Free Republic

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in Virginia this week delivered a message to Congress, the White House and developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline: not so fast. Pennsylvania-based Equitrans Midstream’s roughly 300-mile pipeline, envisioned to bring shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica in Appalachia to markets in the Southeast, was fast-tracked as part of the Biden administration’s deal with Congress to suspend the debt limit in June. It’s also supported by Pennsylvania congressmen, including U.S. Reps. John Joyce, R-Blair, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, who joined U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., to introduce the legislation in May that helped...

The developers of Mountain Valley Pipeline have asked the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency intervention to allow the project’s construction to progress. The pipeline developers made their application late Friday to vacate the stays of the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Such applications represent a request for emergency action addressed to a specific justice, in this case Chief Justice John Roberts. Each justice is assigned to circuits to handle such applications, and Roberts has the Fourth Circuit, which includes the region where the pipeline is being developed. The 35-page filing is in...

A federal appeals court on Monday vacated a water permit needed by developers to restart construction on the Mountain Valley pipeline in West Virginia, marking the latest setback for the $6.2 billion project. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found several defects in the review the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection conducted before issuing the permit.

ABC’s inconsistency on recess judicial appointments. On Friday night, Peter Jennings, without uttering a syllable about how Senate Democrats have used unprecedented tactics to block Bush judicial nominees or conveying anything positive about Charles Pickering’s qualifications, highlighted how “Democrats accuse Pickering of opposing civil rights” while Senator Kennedy claimed “'the President’s appointment serves only to emphasize again this administration’s shameful opposition to civil rights.’” But back in December of 2000 when President Clinton made a recess judicial appointment, anchor Aaron Brown treated Clinton as the one fully justified in his actions in the face of Senate Republicans opposed to black...

<p>WASHINGTON — President Bush used his executive authority Friday to bypass Senate Democrats and install District Judge Charles Pickering (search) on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.</p> <p>The recess appointment, confirmed by Fox News on Friday, allows Pickering to skip confirmation by the deadlocked Senate and hold the seat until the next Congress takes office, which will be in January 2005.</p>

By LARRY O'DELL Associated Press Writer RICHMOND, Va. An evenly divided federal appeals court refused Wednesday to reconsider a ruling that group prayers said before evening meals at Virginia Military Institute are unconstitutional. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 6-6 vote leaves intact a three-judge panel's ruling that the state-supported military college's traditional prayers, although nondenominational and voluntary, violated the constitutional separation of church and state. "Put simply, VMI's supper prayer exacts an unconstitutional toll on the consciences of religious objectors," the panel said in its unanimous ruling in April. Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for state Attorney General Jerry...

<p>Prosecutors urged a federal appeals court Tuesday to keep terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui from interviewing a senior al-Qaida operative, arguing he has no constitutional right to question an enemy combatant and disrupt a military interrogation.</p> <p>"The damage to the United States will be immediate and irreparable," Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff argued as he tried to convince the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that Moussaoui can receive a fair trial without access to the al-Qaida witness he demands.</p>