Free Republic

A California court ruled state laws cannot broadly override local control over development and zoning, finding one of the state’s most significant new zoning laws is unconstitutional. “This is not a case about whether or not our State Legislature may enact legislation to ensure access to affordable housing or whether it may act to address the different concern of a statewide housing shortage more generally,” wrote California Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin in his ruling. “However, because the provisions of SB 9 are not reasonably related and sufficiently narrowly tailored to the explicit stated purpose of that legislation —...

California is suing Huntington Beach over its voter identification measure, recently passed by voters, hoping to stop the city from asking residents to present proof of identification when voting at in-person polling locations. “It is violative of California state election law, undermines that process and threatens the constitutionally protected right to vote,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta at a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, April 15. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who oversees elections across California, said the voter ID requirement would disenfranchise voters and called it a solution in search of a problem. “This voter ID...

It’s been nearly 25 years since Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found stabbed to death outside Brown Simpson’s Brentwood, California, home. A quarter of a century is long enough to heal most wounds. But, for two members of the prosecution, their failure to secure a conviction against the man they believe to be responsible, the pain of that loss feels as fresh as it did the day a jury announced O.J. Simpson was not guilty of murder.“Time doesn’t heal much of anything,” Christopher Darden said Saturday at the 2019 CrimeCon in New Orleans. Darden worked for the Los...

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a San Diego-area school district to reinstate two teachers who were placed on administrative leave for refusing to keep students’ gender transitions a secret from parents.The order from Judge Roger Benitez says the teachers, who haven’t been allowed in their classrooms since last May, must be allowed to return by next Tuesday, Jan. 15. In September, Benitez blocked their employer, Escondido Union School District, from forcing them to comply with their policy to socially transition kids to different gender identities behind their parents’ backs."Both sides are expected to work in good faith going forward...

Less than a week after a Del Rio-based federal judge ruled against Texas in the ongoing fight over the state’s razor wire, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused that decision while it reviews the case. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday temporarily halted a lower court order that gave Border Patrol agents legal cover to continue cutting concertina wire that Texas has installed on the banks of the Rio Grande. U.S. District Judge Alia Moses of Del Rio on Wednesday ruled against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, which wanted the judge to order Border Patrol...

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨 We sued President Biden and Secretary Blinken for violating the Taylor Force Act and illegally subsidizing Palestinian terrorism. Today, following barbaric attacks by Hamas — killing 14 Americans and 1000+ other innocent men, women, and children, and with an unknown number of Americans now beling held hostage in Gaza — the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted our motion to begin discovery in our case. We are going to show what the Biden Administration knew about their plans and the outcomes of their policies.

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he will not be participating in "the debates," indicating he likely intends to not participate in any Republican primary debates and not the initinal debate set for this week. In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump cited sky high poll numbers by which he leads the rest of the GOP field."New CBS POLL, just out, has me leading the field by 'legendary' numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 Points above DeSanctimonious (who is crashing like an ailing bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, 'Aida' Hutchinson 1%," Trump...

The federal government this month is set to launch FedNow, a “safe and efficient” instant payments service which will allow the Federal Reserve to facilitate payments between bank customers and receive their transaction data.With FedNow, the Federal Reserve will act as a middleman in transactions between banks and credit unions. Currently, transactions pass through a financial institution called a clearing house, which facilitates the payments. But at the end of this month, the clearing house will instead be the Federal Reserve for many banks. For example, if John Doe wishes to pay a bill, he would initiate the transaction as...

Florida’s Legislature has approved a bill that forbids Chinese nationals from owning property in the Sunshine State, which Governor Ron DeSantis will be signing into law. SB 264, also known as “SB 264: Interests of Foreign Countries,” forbids Chinese citizens from “purchasing or acquiring real property” in Florida or from holding more than a minor “indirect interest in such real property.” The state’s legislators supported the priority bill on a bipartisan basis and highlighted threats to national security as justification for its passing. The law was approved by the Senate in a 31-8 vote and the House with a 95-17...

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is leaving her government post, the agency and President Joe Biden announced Friday. Walensky’s last day on the job will be June 30, according to an email sent to CDC employees Friday, which was shared with CNN. In a statement, Biden thanked Walensky for leading “a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity” and wished her well in her next chapter.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (FLV) – Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered the Walt Disney Company move thousands of jobs to her home state. The offer came in an appearance on Fox News amid a recently filed lawsuit, the latest development of Disney’s power struggle with the government of Florida and the new Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed board. “South Carolina was a very anti-woke state,” she said. “It still is. And if Disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Carolina and bring the billions of dollars with them, I’ll let...

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats advanced seven of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees through committee on Thursday with Republican votes, shelving others that lack bipartisan backing with Sen. Dianne Feinstein absent. The move by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., marks a change in course after he had repeatedly delayed meetings since early March to advance a package of judges, lacking the decisive vote of Feinstein, D-Calif., who is out indefinitely on medical leave. “We wish our colleague, Sen. Feinstein, a speedy recovery and return,” Durbin said. “We hope she’ll be back in the Senate very soon. Today’s agenda includes a...

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s daughter-in-law Hallie is the mysterious “new Biden” family member who got paid Chinese cash in 2017, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revealed exclusively to The Post Thursday. Comer said the payments to first son Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law-turned-former lover were revealed in subpoenaed bank records. The records show Hallie Biden received $35,000 over two transfers in 2017 from Biden family associate John “Rob” Walker after he got $3 million on March 1, 2017, from State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with CEFC China Energy.President Biden, who allegedly was the “big guy” mentioned in communications about...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday she’s tracking Silicon Valley Bank’s problems as it deals with big losses.“You mentioned Silicon Valley Bank,” Yellen said, as she responded to a lawmaker while testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee.“There are recent developments that concern a few banks that I’m monitoring very carefully, and when banks experience financial losses, it is and it should be a matter of concern.”

The White House on Thursday laid out its plan to target pandemic fraudsters and recapture stolen relief funds distributed under both the Trump and Biden administrations. A top White House official said the goal was to provide $600 million to investigate and prosecute systemic pandemic fraud, a similar amount to bolster fraud prevention and $400 million to help victims of identity theft...

According to reports, the Biden administration is negotiating a migrant swap deal with Mexico that would exceed the United States’ immigration caps for 2023. The deal being negotiated will allow U.S. authorities to conduct “large-scale deportations” of non-Mexicans back across the border, but will also allow “hundreds of thousands” of Mexican migrants into the country. Authorities claim that immigrants under this deal will be allowed to enter the country legally, while severe consequences will be in place for those who “don’t follow the rules.” Officials say that the U.S. government has been turning back many non-Mexican immigrants back to Mexico...

The Treasury Department has denied a House Republican request for information on Biden family suspicious financial transactions.Earlier this month Representative James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, had requested reports on activity by the Biden family that was deemed as suspicious. The letter, which was sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on January 11th, was rebuked on Wednesday. The Treasury Department’s reasoning was that it needed more information from the committee and the reason behind its request, and what it plans to do with the information...

South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman says that the Republicans are working on a legislative plan to shrink the size of government. "We have got to present the American people a plan," Norman said on Wednesday's edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "Financial security is national security, and we're not on a course where we can can maintain that trajectory. It has got to be changed, and people realize that." While Rep. Norman was one of the 20 Republicans who voted against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the election for that position earlier this month, he...

With the recent passage of AB 2098, California took a highly controversial step in barring doctors from offering “false information” on Covid-19 and related subjects. The law is an extension of Democratic efforts to block or censor “misinformation” and “disinformation” in society from social media to medicine. However, this effort involves direct government action. As will come as little surprise to many on this blog, I opposed the measure as unconstitutionally vague and a threat to free speech. Nevertheless, Judge Fred Slaughter (C.D. Cal.) in McDonald v. Lawson held that this statute was likely constitutional and rejected a motion for...

Los Angeles County election officials must grant an organization seeking to oust District Attorney George Gascon access to about 10,000 signatures rejected from recall petitions due to a mismatch with voter registration records, a judge ruled Tuesday.Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant partially granted The Committee to Support the Recall of District Attorney George Gascón a partial injunction challenging the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s rejection of petition signatures in October.“The registrar argues that government code … only requires disclosure of the current signatures,” Chalfant said in a written decision. “It acknowledged that prior signatures on file...