Free Republic

A criminal justice professor who has worked at various California colleges pleaded guilty Thursday after being charged with setting a series of blazes near the massive Dixie Fire in 2021. Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, pleaded guilty to three counts of arson to federal property in Sacramento federal court before U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta. Maynard, who is being held without bail in the Yuba County Jail, was arrested in August 2021 after a three-week investigation that included the use of a tracking device hidden on his vehicle by authorities who followed his movements throughout Northern California for hundreds of...

A federal judge in California threw out the Republican National Committee‘s lawsuit against Google that accused the tech giant of illegally sending party fundraising emails to users’ spam folders. In a 38-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta, a Joe Biden appointee, granted Google‘s motion to dismiss, thereby putting at least a temporary end to RNC claims that Google must compensate it for hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost donations. Calabretta noted in his dismissal, however, that it was a “close call,” and said that the RNC still has the chance to file an amended complaint. RNC Chairwoman Ronna...

(Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Friday nominated a lawyer who represented the Mississippi clinic at the heart of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to become a federal appeals court judge. Biden's latest slate of nine new judicial nominees included Julie Rikelman, an abortion rights lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights whom the president picked to serve on the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Biden's latest nominees continued the White House's push to diversify the federal bench. They include Daniel Calabretta, a California state court judge nominated...

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled Saturday in Right to Life of Central California v. Bonta that a state law wrongfully restricted Right to Life of Central California’s free speech rights. The court determined that SB 742, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in October, likely unlawfully discriminates against Right to Life’s peaceful outreach to women, and thus granted the pro-life group’s request for a temporary restraining order to halt enforcement of discriminatory parts of the law against any speaker while the lawsuit moves forward. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Right to Life of...

SACRAMENTO -– A pro-life group won a preliminary victory against the state of California regarding SB 742, the law which restricts free speech outside of vaccination clinics. A federal court on Saturday granted the Alliance Defending Freedom's client, Right to Life of Central California, its request to halt enforcement of the unconstitutional law. “We’re encouraged by this preliminary victory. The courts correctly recognized SB 742 as a Trojan Horse attempting to block freedom of speech and assembly for pro-life Californians,” said California Family Council President Jonathan Keller. “CFC repeatedly warned both the legislature and the governor about these unconstitutional provisions....

In Calvary Chapel of Ukiahv. Newsom, (ED CA, March 10, 2021), a California federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction against California's COVID-19 restriction on indoor singing and chanting during worship services. The court rejected plaintiffs' free exercise, free speech, equal protection and Establishment Clause claims. The court said in part: [T]he State has now issued protocols allowing those who serve as performers during church services, presumably including choir members or soloists, to sing indoors subject to masking and distancing.

FRESNO, Calif. — U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced a Turlock man today to two years and three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for purposefully striking a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter with the beam of a powerful laser, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.In March 2018, Roger Shane John, 34, pleaded guilty. According to court documents, on the evening of Oct. 22, 2017, John struck a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter, Air 101, five to six times with a powerful green laser, causing visual interference of both the pilot and tactical flight...

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate:James Patrick Arguelles, of California, to serve as a Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.James Patrick Arguelles currently serves as a Superior Court Judge in Sacramento County, California.  Before taking the bench in 2010, Judge Arguelles was a Partner at Stevens, O’Connell & Jacobs, LLP, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, and in private practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP.  Judge Arguelles is also a Military Judge in the United States Army Reserve.  Upon graduation from law...

Federal Judge Dale A. Drozd temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to send more water to Central Valley growers on Monday. Drozd issued a preliminary injunction in two lawsuits brought against the administration by California’s Natural Resources Agency and Environmental Protection Agency and a half-dozen environmental groups. Federal Pumping Can’t Increase During May The order bars the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation until May 31 from increasing water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta through the federal Central Valley Project. The suits argued that the exports would cause irreparable harm to species protected by state and federal law. “Today’s victory...