Free Republic

A federal judge on Wednesday found that the “selective prosecution” of far-right groups without charging their far-left counterparts for the same acts is “constitutionally impermissible.” U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney of southern California therefore dismissed charges against two men from the “white nationalist” Rise Above Movement (RAM) who violently clashed with members of the far-left group Antifa at three southern California pro-Trump events in 2017. In his 35-page order, the judge stressed the importance of equal protection under the law. He said that although the two men may have been involved in violent acts, prosecutors were wrong to exclusively...

This week, US District Court Judge Cormac Carney ruled that "the prosecution of two men from the Rise Above Movement (RAM) who violently clashed with members of Antifa at three southern California pro-Trump events in 2017 is constitutionally impermissible. Both sides engaged in behavior that is illegal, yet the Antifa rioters were not held accountable for their actions." US Attorney General Merrick Garland called Carney's ruling "outrageous. He completely ignores prosecutorial discretion. The state has the right to decide which cases merit the full punishment of the law and which do not. In the battle to preserve our democracy there...

On December 20, 2023, US District Judge Cormac J. Carney issued an order granting a preliminary injunction against the defendants (the State of California government). The injunction stopped the state from enforcing the blatantly unconstitutional SB-2 law declaring most of California as “sensitive places” where even licensed concealed carriers were forbidden to carry arms in public. The state asked for an order to stop the injunction from going into effect on December 22, 2023. The stay was granted on December 30, 2023, by an administrative three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit. The stay was appealed to the Ninth Circuit three-judge...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones. The law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September was set to take effect Jan. 1. It would have prohibited people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban would apply whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon or...

California’s requirement that all handguns sold in the state come with chamber load indicators, magazine disconnect mechanisms, and microstamping features are likely unconstitutional according to U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, who granted an injunction on Monday in Boland v. Bonta; a case brought by the California Rifle & Pistol Association and several individual gun owners taking on the constitutionality of several aspects of California’s Unsafe Handgun Act. In his ruling, Carney pointed out that California’s requirements have a “devastating impact” on Californians’ ability to acquire “new, state-of-the-art” handguns; noting that no new models of handguns have been made available for...

LOS ANGELES A federal court plans to investigate whether government officials illegally supplied grand jury information in a U.S. military secrets case to a Washington Times reporter. Court papers show the investigation seeks to uncover a possible source and content of "improper communications" with Times reporter William Gertz for a story he wrote in May. The order, entered Wednesday by a federal judge in Orange County, comes at the request of a defense attorney for Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, one of five family members indicted in an alleged scheme to send sensitive information about Navy warships to China. The request was...