Free Republic

Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses the holdings of VanDerStok v. Garland today from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and what it means moving forward for you, the lawful and responsible gun owner.

A federal agency cannot force a Texas-based conservative Christian business to comply with policies barring discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees or job applicants, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity cannot deny Braidwood Management an exemption from anti-discrimination policies designed to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. Braidwood is entitled to the exemption under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, the ruling said. “Being forced to employ someone to represent the company who behaves...

The Biden administration on Friday said it would make another attempt to end the "Remain in Mexico" protocols, a Trump administration initiative that forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers back into Mexican border towns to await their court dates in the U.S. In a briefing before the announcement, Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters they had reassessed the policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again determined it was appropriate to end it despite acknowledging its impact in reducing unauthorized migration.... ...Embedded in the district court's order to reinstate was a suggestion...

A federal appeals court said Monday that President Obama could not move forward with his plans to overhaul immigration rules by providing up to five million people with work permits and protection from deportation. A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled 2 to 1 against an appeal by the Obama administration, saying that a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr. Obama's actions was likely to succeed at trial. The ruling is the latest blow to the president's efforts to circumvent congressional inaction on immigration by using the...

<p>HOUSTON (AP) — A court hearing has been set for April 17 on whether a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's immigration executive action should be lifted, a federal appeals court announced Tuesday.</p> <p>Obama's executive actions, which could spare from deportation as many as 5 million people who are in the U.S. illegally, were put on hold by a preliminary injunction issued last month by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas.</p>

The Federation for American Immigration Reform and its legal affiliate have been active around the nation in advising states and municipalities about ordinances and legislation to crack down on illegal immigration. Dan Stein is FAIR's president, and Mike Hethmon is the general counsel of its legal affiliate Immigration Reform Law Institute. Kris Kobach, the legal affiliate's senior counsel and a law school professor, has been involved in Farmers Branch, Arizona, Hazleton, Pa., and Valley Park, Mo. Stein and Hethmon answered questions about why such efforts are gaining traction in places like Arizona and Fremont, Neb., where voters recently approved an...

Texas’ two major political parties both want a federal appeals court to quickly decide whether retired congressman Tom DeLay is or is not eligible to run again for the office from which he recently resigned. But filings with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals show lawyers for state Democrats don’t want the appeal to proceed quite as quickly as GOP lawyers do. It’s the latest development in an unlikely case that finds Texas Democrats fighting to keep longtime Sugar Land Republican congressman DeLay on the ballot, where he would face Democratic challenger Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither. The...

Feb. 20, 2004, 10:39AM Tomball baby one of nation's tiniest ever By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES • 'The Tiniest Babies' registry: Developed by the University of Iowa. Most parents consider the birth of their children a miracle. For the Walpoles, that may not be a stretch. The combined weight of Dodie and Vaughn Walpole's twin girls, born Feb. 11 about two months prematurely, was less than 4 pounds. Dodie Walpole, 29, gave birth by Caesarean section to Trinity and Kylie. Trinity weighed 2.8 pounds at birth, and Kylie was 12 ounces, making her one of the tiniest...

Rep. Chip Pickering has told black leaders in the state he would lobby for a "diversity candidate" to replace his father on the federal court in Hattiesburg, the lawmaker's press secretary said Tuesday. Hattiesburg Judge Charles Pickering is President Bush's choice to fill a vacancy on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, but Democrats who say the judge is racially insensitive have stalled the nomination.