the law”. But not all judges do. The Supreme Court of Tennessee recently disciplined Judge Durwood Moore for unlawful judicial conduct. Presiding in court one day, the judge happened to glance at Benjamin Marchant, a friend of someone who had court business. Marchant was not a witness, just a spectator. Yet after observing him, the judge ordered court officers to seize the man, get a urine sample from him and have it...

...Obama chose the most far left judicial activist available as his Supreme Court nominee—but the Obama press will make certain that this is NOT about Sotomayor’s far left judicial activism. No, according to the leftist press, Republicans will make race an issue in Sotomayor confirmation! Hatch, Cornyn and Graham are already gun shy on the matter…

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said Thursday he does not plan to vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the first Republican to explicitly state his opposition to President Obama's pick for the high court. "With all due respect to the nominee and nothing personal, I do not plan to vote for her," Roberts told talk radio host Christ Stigall on Kansas station KCMO. Roberts also noted he was one of the 28 Senate Republicans in 1998 who voted against confirming Sotomayor to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Sotomayor was ultimately confirmed to that court...

After Gov. Sarah Palin's selection of a new justice for the Alaska Supreme Court last month proved controversial, the governor agreed to a live interview about the process of picking judges. We sent the governor a few general questions in advance. Then she decided to answer in writing. Here's what she wrote:

It's not typical that Texomans would welcome a former pro football player who wasn't a Dallas Cowboy or Houston Oiler. However, they did Wednesday night as part of MSU's Artist Lecture Series. While Hall of Famer Viking Alan Page earned accolades on the football field, it's his work off the football field that he was here to discuss. Jason Calder reports. He was a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, number 88, part of the Purple People Eaters. Alan Page said, "Football players are really known as dumb jocks and defensive linemen have all been hit in the head at...

Washington, DC -- President Barack Obama has nominated his first pro-abortion judicial candidate as he named David Hamilton as his first Appeals Court nominee. Hamilton is a former Clinton nominee whom Obama has appointed to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton was initially appointed by President Clinton to a district judgeship in Indiana in 1994 even though the ABA gave him a “not qualified” rating. In that position, Hamilton issued a series of rulings over seven years that prevented Indiana from implementing its informed consent law that would give women information about abortion's risks and alternatives.

Gov. Palin is totally pro-life. Always has been. Always will be. She believes in a culture of life from cradle to grave. Her choice for Supreme Court judge was made in accordance with Alaska law. She chose the person most qualified from the names sent to her. The Governor's choice has a record of fairness. That is important as the courts sort out some very thorny issues. Governor Palin's choices were either a liberal or an independent. She went with the independent. And as the following article reflects - this selection process is flawed. ........................ Process of selecting Alaska's judges...

... In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. "I've never encountered, and I don't think that we will in our lifetimes, a case where literally thousands of kids' lives were just tossed aside in order for a couple of judges to make some money," said Marsha Levick, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which is representing hundreds of youths sentenced in Wilkes-Barre. Prosecutors say Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and...

I am no jurist and, I’ll admit, I may be reading too much into Judge Scoles’ specific ruling. However, gentle reader, the language used by the honorable judge has certainly raised my eyebrows. Does His Honor really mean to imply that, as a Jew, Mr. Rubashkin is a bigger flight risk than if he were not a Jew?!?!? I wonder if this very Honorable judge would have thought, for example, of making a ruling denying bail to some Imam whose pronouncements were too incendiary for inciting to shed infidels’ blood? Don’t you think that CAIR, ISNA, ICNA and others would...

What would happen if on the 5th of Nov it was obvious that McCain had won the election by a fairly wide margin and Obama refused to concede? I am not sure but I am very afraid that in the current racial and political climate things could get out of hand very quickly and, potentially, very explosively.

"At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has...

The California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 majority, attempted a new form of alchemy today. They tried to change homosexual partnerships into something they simply are not capable of being, marriage. They did so through a raw exercise of renegade judicial authority which clearly rejected the expressed will of the people of California. They did so without even making any pretense of relying on past precedent. They simply declared, in the words of the majority, that protecting marriage as a lifelong relationship of love between a man and a woman which forms the foundation of the first society of the...