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U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled that portions of the law restricting the use of ballot drop-boxes, assistance for voters, and third-party voter registration drives violated the Voting Rights Act and constitutional protections because they were passed "with the intent to discriminate against Black voters."

Quite a blockbuster ruling from the federal district court. The court found that in enacting certain election laws limiting registration outreach and the use of drop boxes, Florida violated the Voting Rights Act. The court also found that Florida acted intentionally discriminating against the state’s black voters. And although the parties hardly briefed it, the Court imposed a very strong remedy of requiring that certain changes in voting rules in Florida be precleared before the court for a period of 10 years under section 3c of the Voting Rights Act.

After several days of bad news on the redistricting front, including a bad decision in North Carolina for the GOP-drawn map there, a big win has been delivered to Republicans. The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 to halt a lower court order in Alabama that it must redraw its previously passed Congressional map.That means a 6-1 Republican to Democrat map will now go into effect in 2022, and given the makeup of the Supreme Court, there’s no reason to believe it gets struck down at any point past that.BREAKING: By a 5–4 vote, with Roberts joining the liberals in...

The application for a stay or injunctive relief presented to JUSTICE THOMAS and by him referred to the Court in No. 21A375 is treated as a jurisdictional statement, and probable jurisdiction is noted. The application for a stay or injunctive relief presented to JUSTICE THOMAS and by him referred to the Court in No. 21A376 is treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment. Respondents in No. 21A376 do not oppose treating the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment and do not oppose granting the petition (although they do oppose granting a...

A left-wing activist with ties to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) nominated by President Joe Biden to be a federal judge has argued photo ID and proof of citizenship constitute “voter suppression.” Nancy Gbana Abudu, the deputy legal director at SPLC, was picked by Biden in December to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The 11th Circuit covers parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. The vacancy came about upon the retirement of Judge Beverly B. Martin — a President Barack Obama appointee. Abudu worked for the ACLU...

Judge Beth Bloom, appointed by former President Obama, permanently enjoined the law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that banned Florida cities and counties from protecting criminal illegal aliens from federal immigration law carried out by the ICE agency. “Defendants are permanently enjoined from enforcing Fla. Stat. § 908.103 and Fla. Stat. § 908.104 because these statutory provisions are unconstitutional,” Bloom wrote. As part of her ruling, Bloom accuses DeSantis and Florida Republican Party Chairman State Sen. Joe Gruters (R) of having “discriminatory motives” in their efforts to pass the sanctuary city ban: Here, prior to SB 168’s enactment, there was...

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis and three Florida sheriffs from enforcing a key portion of the state’s so-called anti-riot law, in part, because it “encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.” The definition of what constitutes a riot under a new state law pushed by the governor is too vague “to the point of unconstitutionality,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee wrote in his preliminary injunction order....

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida's new "anti-riot" law, championed by Florida lawmakers as a way to prevent violent protests, violates First Amendment rights. That's according to a federal judge, who blocked HB 1 Thursday. Chief Federal District Judge Mark Walker said the groups who brought the lawsuit demonstrated that the law chilled protest activities since it was enacted, because "the challenged law's confusing definition of 'riot' fails to give their members sufficient notice of what is prohibited or when they could be subject to arrest, such that their members do not wish to participate in future protests or have ceased organizing...

A federal appeals court, which previously sided with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) battle against the federal health agency over the vaccination rules it is imposing on the cruise industry, reversed its decision, ultimately siding with the state over the CDC’s No-Sail Orders.On Friday, Florida “filed an Emergency Application to Vacate the Eleventh Circuit’s Stay on the Preliminary Injunction.” That same day, the Eleventh Circuit reversed its earlier decision, allowing the cruise industry to resume operations without adhering to the CDC’s restrictions, including what effectively amounts to vaccine passports, which are illegal...

CDC Cruise Order Decision Reversed After Florida Appeals to U.S. Supreme Court The CDC cruise order decision has been reversed after Florida appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow cruise ships to disregard CDC requirements. The State of Florida has once again been successful in its ongoing dispute with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Conditional Sailing Order. The state went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal an earlier decision that favored the CDC to keep its order on cruise ships in place in Florida. Florida Goes to U.S. Supreme Court Against...

When will the Republicans wake up and see that the Democrat Party is not working for the US’s best interest? They work for POWER and will do anything to get it and keep it. We saw in nearly every big state lawsuit after the election that Obama judges were being assigned to the cases. They had multiple documents ready before they even heard the cases which ruled against President Trump and the American people every time. In February 2017 we reported on Obama and Carter judges making insane rulings against President Trump. We saw Obama judges obstructing justice with unconstitutional...

A pair of technology trade groups are pushing back against Governor Ron DeSantis after he signed a measure (SB 7072) on Monday that aims to block companies like Facebook and Twitter from censoring politicians from their platforms. A top priority for DeSantis during the 2021 Legislative Session, the new law gives the Florida Elections Commission the power to fine media companies up to $250,000 a day for “de-platforming” any candidate for statewide office and $25,000 per day for de-platforming candidates for non-statewide offices. The lawsuit alleges that the new law violates the Constitution, noting that it infringes on the First...

Brown was sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison. She was let out last year due to COVID-19 concerns in the federal prison where she as serving her time.The appeal was based on arguments about a juror that Brown contended was improperly removed from her 2017 trial because he said the “Holy Spirit” told him Brown was not guilty of fraud and tax charges.

A federal appeals court on Saturday rejected a bid by a conservative lawyer to block President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia and left in place procedures that will make it easier for voters to cast absentee ballots in January when two Senate seats are up for grabs. U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg, who was nominated by Trump, rejected attorney L. Lin Wood’s arguments and found in a Nov. 20 opinion that the lawyer had no standing to sue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta agreed with the lower court, saying Wood had failed “to allege...

Earlier today I traced yesterday’s sequence of events in federal district court in Georgia that led to the issuance of a TRO by District Court Judge Timothy Batten, whereby he directed officials in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Cherokee Counties to not take any action to alter or delete electronic data stored on the Dominion voting system machines that were used in the Nov. 3 election. Judge Batten reserved, for now, the question of whether to allow the machines to undergo forensic examination by experts hired by the Plaintiffs in the case and gave the State and County Defendants until Wednesday to...

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that ordinances in Florida banning the licensed counseling of people with unwanted same-sex attractions are unconstitutional violations of the freedom of speech. "We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny," the ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. The decision was the first from a federal appeals court laws against so-called "conversion therapy" – a term rejected by proponents – since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In NIFLA v. Becerra, the high court ruled the...

A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump rejected what he called a “creative” lawsuit on Thursday. It was a suit that Georgia’s assistant attorney general warned would cause the Peach State’s largest disenfranchisement since the Jim Crow era.“To halt the certification at literally the 11th hour would breed confusion and disenfranchisement that I find have no basis in fact and law,” U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg declared at the end of a roughly two-and-a-half hour hearing.The celebrity attorney making the breathtaking request was L. Lin Wood, Jr., who also represented former U.S. Congressman Gary Condit and the alleged victim...

1. A motion to delay certification of GA vote based on a flawed recount was denied this evening by Atlanta Judge Steven D. Grimberg. The oral ruling was unclear but he may have overreached to dismiss my claim that election was unlawful due to @GaSecofState consent agreement. 2. The recount issue was separate from unlawful election issue. Sounded like Court thinks a GA voter has NO standing to challenge unlawful federal election. Lawyer for Sec. Of State suggested only state AG could do so. What? AG represents @GaSecofState. Makes no sense. 3. GA voters have rights. It is OUR right...

A federal appeals court on Friday voted against extending the deadline for voters to return their absentee ballots in the state of Georgia. The Atlanta Constitution-Journal reports: A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided 2-1 to grant a stay of a judge’s ruling that would have allowed voters three more days to return their absentee ballots.

An atheist group has filed a brief in support of a lawsuit against a Georgia college that punished a Christian student for preaching outside of a limited free speech zone on campus. The American Humanist Association filed an amicus brief on Tuesday in the case of Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, which will be argued before the United States Supreme Court. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm, filed suit against George Gwinnett College for its treatment of Christian student Chike Uzuegbunam. Although the school has changed their policy on free speech and expression since stopping Uzuegbunam from preaching, they have...