Free Republic

A federal judge late Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation’s capital without warrants or probable cause that the person is an imminent flight risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a preliminary injunction sought by civil liberties and immigrants rights groups in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Officers making civil immigration arrests generally have to have an administrative warrant. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, they may make arrests without a warrant only if they have probable cause to believe the person is in the U.S. illegally...

WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge Tuesday night ordered the Trump administration to cease its campaign of arresting immigrants in Washington, D.C. without a warrant or probable cause of a flight risk, warning that the White House’s mistreatment of immigrants could put Americans overseas at risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that, while federal agents may have the authority to make warrantless immigration arrests, the way that authority has been used on the immigrant community in Washington was likely unlawful. “Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing their policy of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests without probable cause to believe...

Administration officials and members of billionaire Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service — aided by local and federal law enforcement agencies — seized the institute’s privately owned headquarters in March and summarily removed its leaders.“The President’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,” Howell wrote in her 102-page opinion.The judge said...

The weaponized judiciary has hit a new low. We’ve seen activist judges pull every trick in the book to block, stall, and sabotage President Trump at every turn. But now, they’re going after something even more dangerous—the President’s authority over national security.In an unprecedented move, a federal judge has blocked President Trump from revoking the security clearance of Perkins Coie.

"A federal judge Wednesday issued a temporary block to President Donald Trump’s executive order against the law firm Perkins Coie for its election work representing his political opponents. District Judge Beryl Howell, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said Trump’s order was clearly “retaliatory in nature” against Perkins Coie. .... Perkins Coie was the second law firm targeted by Trump. In a separate but similar order last month, the president also attacked Covington & Burling for representing former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who pursued indictments against Trump over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of...

A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Labor Board leader Gwynne Wilcox and called Trump’s firing a “blatant violation of the law.”In January President Trump fired Biden-appointed Democrat chair of the National Labor Relations Board Gwynne Wilcox and the general counsel of the board.Trump’s decision to fire pro-union members Gwynne Wilcox and the labor board’s general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo got pushback from the agency and was described as an “unprecedented and illegal” move.Gwynne Wilcox vowed to challenge Trump’s decision to fire her. In a previous statement to Reuters, Wilcox said she will pursue “all legal avenues” to challenge Trump’s firing.On Thursday,...

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is on trial in Washington, D.C., this week for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Giuliani, acting on behalf of former President Donald Trump, accused the mother and daughter of committing election fraud while the two were counting ballots on Election Day in Georgia's Fulton County. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the two women, leaving this week's trial to determine the full scope of the damages and any penalties Giuliani will have to pay. Freeman...