Free Republic

Oh, where to begin in the latest episode of “America’s Judicial Rollercoaster” featuring the audacious blockade by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against Texas's gallant effort to enforce its own borders? Yes, you heard that right. In a move that could only be concocted in the wildest dreams of a liberal screenplay writer, the appellate court decided to thumb its nose at the U.S. Supreme Court. Why? Simply to prevent Texas from using Senate Bill 4 to do the unfathomable: arrest and deport illegal immigrants. Gasp! The horror of a state taking steps to protect its citizens and...

Three judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals were ousted by candidates endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who targeted the court after it ruled against him in a 2021 case. Former Dallas appeals court justice David Schenck, Waco attorney Gina Parker and Richardson attorney Lee Finley were projected to defeat incumbents for the Presiding Judge, Place 7 and Place 8 seats on the state's highest criminal court, according to the Associated Press. This year’s primary presented the first opportunity for Paxton to attempt to oust some of the eight judges who ruled in 2021 the attorney general cannot...

We've got a courtroom curveball coming your way. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., just made a ruling that might have ripple effects on over a hundred January 6 cases related to the Capitol attack in 2021. The three-judge panel took a close look at a lower court's decision to enhance a defendant's sentence due to "substantial interference with the administration of justice" during the Capitol attack. The catch? The appeals court deemed that the term "administration of justice" doesn't cover Congress's role in the electoral certification process. Translation: the enhanced sentences might not be on solid legal ground....

Former President Donald Trump filed a notice of appeal Monday in the matter of the New York civil judgment finding him liable for fraudulently inflating his net worth on years of financial statements. The judgement curtailed his ability – and that of the Trump Organization – to do business in New York or apply for loans from financial institutions registered with the state. Trump asked an intermediate-level state appellate court to overturn Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling in a civil fraud lawsuit brought in 2022 by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Reuters reports. Trump’s post-judgment interest will continue...

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) on Monday issued an appeal from its Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters for upwards of $1.5 billion in additional funding to respond to health crises it sees evolving around the world. “We aim to reach some 87 million people with life-saving humanitarian assistance this year,” said W.H.O. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Reuters reports.

The federal court set to hear Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump has told the lawyers to be prepared to answer questions on the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment. Ed Meese, former attorney general under President Reagan, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case against Trump on Tuesday, arguing that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Smith — a private citizen — is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution "Not properly clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor. Illegally appointed, he has no more...

Special Counsel Jack Smith Saturday urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject President Donald Trump’s immunity and double-jeopardy claim that he will be retried for similar charges on which he has already been acquitted.President Trump is not entitled to immunity in the election case and the criminal charges against him also didn’t violate the principle of double jeopardy, the prosecutors argued.Immunity for a U.S. president applies to civil liability only and not criminal, the special counsel’s office claimed.“The defendant, a former President, does not enjoy immunity from federal prosecution for the offenses charged in this...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will soon consider whether to hear appeals brought by people charged with offenses relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol in cases that could have a major impact on the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The justices are weighing three different appeals brought by defendants Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang and Garret Miller...The three men are seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden’s election victory, which was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters. Trump has...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court temporarily lifted a gag order on Donald Trump in his 2020 election interference case in Washington on Friday — the latest twist in the legal fight over the restrictions on the former president’s speech. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision puts a hold on the limited gag order to give the judges time to consider Trump’s request for a longer pause on the restrictions while his appeals play out. The appeals court said the temporary pause “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits”...

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police Officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd, is appealing his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Chauvin’s lawyer, William Mohrman, on Wednesday filed a petition for review with the state’s highest court, arguing that the district judge’s decision not to move the proceedings out of the city deprived his client of a fair trial. The petition comes a month after the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld Chauvin’s conviction for second-degree murder and let his 22-1/2-year sentence remain in place. Morhman had unsuccessfully asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer’s conviction for...

Gov. Josh Shapiro Thursday boldly called on legislators to abolish Pennsylvania’s costly, ineffective and immoral death penalty. In urging legislators to act, an unprecedented move, Mr. Shapiro showed some sorely needed leadership from the governor’s office. Unless Mr. Shapiro engages the legislature, the death-penalty statute will endure. He needs to take the lead in persuading the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate to approve bills that would repeal it. Former Gov. Tom Wolf refused to do that. In making his statement a month after his inauguration, Mr. Shapiro signaled that getting state government out of the business of killing people will...

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul is facing political pressure to appoint a progressive jurist to the state’s highest court following the sudden resignation of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. Critics contend that DiFiore, who stepped down amid reports of a state ethics probe, led a conservative bloc of four judges that pushed the seven-member Court of Appeals to the right ideologically. Lawmakers and advocates are hoping that Hochul will take the opportunity to appoint someone with a broader understanding of how the criminal justice system impacts minority and low-income New Yorkers, or someone with a public defender background to lead the courts.

A federal appeals court in Richmond on Tuesday cleared the way for a legal effort that seeks to disqualify Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-N.C.) candidacy for office due to his alleged role in the Jan. 6 insurrection by supporters of former President Trump.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The attorney for two women who were denied entry into an Orlando strip club in 2018 because they weren’t with a man said Friday he plans to take their case to the Florida Supreme Court again because the issue is more than who can have fun at a gentlemen’s club. It’s whether local governments can enact anti-discrimination ordinances that offer more protections than the Florida Civil Rights Act, said Matthew Dietz, a Miami attorney who represents Brittney Smith and Anita Yanes. “We do believe that this issue is so important,” Dietz said. “We’re living in a time...

A federal appeals court Friday night quickly allowed Texas to resume banning abortions after heartbeats have been detected, just one day after clinics began racing to serve patients again for the first time since early September. A one-page order by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the nation's strictest abortion law, which bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. It makes no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. "Patients are being thrown back into a state of chaos and fear," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents several...

The Biden administration is delaying lease sales of federal lands for oil and gas exploration even after a court order, the head of the Western Energy Alliance said. President Joe Biden banned oil and gas lease sales by directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to pause new oil and natural gas leasing on public lands and offshore waters. It did not impact existing operations or permits for valid, existing leases, the agency said. After 13 states filed suit in federal court in Louisiana against the federal government over the ban, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty ruled that the Outer...

The Biden administration on Monday challenged a federal judge’s decision in June to block the Interior Department’s pause on oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters – a critical piece of its climate change policy – but will proceed with leasing during the appeals process.

A late-night order from a federal appeals court Saturday dealt a major setback to Florida’s effort to lift restrictions the federal government imposed on the cruise ship industry in order to prevent outbreaks of the coronavirus. A panel of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 2-1, to stay an order a federal judge in Tampa issued last month blocking the Centers for Disease Control’s framework for allowing cruises to resume. The cruise business was abruptly shuttered by federal order in March 2020 following a series of mass infections aboard large ships. The appeals court’s one-page order, issued just...

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted Friday to overturn the state of California’s infamous ban on “large capacity magazines” that can hold over 10 rounds, finding that the law violated the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. “California’s near-categorical ban of LCMs infringes on the fundamental right to self-defense. It criminalizes the possession of half of all magazines in America today,” the majority opinion concluded. Judge Kenneth Lee noted “It makes unlawful magazines that are commonly used in handguns by law abiding citizens for self-defense. And it substantially burdens the core right of self-defense guaranteed to the people...

udicial Watch announced today that lawyers for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills have asked the Court of Appeals to overturn a U.S. District court order granting Judicial Watch’s request for their depositions about Clinton’s emails and Benghazi attack records. Lawyers for Clinton and Mills filed a “Petition for Writ of Mandamus” earlier today.The Clinton request comes in Judicial Watch’s lawsuit that seeks records concerning “talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack” (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). Judicial Watch famously uncovered in 2014 that the “talking points” that provided the basis for...