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A federal appeals court said Wednesday it has set a date to hear an expedited appeal of a lower court order that put President Obama’s deportation relief programs on hold. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on July 10 in New Orleans in the Obama administration’s attempt to lift a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas, which blocked several key executive actions from taking effect. The hearing will present a major test for the administration, which is seeking to end the legal limbo surrounding its immigration programs. A three-judge panel from...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has approved former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request to remain free while he appeals his corruption convictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said McDonnell’s appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact that could warrant reversal or a new trial. Special coverage: The McDonnel corruption trial The court also ordered that briefs in the case be filed by March 2 and set a May 12 hearing. A jury last year found McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in...

Utah Sen. Mike Lee defended himself Tuesday against allegations that his point of order vote, which he earned in partnership with Sens. Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions, contributed to President Barack Obama being able to confirm more of his nominees through the outgoing Democratic Senate majority. “Look, I’ve got tremendous respect for Charles Krauthammer, but he does not have a crystal ball,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee said on the Laura Ingraham radio show.

The state of Oklahoma, arguing that the Supreme Court should consider the views of a state government when it rules on the legality of federal tax subsidies to be paid to insurance-buying consumers under the Affordable Care Act, has urged the Court to review that state’s case when it considers the already granted case of King v. Burwell.

LAS VEGAS – O.J. Simpson's appeal for release from a Nevada prison is now in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Simpson lawyers argued in a final brief to the Nevada high court that a lower court judge was wrong to deny the former football star a new trial in his 2008 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction for a hotel room heist in Las Vegas. The filing, submitted Friday, came after Clark County prosecutors submitted documents Sept. 24 saying there was no need for another trial. The Supreme Court could decide to hear oral arguments, or they could issue...

In an obscure corner of the federal bureaucracy, there is an office that is 990,399 cases behind. That is Washington’s backlog of backlogs — a queue of waiting Americans larger than the populations of six different states. It is bigger even than the infamous backups at Veterans Affairs, where 526,000 people are waiting in line, and the patent office, where 606,000 applications are pending. All of these people are waiting on a single office at the Social Security Administration. Social Security is best-known for sending benefits to seniors. But it also pays out disability benefits to people who can’t work...

A Father's Day appeal Dear President Obama, You are like a champion boxer who cannot be touched by your opponents. You have outsmarted and out-boxed them at every turn. I appeal to you to understand where your ‘victories’ have and are leading our nation. While you may think winning is all, you must also understand that even victory has its consequences. And, while you may actually believe you are doing the best for our nation, the exact opposite may be true. Yes, you are the champion. You have crushed your domestic political opponents, but at what cost? Why have our...

A federal appeals court heard arguments on Thursday that Obamacare is unconstitutional because it is a tax that originated in the Senate rather than the House and thus violates the Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The case, Sissel v. Health and Human Services, was argued before a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with two jurists recently appointed by President Barack Obama and the other by President Bill Clinton. Appearing before the panel, Timothy Sandefur, co-counsel for the Pacific Legal Foundation that launched Sissel, said the House bill that became the Affordable Care Act in the...

The United Auto Workers announced Monday it is withdrawing an appeal of the outcome of a union vote at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Tennessee. In a statement released one hour before the scheduled start of a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Chattanooga, Tenn., UAW President Bob King said the union decided to put the “tainted election in the rearview mirror” because the challenge could have taken months or even years to come to a conclusion. …

The Romeike family sought to stay in the United States because returning to Germany would mean they could not home school their children in that country. The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a German family seeking asylum in the United States because their home country does not allow home-schooling. The justices rejected an appeal from Uwe and Hannelore Romeike, who claim the German government is persecuting them because they want to raise their children in accordance with their Christian beliefs.

Immediately after the the historic Ninth Circuit ruling that the second amendment right to bear arms extended outside of the home, it was reported that an appeal to an "en banc" panel of 11 justices would be in the works. Securityinfowatch.com quotes Bob Egelko of  the San Francisco Chronicle as reporting: James Chapin, the San Diego deputy county counsel who defended the permit system, said the county will ask the full appeals court for a rehearing before an 11-judge panel. It appears that Mr. Egelko either misunderstood Mr. Chapin, or that Mr. Chapin changed his mind. The LA Times...

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday gets what’s likely his last chance to win his freedom as a three-judge federal panel hears oral arguments in his appeal. A lawyer for the disgraced Illinois Democrat steps before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to ask that it toss Blagojevich’s corruption convictions. Short of that, Blagojevich’s defense team hopes the court will at least agree to reduce his 14-year prison term—one of the longest sentences ever imposed for political corruption in a state where four of the last seven governors ended up in prison.FBI agents arrested then-Gov....

A three-judge panel unanimously acquitted former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of the charges against him Wednesday morning. The verdict means he can return to serve as foreign minister, but the state is expected to appeal it. “Seventeen years are over; it’s behind me,” Lieberman told reporters after the verdict. “I want to thank my family and friends who truly stood by me in all of those 17 years and gave me the support. I want to thank the defense team that did an amazing job; extraordinary.” “I do not intend to deal with this issue anymore,” he added. “This chapter...

Even as Obamacare faces a rocky rollout, the legal battle against the program grinds on. A lawsuit aimed at overturning Obamacare on the basis of the Origination Clause has moved to the appeals court after losing its first round in federal trial court. Attorneys for the Pacific Legal Foundation in Sacramento filed an appeal last week with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals after a federal judge ruled June 28 in favor of the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss the case. “Whoever loses at this stage of the proceeding will undoubtedly file at United States Supreme Court for a...

Today we took a beating from the jury who heard the case of Richard Warman v. Fourniers and John Does. Their decision was completely unexpected (at least by me) so now we must re-evaluate our position.

Network Says Full Court Needs to Weigh in on Whether Economic Loss is Required for Finding As expected, the Tennis Channel has filed a petition for full court (en banc) review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of a three-judge panel decision May 28 that Comcast did not violate the FCC's program carriage rules. That panel concluded that the FCC and Tennis had failed to make the discrimination case against the cable operator. In its petition, filed Friday july 15, Tennis Channel says that the ruling "departed from well-settled anti-discrimination law' and "ignored congressional intent and...

OTTAWA - Omar Khadr’s legal team will “absolutely” move to appeal his convictions of murder and terrorism within the month, his Canadian lawyer confirmed Saturday. Edmonton-based lawyer Dennis Edney said Khadr, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges including murder, spying and terrorism, will soon file an appeal to a U.S. civilian federal court that has already tossed out two Guantanamo military tribunal convictions. Khadr, 26, struck a plea deal in 2010 that led to him being sentenced to eight years in prison for five war crimes, including the murder of U.S. special forces medic Christopher Speer in a firefight...

New York City is asking appeals judges to reinstate a ban on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks, which was struck down by a Manhattan judge the day before it was to go into effect. The city had vowed an appeal and said Thursday that lawyers had filed it late Monday. In his decision on March 11, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling said the 16-ounce limit on sodas and other sweet drinks arbitrarily applies to only some sugary beverages and some places that sell them.

Judges Have Issues with Statute of Limitations on Carriage Complaint, First Amendment Implications of Remedy A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals heard the case of Comcast vs. the FCC on Monday, challenging the FCC's first-ever finding in favor of a program carriage complaint and its imposition of a carriage remedy. While the judges usually wield a gavel, in this case is was more like a hammer, with the FCC mostly on the receiving end. Between the serious First Amendment issues with the FCC's carriage remedy expressed by Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the contract issues on which Judge...

A Penn State trustee has told the NCAA that he intends to appeal college sports governing body's strict sanctions on the university for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.