Free Republic

As a lawyer, one of my most important jobs is telling people “No,” as in “No, you got shafted and lied about by scummy people but you have no remedy in the courthouse.” I tell that to a lot of people all the time. It makes them sad, but my destiny was never to bring joy but to bring pain. The hard fact is that you don’t want to get into any lawsuit if you can help it, and you especially don’t want to get into one that you can’t win. And when it comes to lawsuits over damage to...

Last week, federal prosecutors in Washington and New York filed sentencing memorandums with federal judges in advance of the sentencings of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and his former personal lawyer had pleaded guilty to federal crimes, and the memorandums, which are required by the federal rules of criminal procedure, set forth the prosecutors' desired prison sentences for them. Judges rely on these submissions, as well as on those of defense counsel, before making the mathematical calculations that the law requires. Sadly, sentencing today is largely an algorithmic function, dictated by federal sentencing guidelines,...

Chief Justice John Roberts has been drawn into President Trump's web. Last week the president criticized the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, calling it "a lawless disgrace." The New York Times writes, "Mr. Trump's remarks came after a federal trial judge ordered the administration to resume accepting asylum claims from migrants no matter where or how they entered the United States." The judge issuing the ruling was Jon S. Tigar, of the United States District Court in San Francisco, whom Trump quickly singled out as an "Obama judge." This prompted a rare pushback...

Groucho Marx once resigned membership from the Friars Club quipping, “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.” Imagine Groucho’s dismay had the club been compelled to disclose his membership to the government! That is exactly what California’s attorney general is doing by requiring 501(c)(3) charities to divulge their donor or member lists—and the Ninth Circuit appears poised to let him get away with it. Americans have long banded together to support causes they hold dear, donating their time, talent, and treasure to charities. The attorney general’s demand jeopardizes such activities, along with...

When Bill Clinton was running for president in 1992, his campaign strategist James Carville gave him the formula for success: Focus on the economy. In Carville's famous words, “It’s the economy, stupid.”Today, President Trump could easily campaign with a similar mantra, since many Americans are pleased with the economic uptick under his leadership.But, in terms of a lasting legacy, in terms of societal impact, the real mantra should be, “It’s the courts, stupid.” You can be assured that Trump and his Republican colleagues have a good grasp on this already.And now, with a strengthened majority in the Senate, the sky...

Tuesday’s decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals means that people in the western U.S. will now be able to openly carry a handgun in public. The decision only applies to districts under the 9th Circuit’s jurisdiction, but it will likely soon affect the rest of the country. It is a huge ruling that strikes down existing state prohibitions in Hawaii and California. The case involved George Young, who wanted to publicly carry a firearm in the State of Hawaii for personal self-defense. Young applied twice for a handgun permit to carry either openly or concealed, but they denied his...

On Friday, the British police arrested Tommy Robinson, founder and former leader of the English Defence League, a far-right anti-Islam group. Robinson is a controversial character, to be sure, a sort of Milo Yiannopoulos lite. His chief focus is on the threat of radical Islam, which he believes threatens the integrity of the British system. You don't have to like Robinson. But whatever you think of him, his arrest is absurd by any measure. You see, Robinson was arrested for standing outside a court building and reporting on a trial involving the alleged grooming of young girls for sexual assault...

Having escalated the judicial confirmation wars at virtually every turn since the 1980's, Senate Democrats in the early 2000's pioneered a new form of self-interested obstruction to block a number of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench.  When Republicans retaliated in kind during the Obama era, many of those same Senate Democrats -- led by Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer -- voted to eliminate the filibuster rule they'd exploited to thwart Bush.  Detonating the 'nuclear option' was the latest ends-justify-the-means maneuver by upper chamber liberals, to whom then-minority leader Mitch McConnell made this final plea prior to the fateful...

Trial lawyers hoping to take a big bite out of food producer Monsanto’s bottom line with a lawsuit over its most popular weed-killer have run into a problem – the judge who they need to convince their arguments are valid is not buying it.In 2015, the International Agency for Research and Cancer, based in Lyon, France, declared glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most popular weed-killer, a “probably human carcinogen.”No other scientific body has reached that conclusion. Indeed, the Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate is safe for humans when used in accordance with label directions, the National Institute...

Federal judges sit on the bench for life and can either uphold the law or rule like tyrants. This puts judicial appointments right near the top of the most important things a president can do. The newest Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, has already shown what a difference a constitutionalist can make. But we need many more to counter the hundreds of Clinton, Obama and Jimmy Carter-appointed judges who issue zany rulings that override common sense and thwart democratically enacted popular will. A case in point is U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, a 2010 Obama appointee. In March, he issued...

An Ohio court has removed a teenaged girl from the custody of her parents because they refused to consent to dangerous and experimental medical treatment. The teenager wants to undergo irreversible treatment (hormones and probably sex-reassignment surgery) that she hopes will alleviate the depression associated with her gender dysphoria based on 1) the scientific facts that such treatment will convert her into a lifelong medical patient and probably fail to alleviate her suicidal tendencies, 2) their religious belief that created reality is unalterable, and 3) their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their minor child, the parents said no. But...

USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to 175 years in prison at Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan."I've just signed your death warrant," Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said Wednesday, adding that she doesn't believe rehabilitation is possible.Over the past seven days, over 150 victims explained how Nassar had taken advantage of them sexually, some of whom were Olympians. Before the sentencing hearings, Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Gabrielle Douglas, Simone Biles, and McKayla Maroney all released statements explaining how Nassar had abused them. Another Olympian gymnast, Jordyn Wieber, joined Raisman as they shared their testimonies in court.Raisman took the...

Recently a rash of lawsuits have been filed by California municipalities targeting energy companies. The claim these lawsuits make is that these California communities face imminent adverse environmental impacts due to climate change, caused by energy producers, which will force them to spend billions on infrastructural projects to mitigate weather- and sea level-related disasters. They claim, in fact, that the magnitude of these impending natural disasters is predictable, based on scientific modeling of the effects of climate change. Thus, these energy companies should fork over vast sums to the affected communities, to compensate them for their prospective woes. The holes...

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging President Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause because his hotels and golf courses continue to do business with foreign governments while he’s serving in office. U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels said the lawsuit was flawed from the start because the plaintiffs, led by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, lacked standing. Daniels, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, also said the matter should be taken before Congress, not the courts. “As the only political branch with the power to consent to violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause,...

My friend William Perry Pendley recently visited Manhattan. He is the president of the Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation. Established in 1977, MSLF fights against federal overreach out West and for property rights, the Second Amendment, and colorblind government hiring, among other vital issues. Its founders were master brewer Joe Coors and James Watt, who became President Reagan’s first Interior secretary.Pendley has helmed MSLF since 1989. He has argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1995, he won Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, a key victory for race-neutral public contracting. “In the eyes of government, we are just...

The recent Islamic terror attack in New York City by a visa carrying jihadist outlines crystal clearly, how critical it is for America to enhance its permeable vetting process, and eliminate the suicidal “Diversity Lottery Visa Program.”Even if critical National Security-minded legislation such as the RAISE Act, put forth by Sens. Tom Cotton (AR) and David Perdue (GA), were to be passed, which it no doubt should be, the radical left will likely still find a way to subvert it.It is one of the most settled aspects of constitutional law that a president has the authority to exclude, or deport...

Editor's note: This column was co-authored by Jack Brown.“Because I said so.” “Life isn’t fair.” “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” These are some of the great cop-outs of all time, and the last one is particularly troubling in a country with so many laws that it is impossible to count—let alone read—them all. When was the last time you sat down with a complete set of the federal, state, and local codes setting forth the tens of thousands of criminal violations for which you could be sent to jail? If you answered “never,” you’re in good company. Nevertheless,...

As the end of summer draws near, it occurs to me that I have spent most of it working on four college cases dealing either with freedom of speech or with freedom of association. One case involves unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in the dissemination of student fees at a public university in California. Another involves unconstitutional interference with the belief requirements of a religious organization at a public university in Colorado. But the other two cases deal with administrators at private schools that claim to be Christian while simultaneously destroying the careers and lives of people who hold dissenting but entirely...

I have been teaching criminology at the university level for 24 years. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the term “broken” to describe our criminal justice system I would be so wealthy I would not have to have to teach anymore. Of course, with the news that O.J. Simpson will be released on parole I am hearing another barrage of declarations that the system is “broken.” These self-proclaimed experts don’t know the facts of the Simpson case. If they did, they would not blame Simpson’s release on the “system.” They would blame it on Los Angeles...

A busy Supreme Court on Monday ruled, in a vote of 4-2, that former September 11 detainees do not have the right to sue government officials for money damages. This is an issue for Congress, not the judiciary, Justice Anthony Kennedy argued in the court’s opinion. Furthermore, he said, the Second Circuit “erred” in allowing respondents’ detention policy claims to move forward under the context of Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, which determined that federal officers would need to pay damages to compensate individuals who were subjected to unconstitutional conditions. Expanding Bivens is a “disfavored” judicial activity,...