Free Republic

This is a pre-enforcement action by journalists Sandra Rodríguez-Cotto and Rafelli González-Cotto to enjoin, under the First Amendment, Article 5.14(a) of the Law of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety, Law No. 20 of 2017, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 25, §§ 3501, et seq. (“Law 20”), which criminalizes some types of speech after the Governor has decreed a state of emergency or disaster in the Commonwealth. 1 For the reasons explained below, the challenged provision cannot be enforced. As drafted, it does not pass muster under the First Amendment. BACKGROUND Law 20 creates the Puerto Rico Department of Public...

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey are calling on President Trump to withdraw his nomination for a new federal appeals court judge in Massachusetts, saying it was made during a “lame-duck session” after the presidential race was called in favor of his rival. “Confirming the nominee during this lame-duck session would require Republicans to yet again violate longstanding Senate norms and rules,” the senators said in a statement Tuesday. “The White House should not be using its final days to try to rush through the nomination of a judge who will have a lifetime appointment to a court with...

Arias Marxuach, described as a conservative who was originally recommended by Washington Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, has already passed the Senate Republican majority. In May 2019, the then private practice attorney was confirmed 95-3 by the U.S. Senate for the seat he currently holds on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Arias Marxuach was originally appointed to the San Juan Federal Court in 2018, but the appointment did not complete the legislative process and Trump nominated him again on January 22, 2019.