Free Republic

Mark F. Giuliano, a career FBI official who was second-in-command at the law enforcement agency when it launched a controversial investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server as she sought the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, died March 2 at his home in Decatur, Ga. He was 62. The cause was an apparent heart attack, said his sister Ann Britz. In an FBI career that began in 1988 and spanned almost three decades, Mr. Giuliano started as a street agent in Washington pursuing violent crime and gangs. He later supervised high-profile criminal cases and the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted program....

My confidence in the Israeli Electoral Process As my fellow citizens, non-citizens, dead-citizens, and fake envelopes prepare to vote today in the USA, I would like to explain the Israeli voting process and why I am have confidence in it. I became an Israeli citizen in 2008 and have voted for Likud/Bibi EVERY single election since my first in 2009 – 8 national election votes in 14 years! How does it work here? No absentee ballots – you either vote in person on election day at your assigned polling station or you don’t vote. Outside the country on vacation on...

The outgoing Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, is dead, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has announced. Born April 20, 1959, he passed at 63. “We lost our esteemed Dr Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo. He died at about 11pm yesterday 5th July 2022,” the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, posted on his verified Twitter handle Wednesday morning. “Certainly a great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC and the global energy community. Burial arrangements will be announced shortly.” The circumstances surrounding Mr Barkindo’s death remained unclear as...

Manhattan District Judge William H. Pauley III died on July 5, 2021, at the age of 68. William H. Pauley’s cause of death was announced after his passing. American senior judge Pauley died Tuesday morning, according to a court official. He had been previously diagnosed with cancer. May he rest in peace. William H. Pauley III was born on August 14, 1952, in Glen Cove, New York. In 1974, he received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Duke University. Pauley served as a law clerk for the Office of the Nassau County Attorney in NY from 1977 to 1978. He also...

Merrick native Paul G. Feinman, the first openly gay judge on New York's highest court and a generous legal mentor to scores of young lawyers, died Wednesday after a yearslong battle with a blood disorder, state officials announced. He was 61 and lived on Roosevelt Island. Feinman, who joined the New York Court of Appeals in 2017, retired from the court on March 23 to deal with his illness. "Judge Feinman was a tireless and resolute champion of LGBTQ rights, a trailblazing pioneer for LGBTQ lawyers and judges and an incredibly dedicated mentor who inspired countless judges, attorneys and law...

On a very serious note, can someone with some legal expertise pipe in here regarding the ramifications of Biden's recent comments about voter fraud. If this election goes to the courts, can the comment that Biden made that “we have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics” be used against him legally???? he didn't correct himself, it wasn't said in jest--he flat out admitted to organized fraud. Seriously? The candidate has acknowledged being part of a illegal fraud conspiracy (RICO perhaps). If a hells angel was caught on tape saying they...

Historic letter by leading Rabbonim in America in support of President Trump is released ahead of the elections. The letter which includes the signatures of the Admorim of Pupa, Bobov, Munkach, Vizhnitz, Skver, Rachmistrivka, both Satmar Rebbes, the Dayan of the Crown Heights Bais Din as well as the Rosh Hayeshiva of Lakewood, Philadelphia, and South Fallsburg is an unprecedented joint letter of appreciation and blessing, spearheaded by Rabbi Moshe Margareten of the Tzedek Association. The letter was first drafted in the summer and signatories were added until recently and signed by an unprecedented union of Rabbonim before being publicly...

Last week, the Senate confirmed 8 judges to district courts, however I noticed that one of the judges, Franklin U. Valderrama on the Northern Illinois Court was confirmed by a 68-26 vote with the 26 NAYS as all Republicans, and every democrat voting YAY including Hirono and Gillibrand who almost always vote against Trumps judges--even the more "moderate" picks of his. Does anyone have any insight into this Franklin U. Valderrama guy and why so many Republicans would vote against him? The last time I am aware of so many R's going against a Trump nominee was Judge Mark Bennett...

So the good MAGA news is that the US Senate has confirmed 6 judges so far this week (with 2 more pending today) to the bench 4 of them on central district of CA, 2 in south IL and 2 in north IL--all of which are liberal cesspools as far as the existing benches go, with lots of vacancies still to fill. So it's great news that Trump is filling slots with judges that at least will follow the law, But can someone who might know more about how this works explain something to me: Two district judges for the...

NEW YORK — Deborah A. Batts, the nation’s first openly gay federal judge, has died. She was 72. Batts was found dead on Monday, three months before she was set to preside over a trial of California lawyer Michael Avenatti on charges that he cheated porn star Stormy Daniels, a former client, of proceeds of a book deal. No cause of death was immediately released. In June 1994, Batts was sworn in after a smooth confirmation process following her appointment to the bench by President Bill Clinton. During her confirmation proceedings, it was never mentioned that she was a lesbian....

DETROIT (AP) — A 95-year-old Detroit federal judge is reducing is caseload after 40 years on the bench. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn is dropping criminal cases and will handle only civil lawsuits. “Judge Cohn is in his mid-90s and has been carrying a full caseload for all these years,” court spokesman David Ashenfelter said. “He has decided that it’s time to cut back.” Cohn was appointed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. He qualified for “senior status” in 1999, which can trigger a smaller caseload and give the court an opportunity to get an additional judge. But Cohn didn’t...

U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, the first male African-American judge to sit on the federal bench in New Jersey, died last week at the age of 86. Described once in a CNN headline as a “judicial renegade,” Walls had a storied — and sometimes enigmatic — history on the bench. But it was his comments during the trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, when he told the senator’s attorney to “shut up” and referenced the 1977 World War II film “A Bridge Too Far” as he cautioned the parties on their tactics, that garnered him national attention in 2017....

President Donald Trump is on track to get another appointment to the largest federal appeals court. Judge Jay Bybee of the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit plans to take senior status at the end of the year, the court confirmed on Monday. Senior status is a type of semi-retirement which allows judges to keep working but relinquish their active seats. Trump has appointed six judges to the appeals court and is looking to fill other openings. Kirkland & Ellis partner Daniel Bress is awaiting consideration by the full Senate. Trump also will nominate a replacement...

Israeli scientists have demonstrated the ability for mammals to mate and produce only female babies. A similar system based on identical principles could produce only males. “We proved the concept in mouse models, but the concept could also be demonstrated in cattle, swine, goats, chickens and other animals,” Qimron said. He noted that humans are likewise mammals and the concept could ultimately be applied to human children “if a mad ruler decides he wants to engineer the people to have only male or female offspring - we have provided the proof of concept.” The research for the study was led...

The longest-serving federal district judge in modern history, Manuel Real, has died at age 95. Real, a U.S. district judge for the Central District of California for 50 years, died on Wednesday, court officials reported Friday. Appointed in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson, Real was known for his colorful antics in court and was frequently reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. “I am sad beyond words at the death of our beloved friend, colleague, mentor and leader,” said Central District of California Chief Judge Virginia Phillips. “Judge Real has been the heart and soul of...

A 57-year-old county Judge in upstate New York died after suffering a heart attack in the courtroom. Putman County Court Judge James Reitz was hit by the heart attack on the bench Friday morning, a spokesman for the state court system said. Mary Ellen Odell, Putnam County Executive, told the New York Law Journal that Reitz completed one case and then asked for help. “He said, ‘John, I think I need you to help me,’” Odell said. Court officers immediately performed CPR and used an automatic electronic defibrillator to try save Reitz’s life until an ambulance arrived. It is unclear...

Anyone who thought Mitch McConnell was going to give up a prized Supreme Court seat purely for the sake of appearances hasn’t been paying attention. With four words and a proud smile, the Senate majority leader this week confirmed what those who have watched him closely have long understood to be true: If a vacancy on the high court occurs in the election year of 2020, the Republican majority that McConnell leads would vote to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee. “Oh, we’d fill it,” McConnell said in response to a what-if question about the Supreme Court during an appearance in...

The Senate confirmed another of President Trump’s picks to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, the sixth seat he’s filled on the famously liberal appeals court. Daniel Collins cleared the Senate by a party line vote, 53 to 46. He is filling a seat claimed by California, and both that state’s senators objected, saying Mr. Trump ignored their wishes in nominating Mr. Collins. “Collins has a history of undermining civil and reproductive rights, even working to restrict access to birth control. California deserves better,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said...

Alice Rivlin, a leading expert on US budget policy who served as the first director of the Congressional Budget Office, has died at the age of 88. The economist, who in the 1990s became the first woman to be White House budget director and vice-chair of the Federal Reserve Board, died of cancer on Tuesday morning in Washington DC, according to the Brookings Institution think-tank, where she was a senior fellow.  Rivlin “made great and lasting contributions as a leader and economic policymaker and broke barriers as a woman in the economics profession,” Fed chair Jay Powell said in a...

On May 3, a group of “firsts” — barrier-breakers in the Colorado law community — gathered at the Colorado History Museum to honor the appointment of Neeti Pawar, the first Asian-American woman to sit on an appellate court bench in the state’s history. Among the trailblazers in the room that day was Judge Wiley Y. Daniel, the first African-American judge to be appointed to the federal bench in Colorado, nearly 25 years ago. The room — a mix of Latino, Asian and African-American judges who reached the pinnacle of their professions — was a testament to the diversity in law...