Free Republic

The District allowed "Black Lives Matter" protestors to violate the city's defacement ordiance, but enforced the law against groups with a different political message. Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit revived a lawsuit agaisnt the District of Columbia for selective enforcement of the district's defacement ordinance in violation of the First Amendment. Judge Rao wrote for the court in Frederick Douglass Foundation v. District of Columbia, joined by Judge Childs, reversing the district court's dismissal of the Foundation's First Amendment claim, but affirming dismissal of an Equal Protection claim. Judge Wilkins concurred in the judgment. Judge...

(CNN)With only a few days left in February, court watchers are trying to read tea leaves as to the identity of President Joe Biden's pick for the Supreme Court before his end-of-the-month deadline -- and a federal court on Thursday increased the buzz around DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit deviated from its typical procedure by issuing an opinion on a Thursday -- breaking with its usual schedule of Tuesday and Friday release days. Notably, Jackson -- who has interviewed with Biden for the Supreme Court nomination -- was...

So, will this anti-Flynn judge drop the case? Well, Margot Cleveland wrote in The Federalist that he could opt to keep this clown show going: …as the respondent to Flynn’s petition for mandamus, Sullivan has the same options a normal litigant would have, including seeking review of the panel decision by the entire D.C. Circuit or requesting review by the United States Supreme Court. Given that Judge Robert Wilkins dissented from the majority opinion, authored by Judge Neomi Rao and joined by Judge Karen Henderson, Sullivan might just opt for open defiance. Such a course of action would be a...

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with expanding a procedure for quickly deporting undocumented immigrants while a lawsuit against the program moves forward. A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a preliminary injunction against the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) new rule that significantly expands the number of undocumented immigrants who can be deported without being able to make their case to an judge or accessing an attorney. The panel majority ruled that a group of nonprofits had legal standing to bring the lawsuit but that immigration law...

A three panel DC Appeals Court Panel, Judge Henderson, Judge Wilkins and Judge Rao have ordered Michael Flynn’s Judge, Emett Sullivan, to respond to the defense petition for a writ of mandamus within ten days: Quoting the U.S. vs Fokker ruling the panel is not responding directly to the Flynn petition with an immediate decision; instead they are requiring Judge Sullivan to explain his decision to engage with extra-party amicus actions despite the DOJ and Flynn defense agreement on the motion to dismiss. The order can be viewed as a smart move by the appeals panel because Judge Sullivan has...

The Department of Justice will appeal to the Supreme Court after it was ordered to hand over sealed documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation to Congress. The department on Friday asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay its ruling while it petitions the high court. "Whether and under what circumstances Congress may resort to the courts to seek grand jury materials generated in a criminal investigation in aid of an impeachment inquiry is plainly a question of great significance to all three branches of government, as well as to the functioning of the grand jury...

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a ruling that allows House Democrats to view secret grand jury information from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe that had been redacted from his report. The court’s 2-1 decision agreed with a lower court that the House Judiciary Committee can obtain the information for impeachment investigations of President Trump under an exception for “judicial proceedings,” per the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. ~snip~ The DOJ, opposing the House Democrats, argued that because Trump had already been impeached and acquitted by the time the court was to rule, there was no longer a...

WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Congress can have access to grand-jury materials from Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling, sided with the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee, which sought access to material that was redacted from the 448-page special counsel report. as well as some of the exhibits and transcripts referenced in the report. ... TO READ THE FULL STORY

A recent article in Politico blames the floundering Kamala Harris campaign on everyone but the candidate. Her sister, Maya Harris, is named as a culprit, along with campaign manager Juan Rodriguez, but Kamala Harris is spun as a competent candidate with an inadequate team. If she’s so competent, how’d she pick such a disastrous team? Politico states that a top aide claims, “The whole campaign has been a bunch of people sitting around a table giving opinions and then not backing them up when it comes down to it… The apparatus wasted her talent more than she blew it.” But...

The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Neomi Rao, President Trump’s regulatory czar, to succeed Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a powerful federal appeals court viewed as a springboard to the Supreme Court... Four of the nine current justices Supreme Court justices served in the D.C. Court of Appeals. Rao is reportedly considered to be a possible contender for the Supreme Court should another vacancy open up... Rao, 45, served as the chief of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and has played a crucial role in implementing Trump’s regulatory agenda. Prior to joining the Trump administration, she worked...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is working behind the scenes to boost the prospects of Neomi Rao, one of his former law clerks, to serve on a powerful federal appeals court in Washington — speaking privately with at least two Republican senators as she faces a contentious confirmation fight. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) who publicly questioned how Rao would rule on issues such as abortion before supporting her in a key vote Thursday, disclosed this week that he had called Thomas. The justice has also phoned Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), a sometimes deciding voice on controversial nominees. “He called me...

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance President Trump's nomineeto replace Brett Kavanaugh on the high-profile D.C. appeals court, with two Republican holdouts backing off their objections and joining colleagues to support Neomi Rao. The committee voted 12-10 along party lines – with GOP Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Joni Ernst of Iowa joining their fellow Republican lawmakers – to endorse Rao for a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The seat was vacated when Justice Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court. Rao, 45, heads the White House Office of Information and...

Republicans must stand up to Democrats’ attempt to damage a rising legal star. The battle to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court should have taught Republicans that any lingering illusions about civility or fair play go out the window when it comes to the efforts of Democrats to derail conservative nominees. But this week, the ongoing struggle for control of the courts may take another step yet further into the partisan abyss as hearings begin for his replacement on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Trump’s nominee, Neomi Rao, may have a sterling reputation as a legal scholar,...

On Tuesday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a 2020 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, asked Trump judicial nominee Neomi Rao if she considered homosexual relationships to be sinful. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) immediately called Booker out on this line of questioning. Booker seized on Rao's 2008 article opposing the Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas, which decriminalized homosexual activity. He then directly asked her, "Are gay relationships in your opinion immoral?" "I am not sure the relevance of that," Rao responded. "Do you think gay relationships are immoral?" he continued. "I do not," Rao said. "Do you believe they are...

President Donald Trump's pick to replace Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to face tough questioning from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday over what they say is a career of advocating an expansive view of presidential power and working on the widespread rollback of regulations. If confirmed, Neomi Rao would sit on one of the most important courts in the country and one that acts as a springboard to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation hearing Tuesday provides Democrats with the opportunity to press the nominee about her views on the environment, affirmative action,...

Something about judicial confirmation hearings seems to trip up Sen. Cory Booker -- who got corrected by a high-profile nominee on Tuesday during a heated exchange about diversity on her staff. Booker made headlines last September for cheekily declaring his “I am Spartacus” moment as he moved to release sensitive documents during now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing, only to be told they weren't so sensitive after all. On Tuesday, the New Jersey Democratic senator tried to turn up the heat once again while grilling Neomi Rao, the nominee to replace Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.,...

US President Donald Trump has sent the nomination of Neomi Rao, a prominent Indian-American attorney and academic, to the Senate to replace Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. If confirmed by the Senate, Rao, who is 45, would be able to serve a lifetime post on the D.C. court, largely considered the second highest court of the land and a training ground for future Supreme Court justices. If the Senate confirms her, she would be the second Indian-American judge in the D.C. Circuit Court after judge Sree Srinivasan, who was appointed during the previous Obama...

President Trump announced Tuesday he is nominating Neomi Rao to fill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s vacant seat on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Rao currently serves as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). She is a vocal advocate of Trump’s efforts to slash government regulations, crediting them with stimulating job growth. “I think the reform efforts are part of what has stimulated economic growth and job creation and promoted technological innovation. And from my perspective, our reform efforts have really focused on promoting the rule of law and emphasized the...