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A judge in Arizona has denied a motion that would have lifted the suspension of twenty students arrested last week amid anti-Israel protests. The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona denied the Arizona State University students' motion to have their college suspensions lifted on Friday, according to local outlet ABC 15. The defendants filed the lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents on Tuesday, alleging that their suspension from ASU is causing "irreparable harm" due to their inability to enroll in classes. [snip] Judge John Tuchi ruled that the students did not provide sufficient evidence that their First...

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing of an action, brought before the 2022 general election by former Republican nominees for Governor and Secretary of State of Arizona, alleging that Arizona’s use of electronic tabulation systems violated the federal Constitution. The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ operative complaint is that notwithstanding safeguards, electronic tabulation systems are particularly susceptible to hacking by non-governmental actors who intend to influence election results. On appeal, Plaintiffs conceded that their arguments were limited to potential future hacking, and not based on any past harm. The panel held that because Plaintiffs are no longer...

The Biden Administration signed off on Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, regulations to protect small streams, wetlands and waterways as part of the Clean Water Act, just before the end of 2022.President Biden’s signing of the regulations ultimately repealed Trump-era regulations that made many waterways susceptible to pollution and were thrown out by federal courts.The EPA signed off on the revised definition of "Waters of the United States," on Dec. 29, while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed off on the revised definitions on Dec. 28.The revised rules define what types of water bodies are protected under the Clean...

A judge in Arizona on Thursday ordered the governing board of a ruby-red county in the southeastern corner of the state to certify the results of the Nov. 8 election, finding that its members had no authority to shirk a duty required under state law...The denouement in Cochise County played out as a federal judge, also on Thursday, sanctioned lawyers for Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, the unsuccessful GOP candidates for governor and secretary of state, respectively. Taken together, the orders show how judges are scorning efforts to politicize ministerial roles and undermine election administration.The federal judge, John Tuchi of...

Wednesday’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals builds on a 2018 ruling involving the city of Boise, which found a person cannot be punished for sleeping in public if there’s nowhere else for them to go. A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a ruling that found the city of Grants Pass in southern Oregon violated the constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness through a series of ordinances designed to prevent sleeping outside on public property.In a 2-1 decision, judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld a 2020 injunction issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke,...

Arizona officials can’t enforce a new election measure in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a federal judge. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and other officials shall not “take any action to implement or enforce H.B. 2243 in a manner that would remove any voter’s eligibility to vote in the 2022 general election or disqualify any otherwise-valid ballot on the basis of H.B. 2243,” U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, a Clinton appointee, said in the Sept. 8 order.

PHOENIX — Maricopa County’s supervisors are asking a judge to impose financial sanctions on the state’s two top election deniers, Republicans Kari Lake and Mark Finchem.Lake, who is running for governor, and Finchem, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, filed a lawsuit in April seeking to ban the use of ballot counting machines.It is full of claims that are demonstrably false, contends an attorney for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Emily Crager.Moreover, she told U.S. District Court Judge John Tuchi that “any reasonable investigation would have revealed’’ as much. That means Lake and Finchem violated court rules barring...

A federal judge announced he will hear evidence against the use of electronic voting machines in Arizona’s upcoming midterm elections on Thursday, July 21.Judge John J. Tuchi issued an order on Monday granting the hearing in response to a request for a preliminary injunction against the use of electronic voting machines and subsequent motions to dismiss filed by defendants Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.The original injunction was filed by plaintiffs Kari Lake, a candidate for Arizona’s gubernatorial race, and Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is running for secretary of state.“As there...

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arizona doesn’t have to give voters who forget to sign their mail ballot time after the election to resolve the issue, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Democrats. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, overturned a lower-court ruling that found it’s unconstitutional for Arizona to give voters time after an election to resolve mismatched signatures but not missing signatures. The appellate judges said Arizona’s interest in reducing the burden on busy poll workers justifies the disparity. The overwhelming majority of Arizona voters cast mail ballots, which...

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said he was not buying arguments that it’s illegal for the president to impose such a mandate when he is not requiring the same of people entering the country illegally. Liburdi, a Trump appointee, suggested he was not convinced Biden’s mandate forces anyone to do anything or that anyone’s rights of “bodily integrity” were being violated — something Brnovich argued.

Nursing Students With Religious Objections To Vaccine Mandate Victorious In Federal Court Against MCCCD: A federal judge in Phoenix issued a preliminary injunction Friday against the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) after finding that two nursing students deserve to graduate this year even if they need an accommodation due to their religious objection to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. “Defendant shall make available to Plaintiffs a suitable accommodation that will allow Plaintiffs to satisfy the clinical components of their coursework and complete their academic programs as scheduled in December 2021,” U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan wrote in his order...

The FBI’s Public Corruption unit has begun investigating efforts by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s past and current staffers – including one who is now a federal judge – to push for a closed-door deal to issue tax refunds worth as much as $100 million to aid one of Ducey’s campaign supporters. Grant Nulle, former deputy director at the Department of Revenue, said an FBI agent contacted him in mid-July, shortly after an Arizona Republic investigation uncovered how the Ducey administration had pushed the department to agree to refund sales taxes on fuel for mining companies, even though that tax had...

<p>PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked a move that would have given Arizona voters who forget to sign their early ballot affidavits up to five days after the election to fix the problem.</p> <p>The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a lower court ruling on hold as it considers an appeal from Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.</p>

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 218 judges confirmed. 2 Trade Court judges 161 District Court judges 53 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices The Senate this week also confirmed a judge to the Court of Federal Claims (Article I judge, serves 15 years). President Trump is expected to appoint Amy Coney Barrett later today to fill the Supreme Court vacancy resulting from the death last week of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A Barrett confirmation would then leave a vacancy on the 7th Circuit. Should Trump appoint a replacement and the Senate confirm, that would be...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 194 judges confirmed. 141 District Court judges 51 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices McConnell has scheduled cloture on several more for next week. This week Cory Wilson (5th Circuit nominee) had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Justin Walker (DC Circuit nominee) is currently awaiting a vote on the floor. When Walker and Wilson are confirmed, Trump will have 53 Circuit judges in less than four years. Obama had 55 in EIGHT years!