Free Republic

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in Virginia this week delivered a message to Congress, the White House and developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline: not so fast. Pennsylvania-based Equitrans Midstream’s roughly 300-mile pipeline, envisioned to bring shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica in Appalachia to markets in the Southeast, was fast-tracked as part of the Biden administration’s deal with Congress to suspend the debt limit in June. It’s also supported by Pennsylvania congressmen, including U.S. Reps. John Joyce, R-Blair, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, who joined U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., to introduce the legislation in May that helped...

The developers of Mountain Valley Pipeline have asked the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency intervention to allow the project’s construction to progress. The pipeline developers made their application late Friday to vacate the stays of the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Such applications represent a request for emergency action addressed to a specific justice, in this case Chief Justice John Roberts. Each justice is assigned to circuits to handle such applications, and Roberts has the Fourth Circuit, which includes the region where the pipeline is being developed. The 35-page filing is in...

A federal appeals court on Monday vacated a water permit needed by developers to restart construction on the Mountain Valley pipeline in West Virginia, marking the latest setback for the $6.2 billion project. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found several defects in the review the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection conducted before issuing the permit.

The US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a lower court judge’s decision and ruled ‘insurrectionist’ members of Congress may be barred from office. A three-judge panel on the appeals court made the decision in a lawsuit against GOP North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn. Last week Madison Cawthorn lost a tight primary race in North Carolina after a relentless smear campaign. But the Democrat-DC Swamp is still trying to destroy him and other ‘America First’ GOP members of Congress through lawfare. Tuesday’s appeals court ruling legally binds only the states in the 4th circuit: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia,...

A federal appeals court in Richmond on Tuesday cleared the way for a legal effort that seeks to disqualify Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-N.C.) candidacy for office due to his alleged role in the Jan. 6 insurrection by supporters of former President Trump.

On August 26, 2020 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued its decision in the case of Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board. The decision declared that rights of the plaintiff Gavin Grimm, a female student who considers herself male, were violated because the school board denied Grimm the right to access the boys' restroom and refused to amend school records to call her "male" after a court had ordered the state of Virginia to issue a new birth certificate indicating Grimm as a male. In justifying its opinion, the Court made many findings of fact...

A three-judge federal appeals panel comprised of two Obama nominees and a Clinton nominee will hear arguments later this morning in two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the national health care law. The makeup of the U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals panel is crucial, because in lower court rulings so far, Democratic judges have upheld the law while Republican judges have declared it unconstitutional. The judges on the panel will be Obama nominees James A. Wynn, Jr and Andre M. Davis, who will sit on the panel along with Clinton nominee Diana Gribbon Motz.