Free Republic

For the second time in as many weeks, the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate has confirmed a California-based nominee to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit over the objections of the state’s two Democratic senators. The Senate voted 53-46 on Tuesday to approve the nomination of Daniel Collins, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris withheld the so-called blue slips for Collins that home-state senators traditionally return to the Senate Judiciary to indicate their sign off on a nominee for a federal judicial seat based...

Dissenting judge on panel worries ruling could foster ‘inappropriate… political attacks’ on presidencyA federal appeals court said this week it will appoint a lawyer to argue that former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s contempt of court conviction should remain on his record despite President Trump’s pardon. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that since the federal Justice Department is supporting both the pardon and Mr. Arpaio’s request to have his conviction stricken, someone else needs to argue the other side. Mr. Arpaio argues that the pardon came before he had a chance to appeal his conviction, and even before...

Justices: Judge too hasty in ordering documents turned over to anti-Trump activistsThe Supreme Court said Wednesday that the Trump administration doesn’t have to turn over a massive load of documents relating to the decision to phase out the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty, and delivered another spanking to a California court that’s repeatedly ruled against President Trump. In an unsigned opinion, the justices said the judge was too hasty in ordering the documents to be turned over to anti-Trump activists who are suing to try to derail the DACA phaseout. “The district court may not compel the government to disclose any...

In the ongoing dispute between the state's two U.S. senators and the Trump administration, the White House counsel accuses the lawmakers of failing to consider the administration's pick for a judicial vacancy on a federal appellate court. The White House last week nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds, a young, politically conservative federal prosecutor, for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, want U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez, a Republican, for the vacancy. Wyden and Merkley have vowed to block Bounds' nomination, saying that he wasn't vetted through their bipartisan judicial...

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected the Trump administration's limited view of who is allowed into the country under its revised travel ban. A three-judge panel decided that grandparents, cousins and similarly close extended family relationships of people in the U.S. shouldn't be prevented from coming to the country. The court also said refugees already accepted by a resettlement agency shouldn't be banned. The appeals court decision upholds a decision from a district court judge in Hawaii, who said the administration's view was too narrow. The decision impacts the revised travel ban, which temporarily suspends new...

Constitutional protections afforded by the Second Amendment include the right to buy and sell firearms, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that reinstates a lawsuit in which three California businessmen challenged zoning laws that limit where gun stores can be located. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Second Amendment challenges brought by businessmen who had sought to open a firearms store in Alameda County, but filed suit after they were denied a zoning permit based on laws that they claimed prevented them from opening a store anywhere in the county. While...