Free Republic

A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban. Casper rejected the administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had...

A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote.The ruling by US District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban. Casper rejected the administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to...

A federal jury ruled in favor of the Boston College alumnus who had sued the University for improper interference in violation of fair process in his 2012 disciplinary hearing on Monday. The jury awarded the alumnus—referred to by the pseudonym “John Doe”—$102,426.50 in damages: $24,819.50 for tuition and fees for the semester he was suspended and $77,607 for one year of lost income as a result of his delayed graduation from BC. Doe brought the lawsuit after an Administrative Hearing Board found him responsible for sexually assaulting a fellow student on the annual AHANA Leadership Council Boat Cruise. Throughout the...

He wrote for ‘Black-ish’ and ‘The Simpsons’ but won’t get his diploma A federal judge allowed Harvard to judge an accused student guilty with an undefined evidence standard that may be less than 50 percent, dismissing his lawsuit against the university on Monday. TV writer and former Wall Street analyst Damilare Sonoiki sued Harvard last fall to clear his name and finally receive his diploma after he was accused of sexual misconduct two days before commencement in 2013. Despite meeting all requirements for graduation, investigators were “sufficiently persuaded” that Sonoiki was responsible for sexual misconduct. The Nigerian immigrant sued Harvard...

A federal judge in Boston is allowing a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s ending of temporary protections for immigrants to proceed on the grounds the decisions were motivated by racial prejudice. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper rejected Monday the government’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit, which a group of immigrants and civil rights organizations filed in February in response to the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and El Salvador. Statements by administration officials — including President Donald Trump — make it plausible that “a discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor in a decision” to wind down TPS...