Free Republic

A federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Trump’s efforts to lay off thousands of federal employees amid the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, an appointee of former President Clinton, sided with government employee unions that asked her to bar the administration from carrying out the reductions in force (RIFs) as the lawsuit moves forward. More than 4,000 workers were set to be impacted by the job actions.The preliminary injunction extends Illston’s previous order temporarily stopping the administration’s attempted layoffs, which she has said she believes will ultimately be deemed illegal and an overstep of executive authority.The judge said...

Rioters then shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks. A Border Patrol transport van carrying illegal aliens attempting to get to the safety of the perimeter was then attacked. Border Patrol agents were able to secure the van and get it into the perimeter. The mob of rioters grew more hostile and violent, advancing toward agents and began throwing rocks and other objects at agents, including one that struck Chief Greg Bovino in the head. Border Patrol agents repeated multiple warnings to back up and that chemical agents would be deployed if warnings were ignored. Riot control measures were...

A federal judge in Chicago just made a decision that’s raising eyebrows — and not just among immigration officers.In a move that’s already stirring debate nationwide, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled that ICE agents — yes, federal officers — can be arrested if they take migrants into custody at Cook County courthouses without a proper warrant. Let that sink in for a second. (snip) So, who’s actually in charge here — federal law enforcement… or local judges?And if ICE agents can be arrested for doing their jobs, what kind of message does that send to those who aren’t even...

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal immigration officers in the Chicago area will be required to wear body cameras, a judge said Thursday after seeing tear gas and other aggressive steps used against protesters. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she was a “little startled” after seeing TV images of clashes between agents and the public during President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdown. “I live in Chicago if folks haven’t noticed,” she said. “And I’m not blind, right?” Community efforts to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have ramped up in the nation’s third-largest city, where neighborhood groups have assembled to monitor...

U.S. District Court Judge LaShonda Hunt, a Biden-appointed federal judge in Illinois, has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE to dismantle a security fence protecting the federal immigration processing facility in Broadview, Illinois, a facility that has been the site of violent protests and anti-ICE riots since the launch of President Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz earlier this fall.

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.”

When the guardians become the hunted, and the protectors need protection, you know a city has crossed the line from civilization into something darker. That line isn’t just being approached in Chicago; it’s been obliterated, leaving federal agents to fend for themselves in what should be American streets, not war zones. The very people sworn to uphold the law are being abandoned by those who claim to represent justice. President Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago didn’t come from nowhere. The reality on the ground tells a different story—one where federal law enforcement officers are being systematically...

A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Illinois and Chicago over sanctuary policies that the government has said interfere with federal immigration enforcement. In a ruling released Friday, U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins said the government lacked standing to override local laws that limit cooperation and information-sharing between law enforcement. Jenkins said the government doesn’t have the legal authority “to commandeer states under the guise of intergovernmental immunity.” The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

A federal judge on Friday dismissed President Trump’s lawsuit against the state of Illinois and Governor Pritzker over sanctuary city laws. US District Judge Lindsay Jenkins, a Biden appointee, dismissed the lawsuit and said federal laws do not force states to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. “Defendants’ motions to dismiss are granted. The individual defendants are dismissed because the United States lacks standing to sue them with respect to the Sanctuary Policies; Cook County Board of Commissioners is dismissed because it is not a suable entity separate from Cook County,” the judge wrote. Politico reported:

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts among federal contractors and grant recipients. Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois halted the Labor Department from requiring federal contractors or grant recipients from certifying that they don't operate any programs in violation of Trump's anti-DEI executive orders. [snip] The organization argued that the president’s executive orders on DEI are so broad and vague that the organization had no way to ensure compliance, and...

On August 30, 2024, Judge Iain D. Johnston of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an order and opinion showing the ban on carrying concealed weapons on public transportation is unconstitutional. The ban is “as applied”. It is only applicable to the individuals before the court in this case. The Chicago Transit Authority is commonly referred to as the CTA. From the opinion and order: After an exhaustive review of the parties’ filings and the historical record,as required by Supreme Court precedent, the Court finds that Defendants failed to meet their burden to show...

A U.S. District Judge ruled Friday that Illinois’ ban prohibiting concealed carry for self-defense on public transportation violates the Second Amendment. The judge, Ian D. Johnston, issued his opinion in Schoenthal v. Raoul. The plaintiffs in the case, Benjamin Schoenthal, Mark Wroblewski, Joseph Vesel, and Douglas Winston, all claimed the ban violated the Second Amendment. Schoenthal, Wrogblewski, Vesel, and Winston’s case was supported by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition. Judge Johnston noted: In Illinois, openly carrying firearms is unlawful. Under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, an individual with a concealed-carry license may generally carry a concealed...

The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed U.S. District Judge Nancy Maldonado to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making her as the the first Hispanic judge to hold this position. The confirmation came despite a chorus of objections from Republicans who pointed out her massive backlog of trial court cases. The Senate voted 47-43, which hears appeals from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This marks the fifth judge appointed by Joe Biden to be confirmed to the court, according to Reuters. Maldonado’s elevation is part of Biden and the Democrats’ agenda to stack the judiciary with liberal figures despite...

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) gave us another amusing demonstration of his ability to humiliate Joe Biden’s unqualified judicial nominees during Wednesday's confirmation hearing. United States District Judge Nancy Maldonado of the Northern District of Illinois, who has been nominated by Joe Biden for a spot on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, had previously signed a brief supporting a ban on "assault weapons" in Illinois state courts in the 2010s, yet, when he asked her to define "assault weapons,” she couldn’t. “You said, ‘assault weapons may be banned because they’re extraordinarily dangerous and are not appropriate...

On March 8, 2024, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman decided against a federal ban on gun ownership for illegal immigrant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. The case at hand centered on Carbajal-Flores, who was “charged with possession of a firearm while illegally or unlawfully in the United States.” He had a handgun in his possession “in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois,” on June 1, 2020. He was charged for being a non-citizen in possession for a firearm. Coleman ultimately concluded, “The noncitizen possession statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores. Thus, the Court grants...

(RNS) — A federal judge in Illinois ruled that a state school district is not responsible for the actions of a teacher who allegedly proselytized students in a public school classroom, leading a Muslim student to convert to Christianity. Judge Iain D. Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ruled that officials of Community Unit School District 300 were not responsible for the teacher’s actions, as he was disciplined and later resigned after being confronted by those public school officials. The ruling is the latest twist in a long-running legal dispute over religion...

It isn't often a Federal Judge calls politicians morons, but that's the message here: A federal judge permanently blocked an Illinois law on Dec. 14 that he previously called “stupid” that targets maternal health care centers and sidewalk counselors for expressing their pro-life message. And in news for taxpayers: The defendant, Mr. Raoul, was sued in his official capacity. [...] The judge dismissed the lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning the case cannot be litigated again. The court “shall retain jurisdiction over this action to enforce the final judgment,” the order states. The order also states that NILFA “may file a motion...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked a new Illinois law that allows the state to penalize anti-abortion pregnancy centers if they use deception to interfere with patients seeking the procedure. U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston said Thursday the new law “is painfully and blatantly a violation of the First Amendment.” The law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week bans anti-abortion pregnancy centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation” to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. Violators faced fines of up to $50,000. The bill was...

A federal judge in Chicago has denied a motion seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block Illinois’ assault weapons ban and a similar ordinance in Naperville. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ruled Friday that the Illinois and Naperville bans on selling assault weapons are “constitutionally sound.” Lawyers for the National Association for Gun Rights and Robert Bevis, who owns a gun store in Naperville, had sought the court orders in a lawsuit to stop the bans. As is now common in such cases, they argued that it’s “impossible” for the new state gun law and a similar...

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has approved a $9.25 million settlement by the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union in two long-running lawsuits stemming from the layoffs of hundreds of Black educators at underperforming schools, officials said Wednesday. Those eligible to receive payments under the settlement have until Friday to submit claims, attorneys for the teachers union said. Eligible to receive payments are all Black persons employed as teachers or para-professionals in any school or attendance center subjected to a “turnaround” policy that targeted schools that had been put on probation due to substandard test scores and...