Free Republic

The lawyers representing the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran slain by Capitol Hill police during the mostly peaceful Capitol Hill protests, is pledging to continue their legal fight for justice over Babbitt’s death after the Department of Justice declined to prosecute – or even name – the officer who fired the shot that ended Babbitt’s life.“Today the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia announced that it will not pursue criminal charges against the Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt in our Nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021,” the press release opened. They then lambast...

Snopes, the fact-checking website that once focused on debunking flimsy internet rumors but has expanded into a 16-person operation that calls out political leaders for dishonesty, is locked in a legal battle that it says has drained the money it needs to survive. The site, which gets all of its revenue from advertising, created a crowdfunding page on Monday, seeking $500,000 from readers to remain operational indefinitely. It says that Proper Media, the vendor that runs its advertising services, has withheld the site’s revenue and has refused to relinquish control of the site. That leaves Bardav — the company that...

Despite growing controversy over the use of anonymous pharmacies for lethal injections, the U.S. Supreme Court has thus far declined to block any executions based on 11th-hour appeals challenging the drug connections. That includes the case of Michael Taylor, a convicted rapist and murderer who was put to death at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday in Missouri after a furious legal battle that stretched well into the night. It's worth nothing, however, that three high court justices wanted to block Taylor's execution and cited the words of an appeals judge who said so little was known about the source of the deadly...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration on Tuesday lost a long-running court battle over its plan to sell bonds to cover the state's public employee pension costs. The ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeal could complicate negotiations over the state's already overdue budget. Republican lawmakers are holding up the $104 billion spending plan in part because they believe it will leave California with an unmanageably large budget deficit next year. Tuesday's ruling may only add to that concern, depriving the state of more than $500 million to help close the estimated $5 billion-plus deficit in the 2008-09 budget year. Schwarzenegger...

LOS ANGELES Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger settled a libel lawsuit Friday with a former late-night British TV personality who claimed she was groped by the Hollywood actor during a 2000 interview and later defamed by his aides during his 2003 campaign for governor. "The parties are content to put this matter behind them and are pleased that this legal dispute has now been settled," said a two-sentence statement issued jointly in London by lawyers for Schwarzenegger and Anna Richardson. No details were released. The statement said Richardson and the three people she sued the governor and two top aides, Sean Walsh...