Free Republic

Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an Alameda County judge since 2008, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday for the U.S. District Court in Oakland, where she will become the first Latina federal judge in the Bay Area. The Senate voted 89-6 to approve President Obama's nomination of Gonzalez Rogers to fill the vacancy created by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's retirement in February. There was no debate, and the opponents, all Republicans, did not say why they voted against the nominee, who had not drawn any opposition in her committee hearing. Gonzalez Rogers, 46, a Texas native and Princeton honors graduate,...

A federal judge has struck down a Florida drug law that convicts suspects of a drug offense even if they are unaware that the controlled substance is illegal.

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Democrats were able to confirm the former director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island to a lifetime federal judgeship after 11 Republicans voted to close debate on the nomination and allow it to come up for a final vote. As a lawyer, the new judge was also involved in litigation against the tobacco industry and a failed lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead paint. The cloture vote on the nomination of John J. “Jack” McConnell was 63 to 33 with 1 senator voting present and 2 senators not voting at all. Had 4 of the 11...

Suspected Tucson gunman Jared Loughner has been indicted on 46 new charges, including the murders of a federal judge and an aide to congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The new indictment, by a federal grand jury in Arizona, is the first step in a formal Department of Justice process to decide whether to seek the death penalty against the 22-year-old.

A Federal District Court judge recently issued an order blocking the implementation of an amendment to the Oklahoma State Constitution. The amendment, approved by seventy percent of Oklahoma voters, would bar state court judges from considering either international or Islamic Sharia law when rendering legal decisions. This has naturally caused a firestorm of debate in the news media, all of which misses the central question, which is whether or not a federal court has the authority to arbitrarily interfere with the governance of a member state of our federal republic. The ruling in Oklahoma comes, not surprisingly, from federal judge...

U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle has ordered the Tangipahoa School Board to place a tax proposition on the April 2011 ballot, according to court documents. The order, dated Wednesday, reinforces earlier court orders and Lemelle’s statements during a U.S. District Court hearing Friday in New Orleans, when he warned the board that failure to put the measure on the ballot could result in court sanction. “To say, ‘We are not going to comply (with a court order)’ is not acceptable,” Lemelle told the board during Friday’s hearing. “You will force me to react.” The School Board could face a...

U. S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker has ruled California's Prop 8 banning gay marriage is unconstitutional. Walker is one of only two known gay federal judges. Ironically, his appointment by former President George H. W. Bush was opposed by some Democrats on the grounds he was anti-gay. The Constitution has been in effect for over 200 years and the Fourteenth Amendment, cited by Judge Walker, has been in effect for over 140 years. Some things, such as new technology, may not have been envisioned by our founding fathers and could need interpretation by the courts. Gay marriage isn't...

A Baton Rouge federal judge said Wednesday he wants details on a plan to tax St. Helena Parish residents for public school improvements without calling an election. Parish and state officials also announced that low-performing St. Helena Central Middle School will be taken over by Louisiana’s Recovery School District. U.S. District Judge James J. Brady told School Board officials at a court hearing in the parish’s 57-year-old desegregation suit: “All of you get together, come up with a schedule.” Within a month, the judge said, he wants details on how the plan would “put some money into the system.” Earlier...

An illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet got a $145,000 parting gift from New York City taxpayers before he was deported, after a federal judge ruled his civil rights had been violated when he was held too long on Rikers Island.

SNIPPET: "A federal judge in California has ruled that the Bush Administration illegally wiretapped the U.S. branch of the Saudi Arabian-based charity al Haramain Islamic Foundation. While ground breaking in its assessment of the controversial Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP), Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling is perhaps more important in that it may dismantle a five-year investigation into al Haramain's financial support for terrorist organizations. Al Haramain is active in more than 50 countries. The U.S. branch registered as a non-profit charity in Oregon in 1999.While it claims to "stand against terrorism, injustice, or subversive activities in any form, and [ ]...

Even a federal judge can wind up having problems with lenders and banks these days. A small Northern California community bank this week sued San Jose U.S. District Judge James Ware in Santa Clara County Superior Court, accusing him of failing to make payments on an $80,000 boat he purchased nine years ago. The lawsuit, filed by Butte Community Bank, alleges that Ware owes more than $58,000 — and the bank is seeking a court order to seize the boat. So now the veteran federal judge finds himself facing the prospect of being a civil defendant in a courtroom instead...

At least $5 million, and perhaps 10 times that amount, appears to be unaccounted for in funds entrusted to U.S. District Court Judge Manuel L. Real, and the rival Filipino claimants to the account want the controversy-plagued Los Angeles judge to provide full details of what happened with their money. In a protracted legal action brought by victims of late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Real had been given control over about $34 million in assets seized from a Swiss bank account and a Panamanian shell company while the Manila government, the Philippines National Bank and individuals abused by Marcos pressed...

A federal judge has dealt a major defeat to Florida's business lobby by upholding the main thrust of a new law allowing employees with concealed weapons permits to take their guns to work. The so called "guns-at-work" law was the product of a three-year constitutional clash that pitted the powerful National Rifle Association against equally influential business groups over two basic constitutional concepts: the right of private property and the right to bear arms.

A Kern County man sentenced to death 25 years ago for participating in the double murder of a Mojave couple will not face the death penalty after all. The state attorney general’s office confirmed Friday it will not appeal a federal judge’s decision to throw out the 1983 death sentence of Constantino Carrera. In addition, the Kern County prosecutor who originally handled the case says too much time has passed to retry the case. None of these decisions affect Carrera’s conviction for the 1982 robbery and stabbing deaths of Jack and Carol Hayes, who managed the Imperial 400 Motel in...

A federal judge on Friday overturned the conviction of a man on death row for the rape and murder of a woman outside an Orange County bar because of statements made by a prospective FBI agent that allowed him to get on the trial's jury. U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall overturned the conviction of Richard Raymond Ramirez because the jury foreman - who was a candidate to become an FBI agent - made "false and misleading" statements about his employment situation during jury selection in the 1985 trial. The juror, Thomas Alston, is now an FBI agent in...

A federal judge canceled plans to tour California's new execution chamber later this month and temporarily halted proceedings in a lawsuit challenging the state's death penalty. U.S. District Court Jeremy Fogel (FOE-gol) in San Jose delayed litigation in the federal lawsuit filed by condemned killer Michael Morales because a state court judge on Oct. 31 invalidated the state's death penalty on administrative grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court has also been halting executions nationwide while it considers a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection execution method. Fogel ordered lawyers to return to his courtroom in Jan. 17 to consider the next steps.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Social Security Administration cannot start sending out letters to employers next week containing notification of more serious penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Friday. Ruling on a lawsuit by the nation's largest federation of labor unions against the U.S. government, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the so-called "no-match" letters from going out as planned starting Tuesday. The AFL-CIO lawsuit, filed this week, claims that new Department of Homeland Security rules outlined in accompanying letters threaten to violate workers' rights and unfairly burden employers. Chesney said the...

Denver -- Court documents show Colorado's top federal judge was too drunk to remember how he spent more than $3,000 at a strip club in two consecutive days. He also used an Internet dating service while he was married. Judge Edward Nottingham is the chief federal judge in Colorado and he is held to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. Nottingham recently presided over the insider trading trial of ex-Qwest Communications CEO Joseph Nacchio. Nottingham married his wife, Marcie Jaeger, on one of the most romantic days of the year – Valentine's Day 2004. The marriage ended after...

A federal judge was removed from a discrimination case against the U.S. Navy by an appellate court that said he committed five abuses of discretion, including preventing an expert witness from testifying. Los Angeles-based Judge Manuel Real was sitting in Hawaii as a visiting judge when he was reassigned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Real has appealed the decision to the Judicial Conference of the U.S. in Washington. He had been hearing a case involving Ronald L. Obrey Jr., a Pearl Harbor shipyard supervisor who contends he was denied promotion because he is part...

CHICAGO - An immigration activist who took refuge in a church after the government ordered her deported to Mexico said Saturday she will remain holed up there, even though a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on her behalf. The lawsuit against the government had contended that deporting Arellano would effectively deport her son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, and would violate his rights. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled Friday that although the 7-year-old would face hardships, they weren't of constitutional magnitude. Arellano, 31, and her son have been living at the Adalberto United Methodist Church since...