Free Republic

An Oregon law that forbids recording in public without consent runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, a U.S. court has ruled.James O'Keefe, founder Project Veritas, at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Oct. 12, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)Oregon law 165.540, first enacted in 1955 and subsequently broadened to bar secret recording of conversations, is unconstitutional, Judge Sandra Ikuta, a George W. Bush appointee writing for the majority in the 2–1 ruling, said.Exceptions to the prohibition include recording at public meetings, such as city council hearings; while a felony that endangers human life is being committed; and...

Appeals court panel says interstate haulers are not exempt from AB 5 law. Interstate truckers could soon come under California’s highly restrictive independent contractor law because of a recent federal appeals court decision. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that a federal law called the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preclude application of the state’s AB 5 contractor law to trucking companies operating in interstate commerce. In early 2020, before the new law went into effect, a federal district court judge granted an injunction barring the state from enforcing it...

A federal appeals court on Thursday lifted several injunctions that were blocking the Trump administration’s rule restricting immigration eligibility for individuals deemed likely to become public charges. “Public charge” denotes immigrants who are likely to require government assistance, such as food stamps or Medicaid. The Trump administration had moved to restrict the number of new immigrants who would require such assistance, but several courts blocked the rule in October before it could take effect. In its 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed preliminary injunctions against the administration’s rule from federal courts in Washington and California. The rule...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld two San Francisco gun laws challenged by the National Rifle Association and gun owners who live in the city. San Francisco requires handgun owners to secure weapons in their homes by storing them in a locker, keeping them on their bodies or applying trigger locks. The city also bans the sale of ammunition that expands on impact, has "no sporting purpose" and is commonly referred to as hollow-point bullets.

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Ken Klukowski, Legal columnist at Breitbart.com. Arizona might be going to the U.S. Supreme Court yet again. A federal appeals court upheld part of the Grand Canyon State’s voter-ID law, but struck down another part of Arizona’s law as inconsistent with a 1993 federal law. This might become the third citizen/voting Arizona law to go to the Supreme Court in just three years. Arizona allows for citizens to adopt ballot propositions with the force of law, which trump state statutes but fall short of amending the Arizona Constitution. Arizona’s voters adopted Proposition 200...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has nominated two California lawyers -- including the brother of Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith -- to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Milan Smith, a Los Angeles business lawyer and a former member of California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission, was named to the panel this week. His nomination follows the appointment last week of Sandra Segal Ikuta, general counsel to the California Resources Agency, to the nation's largest federal appeals court. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit covers nine Western states with about 54 million people and has 28 judgeships. Smith and Ikuta would fill...