Free Republic

A federal judge has blocked President Joe Biden’s pro-transgender rewrite of the federal government’s Title IX regulations against sexual discrimination. “Joe Biden’s unlawful effort to weaponize Title IX for his extremist agenda has been stopped in its tracks,” said a statement from Ken Paxton, Texas’ Attorney General. “Threatening to withhold education funding by forcing states to accept ‘transgender’ policies that put women in danger was plainly illegal,” said Paxton, who filed the lawsuit. “Nothing in the [federal law] prohibits discrimination based on gender identity,” U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor declared Tuesday, in a decision that only protects Texans. The judge...

A federal judge on Thursday struck down a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing free coverage of a wide range of preventive services including mammograms, colonoscopies and mental health screenings for nearly 168 million people on employer health insurance and on Obamacare’s individual market. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor, the author of several previous rulings against Obamacare, sided with conservative employers and individuals in Texas who argued that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that set those requirements has been acting unconstitutionally since 2010. The decision blocks enforcement of the rules nationwide.

A federal judge in Texas ruled that a provision of the Affordable Care Act that mandates free coverage of certain drugs that prevent HIV infections violates the religious beliefs of a Christian-owned company, according to reports.The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell on behalf of Braidwood Management Inc. The lawsuit challenges a provision in the ACA that required free coverage of HIV drugs Truvada and Descovy, commonly known as PrEP.“Defendants do not show a compelling interest in forcing private, religious corporations to cover PrEP drugs with no cost-sharing and no religious...

A federal judge in Texas ruled on Wednesday that a mandate requiring most health insurance companies to cover medicine that prevents HIV infection violates the religious freedom of certain businesses. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor partially resolves a lawsuit brought by Braidwood Management Inc., a Christian for-profit corporation owned by Republican mega-donor Steven Hotze that employs about 70 people. Hotze claimed that forcing his company to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs, more commonly known as PrEP, under the Affordable Care Act would make the company “facilitate and encourage homosexual behavior.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and...

All 4,000 Navy members seeking a religious exemption to the abortion-tainted jab have been granted a temporary reprieve.FORT WORTH, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — A federal district court judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from requiring 4,000 service members to take abortion-tainted COVID jabs. Judge Reed O’Connor issued a preliminary injunction on Monday against the Department of Defense (DOD) jab mandate. He previously stopped the DOD from enforcing it against dozens of Navy SEALs in a January 3 ruling. The ruling covers the 3,320 active-duty sailors and 864 reserve sailors who have religious objections to the COVID vaccines....

On Monday the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Navy's request to reinstate the U.S. Navy's COVID-19 vaccine requirement. In November, dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs claimed they were wrongfully denied COVID vaccination exemptions on religious grounds. The suit, which lists 35 unnamed service members, argues that that the Defense Department's mandate violates their First Amendment rights. While the percentage of vaccinated active duty personnel in each service is at 95 percent or higher, the number of unvaccinated personnel is close to 30,000. The Navy itself has previously said that it has not granted an exemption to any...

In U.S. Navy Seals 1-26 v. Biden, (5th Cir., Feb. 28, 2022), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant the Navy a partial stay of an injunction issued by a Texas federal district court protecting 35 special warfare personnel who object on religious grounds to complying with the military's COVID vaccine mandate. The court said in part: Defendants have not demonstrated “paramount interests” that justify vaccinating these 35 Plaintiffs against COVID-19 in violation of their religious beliefs. They insist that “given the small units and remote locations in which special-operations forces typically operate, military commanders have determined...

Dulles, Virginia – A federal courthouse is not typically the terrain on which Navy SEALs fight on behalf of their fellow Americans, but this week it proved to be a decisive venue for them. On January 3, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor issued an injunction against the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Navy, barring them from taking adverse action against 35 servicemembers who sought a religious exemption from DoD's vaccine mandate. The group includes Navy SEALs and other members of the Navy Special Warfare Command who hold strong religious convictions preventing them from taking the vaccine while remaining true to...

A federal judge on Monday barred the Defense Department from punishing a group of Navy SEALS who sought a religious exemption to the federal vaccine mandate.Responding to a lawsuit filed by First Liberty on behalf of the 35 special forces service members, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who pointed out that the Navy had not granted any religious exemptions, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the department from enforcing the mandate. "The Navy servicemembers in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,” O’Connor wrote in the decision. “The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government...

A federal judge granted a temporary injunction Monday against a federal vaccine mandate for Navy SEALs, who sued Biden because they were seeking a religious exemption.Judge Reed O’Connor, the U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas, issued the stay in response to a lawsuit filed by First Liberty Institute on behalf of 35 active-duty SEALs and three reservists seeking a religious exemption, as first reported by Fox News Digital.

A federal judge in Texas this week blocked the Biden administration from prioritizing (grants) in a COVID-19 restaurant relief program by their race or gender.U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, a George W. Bush nominee, said he believes plaintiff Philip Greer, a cafe owner, is likely to succeed in his lawsuit against the Small Business Association (SBA) as he granted a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO). [snip]“The Small Business Administration lurches America dangerously backward, reversing the clock on American progress, and violating our most sacred and revered principles by actively and invidiously discriminating against American citizens solely based upon...

In Baker v. City of Fort Worth, (ND TX, Dec. 8, 2020), a Texas federal district court held that Fort Worth's sign ordinance is facially unconstitutional as a content-based prior restraint on speech. The suit was brought by two plaintiffs who were cited for placing 18-inch crosses on a public right-of-way in front of an abortion clinic.