Free Republic

The Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials who opposed President Donald Trump’s extraordinary move to use state Guard troops without the governor’s approval to further his immigration enforcement efforts. But he also put the decision on hold until Monday. California argued that conditions in Los Angeles had changed since Trump first took command of the troops and deployed them in June. The administration initially...

The new Pentagon press corps entered the imposing building on the Potomac for the first time this week as those disgruntled members of the former press corps took to their pages to complain about it. The New York Times went a step further and is suing the Pentagon over what they say is a violation of the First Amendment. The Times claimed that the outlets that are currently covering the Pentagon were selected "based on viewpoint." They state that in "In describing the '[n]ew media outlets' willing to accede to the Department's 'media access policy,' [Sean] Parnell wrote that they...

WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge Tuesday night ordered the Trump administration to cease its campaign of arresting immigrants in Washington, D.C. without a warrant or probable cause of a flight risk, warning that the White House’s mistreatment of immigrants could put Americans overseas at risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that, while federal agents may have the authority to make warrantless immigration arrests, the way that authority has been used on the immigrant community in Washington was likely unlawful. “Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing their policy of conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests without probable cause to believe...

The family of a Colombian fisherman who died in a U.S. military boat strike in September has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging the U.S. government illegally killed him. Alejandro Carranza was killed in a strike in the Caribbean on Sept. 15, according to the petition, filed on Tuesday. "From numerous news reports, we know that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza and the murder of all those on such boats," according to the petition. In the petition, Carranza's lawyer Dan...

A federal judge ruled against one of the Trump administration’s efforts to defund NPR.The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) had slashed a $36 million contract with NPR after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting funding to the news outlet. After a judge’s ruling, the CPB is renewing the contract after a judge ruled in NPR’s favor, according to the network.The Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed Monday to fulfill a $36 million, multi-year contract with NPR that it had yanked after pressure from the Trump White House.The arrangement resolves litigation filed by NPR accusing the corporation of...

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by The Satanic Temple challenging Idaho’s abortion ban, delivering a major victory for the state’s pro-life protections. The ruling rejected claims that the law violates the group’s religious rights. U.S. District Judge David C. Nye ruled that The Satanic Temple lacked standing to sue because it failed to show any of its members had suffered a concrete injury from Idaho’s Defense of Life Act, which prohibits abortions except to prevent the death of the mother or in cases of rape or incest reported to law enforcement. “The Satanic Temple has not...

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, was unconstitutional. On Sunday, US District Court Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, temporarily extended an order blocking the administration from deploying troops to The Rose City, saying the government failed to justify the move. In the Sunday evening order, Immergut temporarily blocked “Defendant Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth from implementing” memorandums that authorized the federalization and deployment of National Guard members from Oregon, Texas and California into Portland. The injunction remained in effect until Friday. Friday’s 106-page ruling makes the...

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to fund food stamps in full for roughly 42 million low-income Americans, after admonishing the government for delaying aid under the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the shutdown. The order, issued by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, marked his second legal rebuke of the administration for actions that threatened to leave millions of Americans at risk of financial hardship. Reading his directive from the bench after a short but tense hearing, Judge McConnell sharply criticized the administration for ignoring his...

A federal judge in Rhode Island has temporarily ordered the Trump administration to continue funding benefits for SNAP, the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. "The court is orally at this time, ordering that USDA must distribute the contingency money timely, or as soon as possible, for the November 1 payments to be made," said U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.

Colorado has accused President Donald Trump of unconstitutionally retaliating against the state by ordering U.S. Space Command to move from Colorado Springs to Alabama — punishment, the complaint says, for its mail-in voting system — in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. The state alleges the relocation was politically driven, violated constitutional limits on executive power and threatened billions in economic losses. Trump announced the move Sept. 2, ending a yearslong fight over Space Command’s home base. The complaint cites him as saying Colorado’s mail-in voting "played a big factor" in his decision. "The problem I have with Colorado, one of...

For more than 30 years, the author and public intellectual Peter Brimelow has argued for and published the writings of like-minded “immigration patriots” who support strong restrictions on immigration.Standing at the right edge of the policy debate, he has drawn the ire of pro-immigration advocates who ascribe racism to his positions. Left-wing groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League label him a “white nationalist.” They put him and VDARE, the nonprofit he established in 1999, on their well-publicized “hate” lists.Brimelow claims those long-running battles over protected speech are the reason he has been targeted by New...

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against a school district in Virginia for reinstating a Confederate school name, saying the move violated the constitutional rights of black students. U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski ruled that Stonewall Jackson High School students in Shenandoah County, Virginia, cannot be forced to bear Jackson's name and its pro-slavery associations.

Illegal alien MS-13 gang member and wife beater Kilmar Abrego Garcia is now trying to obtain a gag order against DHS Chief Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi. A federal grand jury in Tennessee recently indicted Kilmar Abrego Garcia for “transporting undocumented migrants within the United States.” He was charged with one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers asked Nashville-based US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, to impose a gag order on Bondi and Noem so he could have a ‘fair trial.’

A federal judge rejected President Donald Trump’s use of a loophole to keep Alina Habba in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor. In a 77-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann said Thursday that Habba “is not lawfully holding the office of United States Attorney” and has been in the position without legal authority since July 1. As a result, Habba, who had previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney, cannot participate in prosecutions by the office “as the ‘acting U.S. Attorney’” and seemingly cannot run the office the president maneuvered to keep her in charge of after her interim...

A Maryland-based federal judge on Thursday permanently blocked two of President Trump’s memos aimed at eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at universities. Earlier this year, the Department of Education issued an ultimatum to all federally funded educational institutions: eliminate DEI program within 14 days, or face the complete withdrawal of federal funding. ..... Snip..... The Associated Press reported: A federal judge on Thursday struck down two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the nation’s schools and universities. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland stated that the Education Department violated...

New York State Attorney General Letitia James joined California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced at a joint press conference on Monday that they are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over demands to turn over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicant data. The attorneys general are leading a coalition of 20 states and Washington, DC in their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration. The coalition argues that the extensive demand for SNAP applicant data will violate residents’ privacy, put immigrants at risk, and hinder the ability of states to provide food assistance to those...

A federal judge in New Hampshire granted class-action status to a lawsuit seeking to protect babies who would be denied birthright citizenship by the Trump administration and granted a temporary block of the order restricting birthright citizenship from going into effect throughout the country. The suit was brought on behalf of a pregnant immigrant, immigrant parents and their infants and had sought class action status for all babies around the country who would be affected by Trump’s executive order and their parents. Cody Wofsy, the lead attorney on the case with the American Civil Liberties Union, argued for class-action status...

On Sunday night the Department of Justice and FBI released a document that concluded that notorious child predator Jeffrey Epstein did not have a “client list” and that he was not murdered but committed suicide. The FBI released a video that shows an empty hallway in what they insist proves Epstein committed suicide. The FBI memo says there is no evidence that Epstein blackmailed powerful political figures. Additionally, the memo suggests that no further Epstein records will be released. ... Back in July 2022, The Gateway Pundit lawyers Marc Randazza and Jay Wolman of the Randazza Legal Group, along with...

Environmental groups Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction and operation of a detention center for undocumented immigrants that has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying it threatens ecologically sensitive areas and species in the surrounding Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve. The lawsuit, filed by the group Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges that federal and state agencies have violated laws that, in part, require evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward. “The hasty transformation of the site into a mass detention facility, which includes the installation of housing...

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the immigration detention center where he has been held since early March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Ruling from the bench in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be “highly, highly unusual” for the government to continue to detain a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn’t been accused of any violence. In reaching his decision, he said Khalil is likely...