Free Republic

We are gratified by the Supreme Court ruling on Friday night lifting the final remaining injunction on the public charge regulation. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security will be able to implement its regulation on Monday. This final rule will protect hardworking American taxpayers, safeguard welfare programs for truly needy Americans, reduce the Federal deficit, and re-establish the fundamental legal principle that newcomers to our society should be financially self-reliant and not dependent on the largess of United States taxpayers.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a scathing rebuke of the court's decision to allow the Trump administration to enforce its "public charge" rule in the state of Illinois, limiting which non-citizens can obtain visas to enter the U.S. Sotomayor's problems with the conservative majority's ruling went far beyond this case, claiming that it was symptomatic of the court's habit of siding with the government when they seek emergency stays of rulings against them. "It is hard to say what is more troubling: that the Government would seek this extraordinary relief seemingly as a matter of course, or that...

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration on Friday night in a case that contested the president’s “public charge” rule, which critics have called a “wealth test” for legal immigrants. The policy in question, the Immigration and Nationality Act, would make it harder for immigrants who are “likely at any time to become a public charge” to obtain green cards. The policy discourages legal immigrants in the process of obtaining permanent legal status or citizenship from using public assistance, including Medicaid, housing vouchers and food stamps. The case heard by the court, Wolf v. Cook County, sought...

Donald Trump's rule changes the so-called "public charge" rule that withholds green cards from immigrants dependent on government services. Federal immigration law says that immigrants desiring permanent legal status can be denied if they are likely to become a "public charge."Previously the government defined "public charge" as anyone receiving cash benefits. Those getting food stamps or housing assistance were exempt. The rule change means that green cards will only go to those who are free of dependency on government. New York and Illinois sued the administration over the change and federal judges issued injunctions preventing the rule from being...

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a 5-4 ruling upholding the Trump administration's public charge rule, which withholds green cards from immigrants that are dependant on government welfare programs. Typically, the government looks at cash assistance programs but the Trump administration recently expanded that rule to include non-cash assistance programs, like food stamps, the Washington Free Beacon reported.  The policy follows under the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes a legal immigrant ineligible for a green card if they are deemed “likely at any time to become a public charge."Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a dissenting opinion, at which point she...

Conservative Legal Circles Buzz With Rumor that Justice Gorsuch Will Defect to the Liberals and Rule That Transgenders Are Women For Title VII Posted by: Ace at 05:04 PM The debate is whether Title VII's protections of discrimination "because of... sex" applies to sexual orientation and "gender" expression. Does a man who claims to be a transwoman actually get protections based on "sex" when his sex is male? The liberals are solid for answering "yes," of course. And chatter in conservative legal circles is that Justice Gorsuch will join the liberals. There is a rumor rapidly circulating in legal conservative circles that Gorsuch...

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a blustering dissent in an ideologically split 5-4 Supreme Court ruling released Friday night in which she accused the five conservative justices who voted in the majority of repeatedly favoring the Trump administration. The case involved an appeal by the Department of Homeland Security for an injunction in a ruling against the imposition by the administration of a “public charge rule” regarding immigrants in an Illinois case that the Court has already allowed for the other 49 states. (DHS fact sheet on public charge rule.) Sotomayor’s dissent is in the context of the growing pushback...

Last month the Supreme Court granted the federal government’s request for permission to enforce a rule known as the “public charge” rule, which prohibits noncitizens from receiving a green card if the government believes that they are likely to rely on public assistance. That ruling put on hold a pair of orders by a federal district court in New York, which had blocked the government from enforcing the rule anywhere in the nation. Tonight the justices, by a vote of 5-4, allowed the government to enforce the rule in Illinois while it appeals an order by a district court there...

Former Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday openly called for 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices, lending his support to a push that has gained steam among Democrats amid the Trump administration’s rapid-fire federal judicial appointments — and the possibility of a looming Supreme Court vacancy. Holder, who once described himself as former President Barack Obama’s “wingman,” this week also took a shot at Attorney General Bill Barr, saying the current state of the Justice Department (DOJ) is a politicized “disaster.” Speaking Saturday at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium, in Claremont, Calif., Holder said: “I don’t think someone should have...

On Tuesday, the Internet Accountability Project (IAP) will file an amicus brief in the Oracle v. Google Supreme Court copyright case. In a nutshell, the brief explains why IAP believes it is time for the Supreme Court to course correct on Google’s outrageous interpretation of the “fair use� doctrine under U.S. copyright law. But the case is bigger than one single legal doctrine and goes to the very heart of why Google is anathema to conservatives and everything we stand for. In fact, the case is the poster child for what we at IAP call “the Great 21st Century Internet...

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing two former students at Georgia Gwinnett College asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to hear their case and vindicate their free speech rights. Two federal courts declined to address whether Gwinnett violated the students’ constitutional rights because the college modified its policies after the case was filed. Most federal courts will decide the constitutional question even if the government changes its policy because doing so prevents future misconduct and vindicates the essential freedoms that the Constitution protects. Student Chike Uzuegbunam tried to share his Christian faith with other students on the Lawrenceville, Georgia, campus in...

Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser proclaimed that 'Justice Ginsburg’s feminist legacy teeters on a knife’s edge' because for once she adhered to the text of the law. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is about to lose her feminist card. Ironically, it’s for departing from her usual legal schtick to reinforce that what the law says matters, instead of giving authorities license to do whatever the heck they want.On Monday, Ginsburg reinforced previous assertions that the legal deadline for passing a 1970s and 1980s constitutional amendment to ignore sex distinctions has passed.“I would like to see a new beginning. I’d like it to...

At an event at Georgetown University’s law school, moderator and federal appellate judge Margaret McKeown asked Ginsburg about an ongoing effort to revive the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which provides that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Three-fourths of the states, or 38 total, are required to amend the Constitution. Last month, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA and one of only three states to do so since 1977 — but there’s a catch. Congress imposed a 1982 deadline...

Snip~ He led #TeamTrump to victory in the U.S. Senate and managed to destroy Joe and Hunter Biden in the process – all without breaking a sweat. Sekulow is President Trump’s lead counsel. The two have a very close relationship and unlike many lawyers who have gotten the boot by President Trump, Mr. Sekulow has stood the test of time.

The current presidency has been one of the biggest political roller coasters of modern times. Terms like “emoluments� that have not been bandied about in several hundreds of years have become verbatim. Seldom is there a time when the cover story in any major news media does not involve President Trump. While calls for impeachment have ebbed and flowed since Trump took office, they appear to have grown in tenor in recent weeks since a whistleblower described Trump’s interaction with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attempting to direct the Ukrainians to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s son, Hunter’s role working with...

Manhattan federal court judge Deborah Batts who was slated to oversee Michael Avenatti’s Stormy Daniels-related embezzlement trial, has died. She was 72. The Philadelphia-born jurist, who was the first openly gay member of the federal judiciary, passed away February 2, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A threat made Friday that mentioned U.S. Sen. Susan Collins forced several schools from Machias to Bangor and Aroostook County into a “soft lockdown.” School remained in session, but no one could enter or leave the buildings without authorization. A business in Orono received the threat Friday morning through a “vague, email message,” according to Orono High School Principal Reg Ruhlin. Scott Porter, the superintendent of Machias schools, said the threat specified Collins and listed high schools in Bangor, Brewer, East Millinocket, Caribou, Houlton, Madawaska, Jonesport, Machias and Harrington. School districts did not see the actual message, according to Brewer...

Roberts’ unwillingness to interfere in the proceedings of the trial will undoubtedly infuriate the left, but despite the hysteria, he's absolutely correct. On Friday evening, Chief Justice John Roberts announced that should a tie arise during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, he would not step in to break it. Given the near-even split of the Senate along party lines, Roberts’ comments put an end to the extensive speculation that had been bubbling around Washington.Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer prompted Chief Justice Roberts by asking the Justice if he was aware of two instances in which Chief Justice Salmon...

During the Senate impeachment trial Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts declined to read a question submitted by Sen. Rand Paul which included the name of Eric Ciaramella, the man RealClear Investigations has identified as the whistleblower at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. The Kentucky Republican submitted the question card, and after reading it, Roberts replied, “The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted.� Paul’s question did not use the term whistleblower or identify Ciaramella as the whistleblower. Senator @RandPaul sends question to the desk during Impeachment Trial.Chief Justice Roberts: "The presiding officer declines to read the question...

It’s a new year, but nothing much has changed since 2019 as far as how dumb and ignorant some college kids can be. Yeah, you can chalk it up as kids just being young and dumb, but when a graduate student and some other college kids from several of America’s most prestigious law schools and colleges decide to express their deep disdain for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, well, some of us take notice. Daniel Espo, who according to his Facebook profile is studying or had studied at Harvard Law School, expressed his distaste for the late Justice...