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SEATTLE/BOSTON - A federal judge in Seattle on Friday granted a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump's recent action barring nationals from seven countries from entering the United States. The judge's order represents a major challenge to the Trump administration, which is expected to immediately appeal. The judge declined to stay the order, suggesting that travel restrictions could be lifted immediately. The challenge was brought by the state of Washington and later joined by the state of Minnesota. The Seattle judge ruled that the states have legal standing to sue, which could help Democratic attorneys general take...

In an early test of President Trump's so-called "Muslim ban," a federal judge in Seattle ruled Friday to halt enforcement of parts of Trump’s week-old executive order on immigration. U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled on a motion by the state of Washington for a temporary restraining order halting the parts of the order that block entry to the U.S. by refugees and certain immigrants from some Muslim-majority countries. Robart's ruling will temporarily halt enforcement of several provisions of Trump's controversial executive order. Attorneys for the federal government are expected to appeal the ruling. Friday’s was the first hearing in...

Washington (CNN)In the first court victory for the Trump administration, a federal judge in Boston declined Friday to renew a temporary restraining order that prohibited the detention or removal of all individuals legally authorized to come to the US.

A federal judge blocked part of President Trump’s executive order on immigration on Saturday evening, ordering that refugees and others trapped at airports across the United States should not be sent back to their home countries. But the judge stopped short of letting them into the country or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of Mr. Trump’s actions. Lawyers who sued the government to block the White House order said the decision, which came after an emergency hearing in a New York City courtroom, could affect an estimated 100 to 200 people who were detained upon arrival at American...

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a woman who claims her doctor caused her to have a miscarriage by administering an abortion-inducing drug can proceed. Kimberly Stinnett’s usual doctor was reportedly out the day of her appointment. Karla Kennedy, the doctor who was filling in that day, believed that Stinnett had an ectopic pregnancy since she had had one previously. Thus, Kennedy decided to administer methotrexate, a drug that, as the court noted, is “intended to cause the end of the pregnancy.” However, when Stinnett’s usual doctor, William Huggins, examined her pregnancy via...

ExxonMobil has lost a key battle in an investigation into whether the oil giant misled the public about the dangers of climate change. A Massachusetts judge ordered Exxon (XOM) on Wednesday to hand over more than four decades of the company's climate change research. The court rejected Exxon's emergency motion to kill the demand from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who is investigating allegations the company ignored internal scientific research going back to the 1970s. The ruling came on the same day that longtime Exxon boss Rex Tillerson was being grilled by Congress about the company's climate change tactics at...

<p>Trump's victory in Wisconsin was reaffirmed following a statewide vote recount that showed him defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton by more than 22,000 votes.</p> <p>Meanwhile, a federal judge issued a stinging rejection of a Green Party-backed request to recount paper ballots in Pennsylvania's presidential election and scan some counties' election systems for signs of hacking.</p>

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein received another defeat Monday morning, in her efforts to force a recount of election ballots in Pennsylvania. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond said “No,” on Monday, rejecting the case completely. Out of the 6 million votes cast in Pennsylvania, Trump had won over Clinton by about 44,000 votes. Stein had gone after the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

A New York state court on Tuesday temporarily stopped New York City from destroying the personal records of hundreds of thousands of municipal I.D. card holders after Republicans argued the records might be needed to track criminals. Seeking to protect illegal immigrants who fear deportation under a President-elect Donald Trump administration, city officials had been considering destroying the information and said on Tuesday they would stop collecting it starting next month. Two Republican state lawmakers sued the city on Monday to block any plans to discard the records collected so far, saying they could be needed to investigate individuals who...

BREAKING NEWS - Mistrial declared in Michael Slager murder case

The Fourth Amendment is still alive and well, thanks in part to a recent ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Nov. 8 opinion, the court overruled a lower court decision and held that an Iraq War veteran, 1st Sgt. Matthew Corrigan, may pursue his claim for monetary damages against the District of Columbia and certain individual police officers after those officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights by ransacking his house—twice.

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Reaffirms nationwide injunction blocking White House policy for schools (WND) – For a third time, a federal judge has affirmed a nationwide injunction against the Obama administration’s agenda to impose mandatory open-restroom policies on schools from coast to coast, scolding the White House for repeating old arguments and catching those who submitted the newest arguments in a lie. The ruling this week from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor left intact his nationwide injunction against Obama’s decision that transgender public school students can use the restroom of their choice, rather than the restroom designated for their biological gender. The White House...

Two former allies of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were convicted on Friday for their roles in the "Bridgegate" lane closure scandal, following a six-week trial that served to further tarnish the Republican's damaged reputation. Bridget Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty in Newark federal court on all counts, the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey said on Twitter. Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud, conspiracy and depriving the residents of Fort Lee, New Jersey, of their...

The following article was written by Robert Knight and posted on October 22nd on the American Thinker website. If you didn’t hear about this last month, it’s for good reason. The media do not like publicizing defeats for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). A 27-year battle with the ACLU over the Mt. Soledad mountaintop cross at a Korean War veterans memorial in San Diego ended in a victory for American heritage. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page ruling calling the case moot on Sept. 8 and directing U.S. district judge Lawrence Byrne to dismiss it,...

A seven-year-old boy has been removed from his mother’s care by the high court, after he was found to be suffering “significant emotional harm” due to his mother raising him as a girl. The judge in the case slammed social services who had simply accepted that the boy should be treated as a girl. The High Court judge hearing the case, Mr Justice Hayden, told the court that he believed the mother had been “absolutely convinced” that the boy “perceived himself as a girl” and was therefore determined to treat him as a girl, according to reports. However, the boy,...

LEXANDRIA - Virginians who couldn’t register to vote because a state website crashed were given one more chance to sign up Thursday after a federal judge ordered the state to reopen the voter registration period until midnight Friday.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Newtown families against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, saying federal law shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis on Friday granted a motion by Madison, North Carolina-based Remington Arms to strike the lawsuit by the families of nine children and adults killed and a teacher who survived the 2012 attack. A gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the school with an AR-15-style rifle.

Federal Judge Overturns Ban on Openly Carrying Guns in Public - Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2016/10/05/federal-judge-overturns-ban-on-openly-ca Federal Judge Overturns Ban on Openly Carrying Guns in Public The ruling also rejects an "assault weapon" ban, caliber restrictions for long guns, a heavy handgun tax, and registration requirements. Jacob Sullum|Oct. 5, 2016 8:45 am In a quintuple victory for Second Amendment rights, a federal judge last week overturned a ban on carrying handguns in public, a ban on so-called assault weapons, caliber restrictions for long guns, a $1,000 tax on handguns, and a requirement that all guns be registered with the government. "The...

Before he was Donald Trump's vice-presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) took a politically popular, if legally questionable, stand: There would be no Syrian refugees resettled in his state, not after the attacks in Paris last fall carried out in part by Islamist terrorists who masqueraded as Syrian migrants. On the day before the vice-presidential debate, his biggest moment as Trump's running mate, Pence's stand on Syrian refugees received a likely fatal blow: A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Pence has no legal authority to stop the resettlement of these refugees in Indiana.