Free Republic

The Supreme Court of the State of Delaware has upheld the right to keep and bear arms provision of the State Constitution, which was enacted in 1987, passing through two separately elected legislatures.The case was a challenge to the state ban on the possession of weapons in state parks and forest. In Bridgevile Rifle & Pistol Club v. Small, the court ruled that a ban on the possession and carry of guns, enacted by unelected bureaucrats, was unconstitutional under the Delaware Constitutions Article I, Section 20.From delaware.gov: This appeal concerns guns and, as such, has attracted numerous amici curiae...

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A California judge has ruled in favor of a Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order filed on Wednesday against Cathy Miller, the owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California. According to a press release sent by The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, the order would have compelled "Miller to create wedding cakes for LGBT persons, even though doing so would violate her sincerely held religious beliefs."

AUSTIN, Texas – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a Texas ruling that gay spouses may not be entitled to government-subsidized workplace benefits – a potential victory for social conservatives hoping to chip away at 2015’s legalization of same-sex marriage. In June, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision favoring spousal benefits for gay city employees in Houston, ordering the issue back to trial. That was a major reversal for the all-Republican state high court, which previously refused to even consider the benefits case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges...

An Indiana judge has taken an unusual step and temporarily barred Starbucks from closing 77 failing Teavana stores in Simon Property Group malls because the real estate giant was less able to handle the financial pain. Starbucks said in July it planned to shutter its 379-store Teavana operation — but Simon rushed to court to block 77 stores in its malls from going dark — claiming such a move by a high-profile tenant could spark other stores in its malls to close. Starbucks, after trying to turn around its stumbling tea chain, said last August it was pulling the plug...

A federal judge in Maryland became the second to block the Trump administration’s proposal to oust transgender service members from the military — but went a step further than the prior ruling and halted a directive for the Pentagon to stop paying for gender-reassignment treatments. The preliminary injunction issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis comes after the prior ruling out of D.C. found that the policy banning transgender troops creates an “inherent inequality” that likely violates the Constitution. Judge Garbis wrote in his 53-page order that transgender military members who filed suit over the proposal had established...

A federal judge on Monday permanently blocked President Donald Trump's executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities. U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick rejected the administration's argument that the executive order applies only to a relatively small pot of money and said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has refused to grant a petition for an en banc hearing in the Wrenn v. D.C. Second Amendment case.The Court earlier ruled that the requirement for a “good cause” to issue a concealed carry permit was unconstitutional.In effect, this means in a week the District of Columbia will become a “shall issue” jurisdiction.  If a person meets the legal requirements for a concealed carry permit, the District of Columbia will be required to issue a permit.None of the 10 Circuit judges capable of requesting a vote for an...

SACRAMENTO, California, September 11, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- A federal judge told three Christian congregations in California that they have no case in wanting to opt out of the state’s requirement that they cover abortions through their health insurance plans. U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller upheld a 2014 requirement of the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) that all employers throughout the state must pay for abortion insurance for their employees. She told the three churches that they failed to state an adequate claim. The churches — Foothill Church in Glendora, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, and The...

The Supreme Court is allowing the Trump administration to maintain its restrictive policy on refugees. The justices on Tuesday agreed to an administration request to block a lower court ruling that would have eased the refugee ban and allowed up to 24,000 refugees to enter the country before the end of October

Developing...

[Texas Democratic Party Chairman] Hiojosa has previously likened the voter ID requirements to “Jim Crow-era tactics” designed to keep Republican lawmakers in power.Critics say the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other states were tailored to make it harder for minorities and immigrants, including black and Hispanic voters who are less likely to have the authorized IDs and tend to favor Democrats, to cast ballots. Backers say the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and are no more onerous than the requirements imposed by states for driving a motor vehicle.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s possible there could be additional delays before a decision is made on the constitutionality of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act following an hour of oral arguments Tuesday before the state Supreme Court. Justice Margaret Workman questioned the decision by the office of state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to bring the right-to-work law to the Supreme Court before there’s been a full hearing on the merits of the case in circuit court. “I just think you all are taking a shortcut coming up here wanting all of the answers without the lower court having made any...

Yesterday, I reported on an outlandish effort to shake down a Christian pastor about his views on Islam by the Justice Department in an Obama-era holdover case. Today, a federal court entirely dismissed the Justice Department's case. United States District Court Judge Norman Moon ruled that the case was moot because the mosque settled with Culpeper County. The mosque obtained a settlement allowing it to pump and haul sewage from the land. The United States had sought to keep the case alive, and to conduct wide ranging and intrusive discovery against third parties such as Pastor Steve Harrelson of...

Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement of Texas' Sanctuary Cities Law Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017 | Updated 8:05 PM CDT Photo Credit: NBC 5 News A federal judge has temporarily blocked most of Texas' tough new "sanctuary cities" law allowing police to inquire about people's immigration status during routine interactions such as traffic stops. Opponents call the measure, which sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature, a "show your papers" law. They sued, and the ruling by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio keeps it from taking effect Friday, allowing the case time to proceed. Texas Schools Shuttered by Harvey Could Stay...

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge late Wednesday temporarily blocked most of Texas’ tough new “sanctuary cities” law that would have allowed police to inquire about people’s immigration status during routine interactions such as traffic stops. The law, SB 4, had been cheered by President Donald Trump’s administration but decried by immigrants’ rights groups who say it could force anyone who looks like they might be in the country illegally to “show papers.” The measure sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature despite months of protests and opposition from business groups who worried that it could cause a labor-force shortage in industries...

Justice Samuel Alito stayed a lower court order requiring the Texas state legislature to draw new legislative district lines in advance of the 2018 elections Monday. (snip) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Supreme Court to stay the ruling Friday. “It is astonishing that the lower court ignored that the maps are the very same ones that the court itself adopted in 2012, and the Obama-era Department of Justice did not bring any claims against the maps,” he said in a statement. “We are confident that the Supreme Court will allow Texas to continue to use the maps used...

A federal jury in Las Vegas refused Tuesday to convict four defendants who were retried on accusations that they threatened and assaulted federal agents by wielding assault weapons in a 2014 confrontation to stop a cattle roundup near the Nevada ranch of states' rights figure Cliven Bundy. In a stunning setback to federal prosecutors planning to try the Bundy family patriarch and two adult sons later this year, the jury acquitted Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges, and delivered not-guilty findings on most charges against Scott Drexler and Eric Parker. More than 30 defendants' supporters in the...

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday reversed a ruling that prevented Arkansas from cutting off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood following the release of controversial videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis reversed a federal judge's ruling forbidding Arkansas from carrying through with Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson's directive to suspend Medicaid reimbursements to a Planned Parenthood affiliate. That ruling by U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock had come in a lawsuit by three women who claimed Arkansas violated their rights under the federal Medicaid law to choose any...

A Federal judge just ruled our wonderful Sheriff Joe Arapaio guilty of criminal contempt of court--for simply enforcing existing federal immigration laws.

PHOENIX - Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt of court by a judge on Monday. The criminal charges stem from the profiling case that Arpaio lost three years ago that morphed into a contempt case after the sheriff was accused of defying a 2011 court order to stop his signature immigration patrols. Arpaio has acknowledged violating U.S. District Judge Murray Snow's order but insists his disobedience was not intentional. Snow disagreed, concluding Arpaio knowingly continued the patrols because he believed his immigration enforcement efforts would help his 2012 re-election campaign.