Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed its 2015 decision recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, ruling that states may not treat married same-sex couples differently from others in issuing birth certificates. The decision was unsigned. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented. The case concerns an Arkansas law about birth certificates that treats married opposite-sex couples differently from same-sex ones. A husband of a married woman is automatically listed as the father even if he is not the genetic parent. Same-sex spouses are not. The case, Pavan v. Smith,...

RUSH: The Supreme Court, ladies and gentlemen, has upheld Trump’s travel ban and has reinstated it. To me, this is an example of how silly and stupid we have been since Trump was — not us. There has been no question that Trump was totally constitutionally within his rights to issue this travel ban. An act of Congress that we read to you many times explicitly granted to Trump the official constitutional powers to do exactly what he did and more if he wanted to in his travel ban. It was stayed by all these lower courts and then upheld...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued the following statement in response to today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning President Trump’s Executive Order that, among other anti-terrorist measures, temporarily restricts most travel from certain Middle East nations: Today, in a historic decision, every Supreme Court justice agreed for now to reinstate practically all of President Trump’s executive order concerning travel. This is a major blow to anti-Trump activist judges on the lower courts. And it is a big victory for our nation’s security, President Trump, and the rule of the law. In light of today’s strong...

Today, in a per curiam ruling, the Supreme Court restored the vast majority of the Trump administration’s temporary travel ban — including the temporary ban on refugee entry. The lower courts’ injunctions remain only in the narrowest of categories — where the person seeking entry has a “bona fide relationships with a person or entity in the United States.” And what is a “bona fide relationship?” The court’s guidelines were strict: For individuals, a close familial relationship is required. A foreign national who wishes to enter the United States to live with or visit a family member Notably absent from...

The Supreme Court of the United States announced Monday that it will review the lower court injunctions blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order barring travel from six Muslim-majority countries. In a per curiam opinion, the Court announced it will consolidate the cases from the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Fourth circuit, Trump v. Hawaii and Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project, respectively. Both courts found the executive order unenforceable as a likely violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment Establishment Clause because the lower courts held it was motivated by an intent to disfavor Islam.

In light of the recent terror attack in Orlando, Florida many people are asking the question, “What can the government do to protect the people?” Everything from banning certain types of firearms to prohibiting people on the no-fly list from buying guns to immigration reforms has been proposed as possible government solutions. In light of the recent terror attack in Orlando, Florida many people are asking the question, “What can the government do to protect the people?” Everything from banning certain types of firearms to prohibiting people on the no-fly list from buying guns to immigration reforms has been proposed...

When governments issue regulations that undermine the value of property, bureaucrats don't necessarily have to compensate property holders, the Supreme Court ruled Friday. The court voted 5-3, in Murr V. Wisconsin, a closely watched Fifth Amendment property rights case. The case arose from a dispute over two tiny parcels of land along the St. Croix River in western Wisconsin and morphed into a major property rights case that drew several western states into the debate before the court. Chief Justice John Roberts, in a scathing dissent, wrote that ruling was a significant blow for property rights and would give greater...

A busy Supreme Court on Monday ruled, in a vote of 4-2, that former September 11 detainees do not have the right to sue government officials for money damages. This is an issue for Congress, not the judiciary, Justice Anthony Kennedy argued in the court’s opinion. Furthermore, he said, the Second Circuit “erred” in allowing respondents’ detention policy claims to move forward under the context of Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, which determined that federal officers would need to pay damages to compensate individuals who were subjected to unconstitutional conditions. Expanding Bivens is a “disfavored” judicial activity,...

RUSH: Hey, the Supreme Court has handed down a decision that’s gonna have some ramifications. They have ruled for, in favor of an Asian-American rock band that calls themselves The Slants. Snerdley, you’re a big music guy. Have you ever heard of The Slants, Asian-American rock band called The Slants? I never have. You have heard of them? You like their music? Ohhh, but you’ve not heard their music, you never heard of ’em ’til the story hit? All right. Well, get this. In a win for Asian-American rock band The Slants — and this has got possible ramifications, good...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of a law that bans offensive trademarks in a ruling that is expected to help the Washington Redskins in their legal fight over the team name. The justices ruled that the 71-year-old trademark law barring disparaging terms infringes free speech rights. The ruling is a victory for the Asian-American rock band called the Slants, but the case was closely watched for the impact it would have on the separate dispute involving the Washington football team. Slants founder Simon Tam tried to trademark the band name in 2011, but the...

TAUNTON, Mass. — For a case that had played out in thousands of text messages, what made Michelle Carter’s behavior a crime, a judge concluded, came in a single phone call. Just as her friend Conrad Roy III stepped out of the truck he had filled with lethal fumes, Ms. Carter told him over the phone to get back in the cab and then listened to him die without trying to help him. That command, and Ms. Carter’s failure to help, said Judge Lawrence Moniz of Bristol County Juvenile Court, made her guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a case that...

he U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court ruling that required North Carolina to urgently redraw state legislative districts found to have been be mapped out in a way that diluted the electoral clout of black voters. The high court, with no recorded dissents, sent back the case to a three-judge federal district court panel, which had ruled in November that the state should draw new districts and hold a special election. The Supreme Court in January put that ruling on hold while it decided whether to hear the state's appeal.

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a transgender Wisconsin high school senior who identifies as male can use the boys' bathroom. The ruling, a victory for Ashton Whitaker, 17, of George Nelson Tremper High School in Kenosha, came the same week that he graduates. Nonetheless, he said he was thrilled with the decision. "I hope my case will help other transgender students in Kenosha and elsewhere to just be treated the same as everyone else without facing discrimination and harassment from school administrators," he said. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that...

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Minnesota mother against her teenage child along with school officials and healthcare providers on the grounds that they violated her parental rights by treating her son with a hormone therapy to start transitioning into a girl even though he hadn't been granted court approval to be legally emancipated from his parents. Senior U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson dismissed the suit this week, saying Anmarie Calgaro's claim was "meritless," according to the StarTribune. Calgaro filed the suit, with the help of lawyers from the Thomas More Society last November, against...

The Utah Supreme Court has ruled police are allowed to ask for a passenger's identification and run a background check on them during a traffic stop — even without suspecting criminal activity.In a 5-0 decision this week, justices overturned a 2014 district court ruling that argued such police actions were "beyond the scope of a routine traffic stop." The ruling stems from a case involving Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jeremy Horne, who stopped a car for an improper lane change. Horne collected IDs and ran a background check on the driver and the passenger, George Matthew Martinez Jr.

No standing to sue until ‘Jack Doe’ is punished The Virginia Supreme Court knocked down a challenge to a school board policy that added “gender identity” and “gender expression” discrimination to the student handbook with little parental involvement. Student “Jack Doe” and his parents sued Fairfax County Public Schools last year, saying the new protected categories weren’t defined and Jack could be suspended for saying or doing anything that potentially offended a transgender peer. {..snip..}

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled against an American oil drilling company that claimed Venezuela unlawfully seized 11 drilling rigs in 2010. Siding with Venezuela, the justices ruled 8-0, with Justice Neil Gorsuch not participating, to throw out a 2015 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Department of Justice is not worried about a federal court decision Tuesday that temporarily blocks enforcement of Trump’s executive order that targeted federal funding of “sanctuary cities.” A spokesman said the DOJ will continue on with its efforts to restrict federal law enforcement grants from jurisdictions that restrict the federal government from accessing information about the immigration status of an individual. The judge sided with the city of San Francisco and Santa Clara County, California, which both were worried about potentially losing billions in federal money. The DOJ lawyers argued that Santa Clara would have lost less than $1...

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...