Free Republic

Today a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted the U.S. Department of Justice's petition for a writ of mandamus seeking dismissal of Juliana v. United States, the so-called "Kids Climate Case." The brief order was short and direct. It noted that the Ninth Circuit had previously concluded that the plaintiffs lacked standing and ordered the case dismissed. Contrary to the plaintiffs' claims, no intervening decisions changed that fact, and that there was no basis for the district court to allow the plaintiffs to amend the complaint. This decision should not have been a...

A federal narcotics agent accused of blowing through a stop sign and hitting and killing a bicyclist while on a surveillance mission in Salem has successfully moved the criminal case from state to federal court. In federal court, he can assert immunity from prosecution on the criminal charge of negligent homicide, a defense not available to him in state court. Lawyers for the state objected to removing the case from Marion County Circuit Court. They argued that the agent’s alleged “grossly negligent actions” were not a necessary part of his federal law enforcement work. U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane...

Oregon voters in November narrowly passed Measure 114, which requires residents to undergo safety training and a background check to obtain a permit to buy a gun...The legislation also bans the sale, transfer or import of gun magazines with more than 10 rounds...

An LGBT advocacy group sued the U.S. Education Department in hopes of forcing various Christian schools to systematically adhere to the ever-changing and frequently incoherent precepts sanctioned by gay- and transsexual-rights activists. To achieve this end, they reportedly sought to bar students from using tuition grants, student loans, and other federal financial assistance at colleges and universities that work in accordance with religious beliefs on sexuality. They failed. Clinton-nominated Judge Ann Aiken of the U.S. District Court of the District of Oregon ruled on January 12 in favor of Christian colleges and against the plaintiffs.

A federal judge this week denied a temporary restraining order sought by environmental groups that would block grazing in six eastern Oregon pastures. The Capital Press reports U.S. District Judge Michael Simon said the plaintiffs haven’t shown that turning cattle out on the pastures will cause irreparable harm to sage grouse or to rangeland research. He said continued grazing isn’t likely to irreparably harm the ability of environmental plaintiffs to enjoy undisturbed sagebrush grassland, since the pastures have long been grazed and are rested on a rotating basis. The case was filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management by...

A mistrial will be declared in the federal racketeering case involving three members of the Gypsy Joker Outlaw Motorcycle Club after the judge contracted COVID-19, according to lawyers involved. The trial was to start Friday with opening statements before a 12-member jury and four alternates. Jury selection had gone forward Monday after US District Judge Michael W. Mosman tested negative twice, the lawyers said. He got tested Sunday and Monday after his wife contracted the virus. About 80 prospective jurors filtered into Mosman;s 16th-floor courtroom at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown for the selection process. Five panels of...

A federal judge Thursday threw out a lawsuit by a transgender woman who accused the private pageant corporation of discrimination for denying her the right to participate in competitions.U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman found that the pageant association cannot be required to allow a transgender woman to participate in light of its mission to promote “natural-born” females. . . . “Because I viewed it as an organization that does promote a message and seeks to maintain control of that message, I view it as an association that cannot under the Constitution be required to allow plaintiff to participate in...

A tale of two judges. – Chief Justice John Roberts – the clearly-compromised former conservative jurist who now does the bidding of the progressive left whenever they demand it, apparently – famously stated in 2017 that there are no “Obama judges” or “Bush judges,” there are only federal judges. That, of course, is abject bullshit, but hey, it’s what the Chief does these days. Late this week, we saw the dichotomy between the kinds of decisions we get out of Bush/Reagan/Trump judges and Obama/Clinton judges in two decisions related the ongoing rioting taking place in Portland. It is a classic...

Last week Oregon’s Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a request for a temporary restraining order against federal police officers in Portland. On Wednesday of this week Judge U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman heard arguments in the case and appeared to be on the fence, accepting some of the Resenblum’s claims but not all. Today, the Judge ruled against the restraining order: A U.S. judge Friday denied an order sought by Oregon’s top law enforcement officer to stop federal agents from arresting people during nightly protests in Portland that have roiled the progressive city and pitted local officials against...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. judge on Friday denied Oregon’s request to restrict federal agents' actions when they arrest people during chaotic protests that have roiled Portland and pitted local officials against the Trump administration. Federal agents deployed by President Donald Trump to tamp down the unrest have arrested dozens during nightly demonstrations against racial injustice that often turn violent. Democratic leaders in Oregon say federal intervention has worsened the two-month crisis, and the state attorney general sued to allege that some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles....

BREAKING: Judge denies Oregon's request for TRO reining in federal agents in Portland, says state lacks standing. Order: https://mobile.twitter.com/joshgerstein/status/1286786447568072704

Portland, Oregon - A federal judge specifically blocked U.S. agents from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers at the ongoing Portland, Oregon, protests that have sparked confrontations between local officials and President Trump over the limits of federal power. U.S. Judge Michael Simon made his ruling late Thursday, a day after Portland's mayor was tear-gassed by federal agents as he made an appearance outside a federal courthouse during raucous demonstrations. Protesters have gathered in Oregon's largest city for nearly two months straight since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. **SNIP** Judge Simon had previously ruled that...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments Wednesday on Oregon’s request for a restraining order against federal agents sent to the state’s biggest city to quell protests that have spiraled into nightly clashes between authorities and demonstrators. The lawsuit, filed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, alleges that federal agents sent by President Donald Trump have arrested people with no probable cause, whisked protesters away in unmarked cars and used excessive force to quell the unrest. It’s part of growing pushback against the Trump administration’s use of federal agents in Portland and its plans to do the...

A federal judge in Oregon who previously blocked President Trump’s order to bar immigrants who lacked or could not afford health insurance refused to do the same with regard to Trump’s recent pause on green cards.