Free Republic

A federal judge on Tuesday, the 25th blocked a Trump administration order withholding funding from communities that fail to enforce federal immigration law or cooperate with US immigration authorities in another big blow to the Trump’s plan to “Make America Great Again.” This news is just breaking today so more to come on this most recent roadblock. An April 18 blog post on Judicial Watch titled, “New York Towns, Cities Follow AG’s Order to Adopt Illegal Alien Sanctuary Laws,” detailed the stupidity being enacted by liberal lawmakers in New York, joining others such as California in confronting the Trump administration....

The sudden death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam — and the hours that led up to it — remains shrouded in mystery. Shortly after the body of Abdus-Salaam, the first African American woman to serve on New York’s top court, was found floating fully clothed in the Hudson River with no apparent signs of trauma or criminality, local police said they were treating the death as an apparent suicide. But about a week later, following an inconclusive autopsy, ...

MANHATTAN — The death of the pioneering judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam has been deemed "suspicious" by investigators who are seeking more information, NYPD officials said Wednesday. Abdus-Salaam, who was the first African-American woman to sit on New York state's highest court, was found dead in the Hudson River near West 132nd Street about 1:45 p.m. on April 12, officials said. “There's no apparent trauma to her body. We don't believe she was in the water a long time,” the NYPD's Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at the time. But in the ensuing week, few answers emerged. Investigators said Wednesday morning...

After barring Arkansas from executing eight inmates in rapid succession because of a dispute over how it obtained one of its execution drugs, Judge Wendell Griffen went to an anti-death penalty rally, where he made a stir by lying down on a cot and binding himself as though he were a condemned man on a gurney. Griffen's participation in Friday's protest outside the governor's mansion sparked outrage among death penalty supporters, including Republican lawmakers who described it as judicial misconduct and potential grounds for Griffen's removal from the bench.

UPDATE: Civil rights group to file judicial complaint against judge who praised rapist during sentencing (KUTV) — Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low had glowing praise for a man who was convicted of molesting two female relatives while they stayed at his home three years ago. "The court had no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man," Low said just moments before sentencing Keith Vallejo to prison for sexually abusing the two females. "But great men, sometimes do bad things," Low continued.

LONDON, England, April 13, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — A UK judge has ruled it is in a child's best interest to “die with dignity” rather than to allow his parents to seek additional medical treatment. Connie Yates and Chris Gard want to take eight-month-old son Charlie to the United States for treatment of a rare disease. A GoFundMe account has given them enough money to do so. But Charlie needs to remain on life support to make the trip and Justice Francis determined it is in the "best interests of the child" to withdraw his feeding tube and breathing machine. Charlie...

A pioneering judge, who became the first Muslim woman in US history to serve on the bench, was found dead Wednesday — washed up on the Manhattan side of the Hudson River, sources said. Modal Trigger Sheila Abdus-SalaamAP Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, was discovered floating in the water near 132nd Street and Hudson Parkway at around 1:45 p.m., according to police sources. Witnesses had spotted her fully clothed body and called 911, cops said. Sources told The Post that Abdus-Salaam, who is an associate judge of the Court of Appeals, had been reported missing from her home in Harlem earlier in...

Judge Bredar slaps down Sessions' pleas -- as the Ferguson effect grabs hold Matthew Vadum image An Obama-appointed judge is moving forward with a federal takeover of the Baltimore, Md. police department that critics say will boost crime there by handcuffing police officers in the increasingly violent city. The pleas of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fell on deaf ears as U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, appointed by President Obama in 2010, denied a request from Sessions to hold off on enforcing the consent decree drafted by cop-haters for at least 30 days so the new Trump administration could...

Dealing Texas another rebuke over voting rights, a judge Monday again ruled that Republican lawmakers purposefully designed a strict voter ID law to disadvantage minorities and effectively dampen their growing electoral power. The latest ruling by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi comes more than two years after she likened Texas’s voter ID rules, known as SB 14, to a “poll tax” meant to suppress minority voters. On Monday, she reaffirmed that conclusion after an appeals court asked her to reexamine her findings. The Texas law requires voters to show one of seven forms of identification at...

A Cook County judge was killed and a woman was wounded in a shooting outside the judge's South Side home Monday morning, a police source said. Associate Judge Raymond Myles, 66, and a 52-year-old woman were found outside the home in the 9400 block of South Forest Avenue around 4:50 a.m., police said. Myles suffered several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. The woman was hit in the leg and was taken to Christ in serious condition.

Democrats Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp both say they will vote for Gorsuch.

The FBI says authorities are aware that the federal judge in Hawaii who ruled against President Donald Trump’s travel ban has received threatening messages. FBI spokeswoman Michele Ernst said Thursday the agency is aware of reports of threatening messages against U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson and is prepared to help if necessary. Watson blocked the federal government from enforcing its ban on new visas for people from six mostly Muslim countries and its suspension of the nation’s refugee program. He issued his ruling last week hours before the travel ban was to go into effect.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A judge is rejecting opponents’ latest attempt to stall California’s $64 billion high-speed rail project. But Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Raymond Cadei said Wednesday that he will consider their arguments before the state issues voter-approved bonds next month. He set a hearing for next month to consider their motion for a preliminary injunction.

U.S. District Court Judge Walter H. Rice In a recent article in Military.com, senior federal judge Walter H. Rice was quoted. The judge has been with the District Court since 1980.  His opinion about federal jurisdiction over legal carry on federal facilities is correct as to the state of current law, as far as I have determined. At the moment, federal officials can bar the carry of private arms at their facilities with proper signage. But it was the statement of the judge's personal opinion about the Second Amendment that was interesting. Judge Price said he supported the Second...

Desperate Measures For the sake of absurdity, suppose that I issue a nationwide injunction against all welfare payments because they violate fundamental American principles of self-reliance, personal responsibility, and limited government. Should our government immediately cease payments? Should it vow to appeal my ruling and to pass legislation limiting my authority? Of course not! A proper response is to laugh me out of the courtroom. Furthermore, if our government did appeal my “ruling” or pass legislation, then it would be validating my false authority and setting the precedent that some random citizen can override the duly elected Congress and president....

Thursday, March 16, 2017 The Leahy Rules for Supreme Court Confirmation Mean Gorsuch Must Be Confirmed In preparation for the Gorsuch hearing next week, we thought we would mention some of the Democrat Rules for confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice from their most senior member. The Leahy Rule (Part 1) on the President’s power to pick a Supreme Court Justice. And I think as members of the [Judiciary] Committee, we should respect the mandate the president has earned. The president had told us in 1980 and 1984 he would appoint judges of his philosophy. He was given a mandate...

A federal District Court judge in Maryland is considering whether he should order President Donald Trump to double the annual inflow of refugees up to 100,000 per year.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Thursday told federal immigration officials to stop “stalking undocumented immigrants” at California courthouses. Cantil-Sakauye said she was “deeply concerned” that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are apparently seeking out undocumented immigrants for deportation at courthouses and courtrooms from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Casey Cooper is new to the bench, but he’s well-connected . Just three months into his tenure on the federal bench, and before his formal investiture ceremony later this week, newly minted — but well-connected — U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper has been handed one of the most high-profile and politically sensitive American terrorism cases in recent years ... Cooper, 47, was part of the Obama administration’s transition team and is one of the more connected people in D.C. legal circles, Marimow notes. His wife, Amy Jeffress, worked at the Justice Department as a national security adviser to the...

BREAKING: Judge in Hawaii blocks Trump's new travel ban from taking effect nationwide tomorrow