Free Republic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a former New Mexico lawmaker, was convicted Friday morning on all 37 federal charges, including money laundering, bribery, and mail fraud. Stapleton did not respond to questions from reporters walking out of federal court Friday afternoon. According to the federal indictment, Stapleton conspired with her longtime friend Joseph Johnson to steal millions in federal money. Prosecutors said she used her position at Albuquerque Public Schools as an educational director to receive $1.2 million in kickbacks while funneling a total of $3.2 million to Johnson's company, Robotics. Johnson's company had supplied a computer program called...

He didn’t hedge his marital bet. The wife of a billionaire hedge fund mogul has gone to court seeking a $6.2 billion slice of his massive fortune — but he allegedly offered her just $633 million in what is the largest divorce battle in New Jersey history, a report said. The bombshell breakup between John Overdeck and his wife Laura Overdeck — who married without a prenup during the infancy of his Two Sigma Investments firm — kicked off Wednesday in a Newark courtroom. Laura Overdeck is seeking a 35% piece of her hubby’s stake in the $80 billion firm,...

The gangbanging son of a Westchester County police bigwig had a Bronx court date just minutes before he allegedly opened fire on a rival – with his cop mom and ex-con dad as getaway drivers, prosecutors said Wednesday. Chase Lackard, 20, faced a judge on a 2024 gun rap just 20 minutes before the alleged June 29 drive-by gang shooting – with help from his mom, disgraced Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, and drug-dealing dad James Lackard, according to prosecutors. “He’s captured on cameras running into this courthouse,” Bronx Assistant District Attorney Keturah Ladd told the judge. “He...

Forty-three percent of the people Portland police arrested at protests against immigration enforcement have had their cases dismissed or dropped with no complaint or they’ve been acquitted, a WW analysis has found.Of the eight defendants who went to trial, five were acquitted, and those convicted received only short probations. That suggests juries have largely found that the charges don’t pass muster.“When arrests are made, they’re based on probable cause that a crime was committed by the person. When a public order situation is becoming dangerous, there are times where arrests are made based on probable cause to prevent a situation...

Tennessee’s attempt to revive two gun-control statutes moved to the Court of Appeals on June 23, 2026, as judges heard argument in Stephen L. Hughes, et al. v. Bill Lee, et al., a major right-to-carry case challenging the state’s “Going Armed” law and its ban on carrying firearms in many public recreational areas.The case stems from a ruling by a special three-judge Chancery Court panel that declared Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a)(1), the state’s “Going Armed” statute, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311(a), the Parks Statute, unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.At issue is whether Tennessee can continue treating ordinary...

A suspected terrorist with ties to Iran’s military has been arrested and hauled to New York to face charges of carrying out and plotting nearly 20 attacks across Europe and Canada – with plans to blow up a Big Apple synagogue – to punish Americans and Jews over the Iran war. Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an accused commander in a terrorist organization linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, allegedly orchestrated the firebombing of the Bank of New York Mellon in Amsterdam, the stabbing of two Jewish victims in London and other foiled counter-attacks in the US in response...

In an announcement on Monday afternoon, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht said that he is changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent. Wecht, who was retained by the voters of the Commonwealth last November for a 10-year term, stated that his “jurisprudence and adjudication have always been independent, and they always will be. Now, my voting registration reflects that independence as well.” Pennsylvania’s highest court saw Democrats with a 5-2 majority with Wecht joining fellow Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, Daniel McCaffrey and Chief Justice Debra Todd. Sallie Updyke Mundy and Brobson are the Republican-elected justices on the...

The call is coming from inside the house. The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais has made progressives even more determined to delegitimize the court — and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is among them. In a dissent involving a post-decision procedural question, Jackson accused the majority of acting out of pure partisanship. Her opinion said that the court “unshackles itself” from all constraint and “dives into the fray” (meaning the partisan fray). In its jurisprudence, “principles give way to power.” It is acting with an “abandon” that is “unwarranted and unwise.” These harsh charges occasioned a stinging and well-deserved...

A U.S. trade court has ruled against President Donald Trump’s 10 percent global tariffs. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 that a 1970s law doesn’t allow the president to enact sweeping tariffs worldwide. The State of Oregon, a spice company called Burlap and Barrel, and a toy company named “Basic Fun Inc.” challenged the tariffs. Article 1, Section eight of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to levy duties, collect taxes, and more. Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives some of that power to the president. It allows the president to impose temporary surcharges...

On April 10, 2026, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in Morris v. DOJ, reinforcing a longstanding constitutional limit on Congress’s taxing power: it may impose taxes that raise revenue, but it cannot simply prohibit conduct under the guise of taxation.The reasoning and precedents cited in Morris could bolster challenges to the constitutionality of the NFA’s registration scheme for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs now that the making and transfer tax on those items has been reduced to zero.The case in the Fifth Circuit is Morris v. DOJ. It concerns the federal ban on home distilleries,...

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a self-described "progressive" candidate’s bid to enter Ohio’s Republican primary, leaving in place a decision by state election officials to disqualify him for misrepresenting his party affiliation. Samuel Ronan, a former Democratic state and national candidate, attempted to run as a Republican in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District against GOP incumbent Rep. Mike Carey. To do so, he signed a declaration of candidacy — under penalty of election falsification — swearing he was a member of the Republican Party. However, court documents filed in U.S. District Court note Ronan was caught publicly admitting that his...

WASHINGTON — One of President Trump’s most ambitious policy endeavors — his effort to end birthright citizenship — is set to face its moment of truth before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, just over a month after it axed the centerpiece of his tariff agenda. The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump’s attempt to block the kin of illegal immigrants born on US soil from automatically becoming citizens is within his power, something that is widely seen as the most consequential case left on its docket. “This is a glaring red line for the Supreme Court justices that they don’t...

Judge scolds woman for joining virtual court hearing while driving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVy1BoUlP2E

A baby-faced 11-year-old accused of executing his adoptive father after he took away his Nintendo Switch was hauled into court in handcuffs on Thursday. Clayton Dietz is being charged as an adult with criminal homicide after he shot his father dead in his bed on Jan. 13 — the child’s birthday — in Duncannon, Pa., north of Harrisburg. The bespectacled boy, surrounded by probation officers, appeared to be tripping over himself as he walked into the Perry County Courthouse for a hearing Thursday afternoon, shocking video from WHP shows. Clayton, who was adopted in 2018, shot 42-year-old Douglas Dietz with...

A Democratic state auditor is taking Massachusetts legislative leaders, including members of her own party, to court after uncovering nearly $12 million in alleged fraud in public assistance programs, seeking to enforce a voter-approved audit law. "What are they hiding? If there's nothing to hide, open up the doors, let the sun shine in. Let's do this audit," Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said on "Saturday in America." DiZoglio, a Democrat and former member of both the Massachusetts House and Senate, is filing a complaint with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to enforce a 2024 ballot measure that authorized her...

Lefty California Rep. Eric Swalwell isn’t qualified to run for governor of the Golden State — because he doesn’t officially live there, according to a bombshell new court claim. Right-wing pundit and filmmaker Joel Gilbert said in a court complaint filed in Sacramento that Swalwell, considered the likely successor to Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, actually lives in Washington, DC, and is prohibited from running for the top state office under California law. “Public records searches reveal no current ownership or leasehold interest held by Eric Swalwell in California, nor any history of any ownership of leasehold interest based on available...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court took a break from deliberations regarding individuals competing in sports designated for the opposite sex to bring in an expert five-year-old boy to explain the difference between boys and girls."Boys have wee-wees and girls have vee-vees," said Hunter Plath, a five-year-old boy from Iowa.According to court records, the explanation elicited various responses from the justices. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson were seemingly astonished, saying, "Ohhhhhhhh!" Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh only giggled.Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly rolled his eyes as the two most liberal justices of the court followed up with questions on...

(Note: I re-edited this and removed all the time stamping from the YouTube rolling transcript so errors may be present.) The Supreme Court just issued a 6-3 emergency ruling that's sending shock waves through Washington and every state capital right now. This decision could fundamentally reshape federal power versus state sovereignty. THE EMERGENCY RULING BREAKDOWN The emergency ruling breakdown. Here's what actually went down late last night. The Supreme Court released a 6-3 emergency decision that directly challenges how federal courts have been operating for the past two decades. The majority opinion makes it clear that lower court judges no...

A defiant Nicolás Maduro declared himself the “president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty on Monday to the federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power. “I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: "“I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.” The courtroom appearance, Maduro's first since he and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized from...

An appeals court on Tuesday ruled in favor of President Donald Trump’s ban on “transgenders” serving in the U.S. military. The Trump administration just scored a legal victory against woke insanity and for military reform. In the case of Nicolas Talbott, et al. v. United States, D.C. Circuit Court Judges Katsas and Rao ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s transgender ban.