Free Republic

A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government has the authority to deport illegal immigrants even if local leaders try to impede the process. The case arose after King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order in 2019 that instructed county officials to prohibit “fixed base operators” (FBO) on a county airfield from servicing flights chartered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport illegal immigrants who are lawfully removable. FBO’s “lease space from the airport and provide flights with essential services, such as fueling and landing stairs,” according to the ruling.The...

The Ninth Circuit has long been the left-most federal appellate court in the United States. However, the day after Thanksgiving, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that must have made President-elect Donald Trump very happy: It concluded that the Supremacy Clause means what it says, namely, that when it comes to the border, local political bodies cannot use regulations governing private parties to override the federal government’s supremacy on immigration matters. United States v. King County revolved around Boeing Field, an airport in King County, Washington (i.e., the Seattle area). In 1941, King County conveyed the field to the U.S....

The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled. The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring. At issue is an April 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine, which directed county officials to prohibit fixed base operators on a county airfield near Seattle from servicing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights used to deport illegal foreign nationals. Constantine’s order prohibited King...

We have often discussed how cities and universities will use the threat of protests to block or shutdown free speech, particularly of conservative speakers or groups. We now have a major decision out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that could prove an important precedent in resisting the growing anti-free speech movement in the United States. In Meinecke v. City of Seattle, the court ruled against Seattle in a case involving the arrest of a pro-life protester. Matthew Meinecke was harassed by Antifa and other counterprotesters, but police arrested Meineche when he refused to yield...

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...

WASHINGTON – Kristine Lucius, executive vice president for policy and government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance the nomination of Daniel Bress (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit). “Bress, a young conservative ideologue, is the third nominee to the Ninth Circuit to advance over the objection of both Ranking Member Feinstein and Senator Harris this year alone. This unravelling of a long-established process is part of Trump’s efforts to reshape the courts and, in particular, to remake the Ninth Circuit, which has...