Free Republic

A federal judge in Eugene Monday night granted a preliminary injunction barring the federal government from halting grant funding for sex education programs that include references to gender identities. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken found the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lacked any grounds to restrict such grant funding and said its new restrictions amounted to sex discrimination. The grants were authorized by Congress to support sex education programs intended to help reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and adolescent sexual risk behavior based on “medical and social science,” Aiken wrote. Congress also stated the programs must...

While President Trump is working overtime to keep America safe and undo the disaster Joe Biden left behind when he opened our borders. Biden flung open the floodgates and let millions of illegals pour into this country, many with serious criminal records. We’ve all seen the headlines: violent crimes, repeat offenders, and senseless tragedies that could have been prevented. One of the biggest obstacles President Trump is facing is the Democrats. Activist immigration judges, to be exact. These activist judges are working just as hard to keep illegals in the country as Trump’s administration has been working to get them...

A New York federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to send $34 million in anti-terrorism grants to the MTA — calling its abrupt bid to yank the cash a “blatant violation of the law.”Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to disperse the funds to the Big Apple to be used to “help protect the people who every day ride the MTA’s subways, commuter trains and buses and who use its bridges and tunnels against terrorist attacks.” FEMA had sent a presentation to congressional staffers in September revealing that it would be withholding...

In issuing her decision, U.S. District Judge April Perry said, “I simply cannot credit [the Trump administration’s] declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement. … DHS’ perception of events are unreliable.”

Video shows blaze that injured 3 at Edisto Island home of SC judge, former SC senator By Kailey Cota kcota@postandcourier.com and Scott Hamilton shamilton@postandcourier.com EDISTO ISLAND — Sirens blared and orange flames audibly crackled as a thick plume of black smoke streamed out of Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein's Edisto Beach home during a fire that blazed on Oct. 4, video shows. The home, located off Planters Retreat in the Jeremy Cay Community, is partially surrounded by trees and a marshy area of Edisto Island. That made it particularly difficult to rescue Goodstein’s husband, a former state senator, after he...

An immigration judge has just ordered Mahmoud Khalil, who led the vicious antisemitic riots at Columbia University, be deported to Syria or Algeria. Mahmoud Khalil is a Syrian national who was part of a group that assaulted police officers, assaulted a Barnard staffer, and violently took over the library. He’s Syrian and he’s a violent Hamas supporter. Legitimate protest involves peaceful assembly for the purpose of voicing the opinion(s) of the involved individuals not terrorism. He led riots that violently invaded university buildings, and vandalized them, writing pro-Hamas graffiti on walls. They attacked campus police trying to regulate the tent...

A Los Angeles County judge who threatened to shoot defendants, attorneys and others or have them shot by bailiffs for behaving badly in his courtroom has been publicly admonished by a state judicial watchdog. Superior Court Judge Enrique Monguia engaged in a pattern of inappropriate comments from 2019 through 2024, the California Commission on Judicial Performance said in a 9-0 ruling last week. “The commission found that Judge Monguia’s remarks about shooting people, or having people shot in the courtroom, constituted an abuse of authority, fostered an atmosphere of intimidation in the courtroom, and, even if made in jest, were...

A former Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a county judge remained in an “active state of psychosis” days after the shooting and battled with jail staff, who had to use pepper spray on him, according to recently filed court documents. Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers nearly a year ago, shocking the small eastern Kentucky community that twice elected Stines as sheriff. Widely viewed security camera footage from Mullins’ chambers shows a man police identified as Stines pointing a gun and firing at Mullins. The ex-sheriff has pleaded...

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit against all 15 federal district judges in Maryland over an order slowing down speedy deportation efforts, calling the administration’s attacks on the judiciary “unprecedented and unfortunate.” U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen, an appointee of President Trump who sits on a federal court in Virginia, dismissed the lawsuit challenging a May standing order that automatically blocks the deportation of migrants in Maryland who file legal challenges over their detention for two business days. The Trump administration had argued that the order, which was signed by the chief judge of the...

A Las Vegas teen who shot and killed his own father during a fight over electronics evaded prison time when a judge only sentenced him to probation Thursday, according to a report. Lincoln Peterson pleaded for mercy and claimed “none of this was ever my intention” as family members also showed support for the 16-year-old boy four months after he pleaded to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his dad, Jeremy Peterson. District Judge Tierra Jones ordered probation for Peterson — bucking prosecutors’ request that the convicted killer spend at least six years behind bars, according to the Las...

A federal judge on Friday shut down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) investigation into far-left Media Matters. US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, issued an injunction against the FTC and blocked its investigation into Media Matters. The judge said the Trump Administration illegally retaliated against Media Matters.

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.