Free Republic

On Thursday a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that Steven Duarte, a felon, has a “right to possess a firearm for self-defense.” Courthouse News Service noted Duarte has five felony convictions and was a member of a street gang in Los Angeles. The decision upholding Duarte’s gun rights was split, with George W. Bush appointee Carlos Bea and Donald Trump appointee Lawrence VanDyke deciding in the majority. Bea wrote the majority opinion, noted the panel tested the prohibition against felons possessing guns in light of Bruen (2022) and found the government...

An Oregon law that forbids recording in public without consent runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, a U.S. court has ruled.James O'Keefe, founder Project Veritas, at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Oct. 12, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)Oregon law 165.540, first enacted in 1955 and subsequently broadened to bar secret recording of conversations, is unconstitutional, Judge Sandra Ikuta, a George W. Bush appointee writing for the majority in the 2–1 ruling, said.Exceptions to the prohibition include recording at public meetings, such as city council hearings; while a felony that endangers human life is being committed; and...

<p>A San Francisco judge has been nominated to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second time this year that the Bush administration selected a Latino for the nation's largest and most controversial federal appeals court.</p> <p>The White House to day announced the nomination of Superior Court Carlos Bea, who must now be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. President Bush chose Bea, 68, to fill one of three vacancies on the 28-member 9th Circuit, which interprets law for California and eight other Western states.</p>