Free Republic

An LGBT advocacy group that filed an unsuccessful legal challenge to end religious exemptions to federal Title IX discrimination law for Christian colleges that receive federal funding is closing down. The board of directors for the Religious Exemption Accountability Project emailed an update to supporters on Sunday to announce that they are closing the organization's operations, citing "a serious internal issue" that affected its "financial and operational stability." "While we cannot share all details publicly, we are deeply grateful to the founders, students, alumni, volunteers, donors, and community who believed in this work from day one," stated REAP. "Founded as...

On Thursday a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that Steven Duarte, a felon, has a “right to possess a firearm for self-defense.” Courthouse News Service noted Duarte has five felony convictions and was a member of a street gang in Los Angeles. The decision upholding Duarte’s gun rights was split, with George W. Bush appointee Carlos Bea and Donald Trump appointee Lawrence VanDyke deciding in the majority. Bea wrote the majority opinion, noted the panel tested the prohibition against felons possessing guns in light of Bruen (2022) and found the government...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has nominated two California lawyers -- including the brother of Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith -- to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Milan Smith, a Los Angeles business lawyer and a former member of California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission, was named to the panel this week. His nomination follows the appointment last week of Sandra Segal Ikuta, general counsel to the California Resources Agency, to the nation's largest federal appeals court. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit covers nine Western states with about 54 million people and has 28 judgeships. Smith and Ikuta would fill...