Free Republic

An Illinois judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to enforce arrest warrants against derelict state House Democrats. The Democrats fled to Illinois last week to block the Republicans from voting on a new congressional redistricting map. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened the derelict Democrats with arrest and removal from office if they didn’t return to the Capitol. Judge Scott Larson said Paxton failed to “present a legal basis for the court to obtain subject matter jurisdiction over this cause of action…” The Hill reported: An Illinois judge on Wednesday declined Texas Attorney...

Known for the eponymous reptiles that inhabit the nearby swamps, the migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" faces the possibility of being shut down over concerns about some of the area's lesser-known inhabitants -- the Everglades' bats, panthers, and storks.A federal judge on Wednesday is set to hold an evidentiary hearing over whether to block operations at the controversial facility because construction of the site allegedly bypassed federally required environmental impact studies.The hearing -- at which federal, state, and tribal officials are expected to testify -- comes amid heightened scrutiny of the facility, which was once touted as a "one-stop...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — People hoping to learn any potentially new details from Jeffrey Epstein's closest associate were disappointed, as news broke late Friday afternoon that Congress had postponed Ghislaine Maxwell's testimony until after her death. The long-awaited testimony was put on hold, as members of the House Oversight Committee revealed that it would be much more convenient for them if they could reschedule Maxwell's hearing until after her pending demise. "We'll just hear what she has to say after she's dead," said Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. "A lot of us have busy schedules for the next couple of weeks....

The Senate on Tuesday night narrowly confirmed Justice Department official Emil Bove to a seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, hours after his confirmation was stalled over whistleblower reports that he is under investigation. Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey requested information about the alleged investigation after a third whistleblower said Bove misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing. The whistleblowers also allege Bove abused his authority while working for the Justice Department. The Senate confirmed Bove in a 50-49 split. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski...

If you’re tired of winning, you might want to stop reading because Donald Trump just racked up another victory as his contentious—to Democrats, anyway—pick to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit was confirmed by the Senate in a tight 50-49 vote Thursday night. Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the news: Congratulations to our dear friend Emil Bove on his confirmation to serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals! This is a GREAT day for our country. 🇺🇸 I cannot thank Emil enough for his tireless work and support at @TheJusticeDept. He...

The filing marks the second time the DOJ has made a complaint against a federal judge this year. The department also filed a misconduct complaint against U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in February. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday announced that the Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a misconduct complaint against U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg over comments he's made about the Trump administration. The judge has overseen multiple Trump administration cases, including the high-profile deportation flights case, where the Trump administration deported suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador. He also oversaw...

Immigration authorities in Chicago arrested a Mexican illegal immigrant accused of decapitating a missing Illinois woman and storing her body in a storage container filled with bleach. Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, of Waukegan, Illinois, was arrested in April and charged with concealing a corpse, abusing a corpse and obstruction of justice, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Immediately after his first court appearance, Lake County Judge Randie Bruno released Mendoza-Gonzalez from custody. He was arrested again Saturday afternoon at a market in Chicago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and remains in ICE custody, according to DHS....

The Senate on Monday confirmed the first judicial nominee of President Trump’s second term. Whitney Hermandorfer will now be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, the Cincinnati-based bench that hears appeals from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, was confirmed by a 46-42 vote along party lines. She will replace an Obama pick, Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch. Twelve senators did not vote.

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump secured approval of his first judicial nominee of his second term, as the U.S. Senate confirmed a former law clerk to three members of the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority to a seat on a federal appeals court. The Republican-led Senate voted 46-42 along party lines in favor of Whitney Hermandorfer, a lawyer serving under Tennessee's attorney general, to be appointed as a life-tenured judge on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

MILWAUKEE (CN) — A federal Wisconsin magistrate judge recommended on Monday that the court deny Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s motion to dismiss the obstruction charges brought against her. “Whether Dugan violated these statutes as the government accuses, or whether she was merely performing her judicial duties as Dugan asserts, these are questions for a jury that cannot be resolved on a motion to dismiss,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph wrote in a 37-page ruling. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, a Bill Clinton appointee, will take Joseph's recommendation under advisement and issue a final decision on the motion...

On July 1, 2025, in the Southern District of California, Federal District Judge, the Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo ruled that the State of California must modify their law to allow non-residents to apply for concealed carry permits. The logic is clear. At the time of the founding, there was no requirement banning non-residents from carrying weapons for self-defense. Judge Bencivido stated: The sole issue in this case is whether the Constitution requires California to allow nonresidents to apply for a concealed carry weapons (CCW) license. Plaintiffs, who are not California residents, complain that they are prohibited from carrying a firearm...

A sleazy bid by a federal judge to defy the Supreme Court’s decision on Team Trump deportations shows exactly why the ruling was necessary in the first place. On Monday, the justices stayed a preliminary injunction by District Judge Brian Murphy (a Biden appointee) that had blocked the Trump folks from deporting migrants to countries they didn’t come from without sufficient time to appeal. That should’ve been an immediate green light for the feds to deport eight criminal migrants to South Sudan, even though seven of the men originate from other countries. Yet Murphy flipped the high court a bird,...

Federal prosecutors say Judge Hannah C. Dugan helped the man evade immigration agents who were waiting in a Milwaukee courthouse to arrest him. Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, became an inadvertent figure in the debate over immigration enforcement when federal prosecutors charged a Milwaukee judge this spring with obstruction and said she had helped him evade immigration officials.On Monday, a plea agreement was made public in the immigration case against Mr. Flores-Ruiz. The documents, signed on June 20, say he has agreed to plead guilty to entering the United States illegally after being removed from the country in...

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to stop Harvard University from hosting foreign nationals on student visas. US District Judge Allison Burroughs’s preliminary injunction extends a temporary block she issued last month, which prevented the Trump administration from revoking the Ivy League school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. The certification allows Harvard to host roughly 7,000 international students – about 27% of the school’s total enrollment. The injunction will remain in effect until the underlying case is decided, the Obama-appointed judge ruled. The ruling marks another legal victory for the Cambridge, Massachusetts school as...

A federal judge in California has halted the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R-FIMI) Hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC). In a June 13 order, US District Judge Susan Illston declared that the planned elimination of the unit, part of a broader push by the administration to downsize the federal government, violates an earlier injunction. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have prematurely celebrated the end of R-FIMI back in April when he said the censorship unit was “dead.” Despite his announcement, legal barriers remain in place, preserving...

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump lacked the authority to fire three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ordered their reinstatement — teeing up another high-stakes court clash centered on Trump's ability as commander-in-chief to remove or otherwise control the members of independent agencies. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox, a Biden appointee, sided with the three ousted members of the board — Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. — in ruling that their firings were unlawful and ordered all three members to be reinstated to their posts. In...

BOSTON – A federal judge in Boston on Thursday temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump from barring US entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University. Under a two-page temporary restraining order granted to Harvard, US District Judge Allison Burroughs enjoined Trump’s proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter amid an escalating dispute between the Ivy League school and Republican president. The judge ruled that Trump’s directive prohibiting foreign nationals from entering the United States to study at Harvard for the next six months would cause “immediate and irreparable injury”...

Activist judges like Judge Boasberg are are issuing blatantly unlawful nationwide injunctions. It’s not judicial review, it’s judicial sabotage.

A bipartisan group of more than 130 retired judges filed a brief Friday urging a federal court to drop charges against Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan, saying her arrest undermines "centuries of precedent on judicial immunity." Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit court judge, was arrested April 25 by FBI agents on federal allegations she prevented the arrest of a man by immigration authorities during a federal law enforcement operation at her courthouse. The man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, was arrested and detained at an immigration detention center. In an amicus brief filed Friday, the group of judges argue that Dugan shouldn't be prosecuted...

A U.S. federal judge has inflicted another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to end a multiple Biden-era parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants*** U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to resume processing applications from those migrants who are seeking work permits or renewing their status. Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, rejected the Trump administration's claim that suspending the parole programs was within its broad discretion to direct immigration policy. Federal law still requires agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to follow a lengthy process for...