Free Republic

...A federal judge is raising alarms that the Trump administration deported a two-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras with “no meaningful process,” even as the child’s father was frantically petitioning the courts to keep her in the country.... ...officials said in court that the mother told ICE officials that she wished to take V.M.L. with her to Honduras. The filing included a handwritten note in Spanish they claimed was written by the mother and confirmed her intent. But the judge said he had hoped to verify that information. “The Government contends that this is all okay because the mother wishes that...

The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that protects children from viewing sexually explicit performances. The court on Monday denied a petition from Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based theater group, that claimed a law banning sexually explicit performances in front of children violated the First Amendment. In July, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the law could take effect, overturning a federal judge’s decision to block the law. “Another big win for Tennessee! Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Friends of George’s v. Mulroy,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said....

Over the weekend, an Obama-appointed judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive Treasury Department data. While the media frames this as a limited restriction on political appointees and special government employees, the reality appears far more sweeping. Judge Paul Engelmayer’s ruling explicitly bars all political appointees—including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—from Treasury payment records and financial systems, restricting access to career civil servants (essentially the Deep State) within the Bureau of Fiscal Services. This unprecedented move effectively prevents the Treasury secretary from overseeing his own department’s financial data, raising serious concerns about executive...

This ruling, concocted without legal precedent or constitutional justification, is nothing short of judicial sabotage. Worse, it was issued ex parte—meaning Trump administration lawyers weren’t given notice, weren’t allowed to argue, and weren’t even in the room. Only Democrat attorneys general were heard, ensuring a predetermined outcome. Engelmayer’s order is legally indefensible. He cites no statutory basis because none exists. He offers no constitutional rationale because the Constitution directly contradicts him. Instead, he fabricates a fiction: that the duly appointed Treasury Secretary is nothing more than a ceremonial figurehead, akin to a powerless monarch, while unelected bureaucrats—who answer to no...

A federal judge, citing a risk of “irreparable harm,” has temporarily restricted Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system.. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered the destruction of any downloaded information from the payment system by anyone given access to it since January 20,

A federal judge has paused an attempt by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) to imprison Christian pro-life activists for up to ten years. Judge Matthew Leitman, an Obama appointee, paused the DOJ’s FACE Act and felony conspiracy case against seven pro-life activists who are awaiting sentencing over a peaceful protest at a Michigan abortion clinic, citing the results of the 2024 election and the potential for the next presidential administration to handle such cases differently. “As further discussed on the record, the Court will conduct another status conference during the week of March 24, 2025, to receive a...

The Western District of Louisiana’s US District Court has ruled in favor of the State of Missouri, allowing additional discovery in the significant Missouri v. Biden lawsuit, which scrutinizes government collaboration in social media censorship. This decision comes after the Supreme Court, in June, overturned a prior injunction, then-named Murthy v. Missouri, which had prohibited entities including the White House, CDC, FBI, CISA, and the Surgeon General’s office from pressing social media platforms to suppress speech protected under the Constitution. [link to Court's Order] [snip] The depth of the Biden Administration’s involvement in these censorial activities likely would have remained...

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can continue to pursue his censorship lawsuit against the Biden administration. The Supreme Court ruled in June that state and individual plaintiffs who alleged the Biden administration violated their First Amendment rights when it pressured social media companies to suppress speech did not have standing to sue. District Court Judge Terry Doughty found Kennedy meets the standard set by the Supreme Court because there is “ample evidence” to show he has been censored in the past at the direction of government actors and “substantial risk” that the censorship will continue....

U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan's 69-page opinion says he was compelled to rule as he did because of the Supreme Court's rulings in firearms cases, particularly the 2022 Bruen decision that expanded gun rights. Sheridan's ruling left both 2nd Amendment advocates and the state attorney general planning appeals. The judge temporarily delayed the order for 30 days. Pointing to the high court's precedents, Sheridan suggested Congress and the president could do more to curb gun-related violence nationwide. “It is hard to accept the Supreme Court’s pronouncements that certain firearms policy choices are ‘off the table’ when frequently, radical individuals possess...

Afederal court in Kansas on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration's Title IX regulations from taking effect in four states, becoming the latest court to stop the new controversial rules from taking effect in August. The Department of Education's new rules expanded the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and pregnancy, and included a ban on single-sex bathroom and locker rooms. It also required schools to use pronouns based on a student's preferred gender identity. The new rules have now been stopped in 14 states as of Tuesday. [snip] “Gender ideology does not belong in public schools and we...

A federal judge in Nevada dismissed a ballot eligibility challenge against former President Trump on Tuesday, ruling the challenge does not have proper standing. Federal Judge Gloria Navarro determined that the man who brought the challenge, long-shot GOP presidential candidate John Anthony Castro, didn’t have authentic standing to bring the suit because he filed to run for president in order to manufacture legal standing. “In rejecting his political competitor standing argument, courts have found that Castro improperly manufactured his standing merely to file this lawsuit,” Navarro wrote.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee's version of not allowing drag queens and kings in public settings has been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in Memphis, according to a ruling filed late Friday night. The ruling was determined based on the First Amendment and freedom of speech.

The City of Everett is paying out $500,000 to a former bikini barista stand owner and its employees after a U.S. district court ruled that a 2017 city ordinance unfairly targeted women. The owner of a chain of coffee stands called Hillbilly Hotties sued the city, claiming its dress code infringed on their First Amendment rights–and a U.S. District Court judge agreed. A U.S. District Court judge found Everett’s dress code ordinance violated the Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. and Washington state constitutions. The Court found that the ordinance was, at least in part, shaped by a gender-based discriminatory...

This is a pre-enforcement action by journalists Sandra Rodríguez-Cotto and Rafelli González-Cotto to enjoin, under the First Amendment, Article 5.14(a) of the Law of the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety, Law No. 20 of 2017, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 25, §§ 3501, et seq. (“Law 20”), which criminalizes some types of speech after the Governor has decreed a state of emergency or disaster in the Commonwealth. 1 For the reasons explained below, the challenged provision cannot be enforced. As drafted, it does not pass muster under the First Amendment. BACKGROUND Law 20 creates the Puerto Rico Department of Public...

A federal judge blocked a Tennessee law on Friday that would have limited drag queens’ performances in front of children, one day before it was scheduled to take effect on April 1.Granting a temporary restraining order to Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based LGBTQ theater group that brought the lawsuit to court, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker ruled that the law’s enforcement would be blocked for two weeks. He described the legislation as “likely both vague and overly-broad.”“Does a citizen’s private residence count? How about a camping ground at a national park? What if a minor browsing the world wide web...

A federal court has granted the request of two attorneys general for discovery and documents from top Biden officials and social media honchos so they can to get to the bottom of their collusion efforts to suppress and censor free speech. In May, Attorneys General Eric Schmidt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana filed suit against eight high-ranking Biden Administration officials, including Joe Biden, Jen Psaki, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, for allegedly colluding with social media giants to suppress freedom of speech under the pretense of combatting “misinformation.” 🚨BREAKING: Missouri and Louisiana just filed suit against Joe Biden, Jen...

The ship was scheduled to arrive in Miami on Saturday. But a federal judge in Miami issued an arrest warrant for the ship Thursday, a maritime practice where a U.S. Marshal goes aboard a vessel and takes charge of it once it enters U.S. waters. The lawsuit was filed in a Miami federal court by Peninsula Petroleum Far East against the ship under a maritime procedure that allows actions against vessels for unpaid debts. The complaint says Crystal Symphony was chartered or managed by Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises, which are both sued for breach of contract for allegedly owing...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A cruise line is in a state of chaos after unpaid fuel bills caused a Miami judge to issue an arrest warrant for the Crystal Symphony cruise ship. It’s owned by the ultra-luxury cruise line Crystal Cruises. The warrant gives authorities the ability to seize the ship if it enters U.S. waters. As a result, the ship is currently docked in Bimini instead of returning to South Florida. Passengers on the ship have told multiple media outlets that they’ll be shuttled via ferry back to Port Everglades sometime on Sunday. It comes just days after Crystal...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected efforts by four Democratic-leaning U.S. states to overturn former Republican President Donald Trump's decision to limit federal deductions on state and local taxes. In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the federal government had authority to impose a $10,000 cap on the state and local taxes that households' itemizing deductions could write off their federal returns. The decision is a defeat for New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, which challenged the so-called SALT cap implemented as part of a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul in 2017....

On 16 August 2021, in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Judge J. Michael Seabright granted a motion for summary judgment for the plaintiffs. The two disputed parts of the State of Hawaii’s registration law are unconstitutional in violation of the Second Amendment. From the decision: HRS § 134-2(e)’s requirement that “[p]ermits issued to acquire any pistol or revolver shall be void unless used within ten days after the date of issue” is declared unconstitutional in violation of the Second Amendment. Defendant’s officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with Defendant...