Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) attempt to ask about the whistleblower whose report helped spark the impeachment inquiry is running into a roadblock in the form of Chief Justice John Roberts. A source confirmed that Roberts has indicated he would not read a question from Paul regarding the whistleblower at the center of the House impeachment inquiry. The question from Paul is expected to name the individual. Because Roberts is responsible for reading the questions that would put him in the position of publicly outing the person on the Senate floor. Paul indicated to reporters after a closed-door Republican dinner that...

Today’s stay from the Supreme Court is a massive win for American taxpayers, American workers, and the American Constitution. This decision allows the Government to implement regulations effectuating longstanding Federal law that newcomers to this country must be financially self-sufficient and not a “public charge” on our country and its citizens. Two courts of appeals had already ruled that the Government should be able to implement these regulations, but one single district judge’s nationwide injunction remained. As two Justices pointed out today, the expanding practice of district courts entering nationwide injunctions raises real problems about the proper power of a...

Is the era of Big Judicial Activism over? It might just be. Supreme Court Justic Neil Gorsuch, in a ruling about denying green cards to migrants who come here to be "public charges," something that's plainly laid out in U.S. law as illegal, threw in a special warning to activist judges, all leftists, who have been beavering away to rule from the bench, warning them that he's tired of their shenanigans. It's a specter to behold - a big lion on the Supreme Court who not only cares about rule of law, but is now warning the leftists out there...

Since President Trump was inaugurated, leftists have brought a series of lawsuits on behalf of supposedly aggrieved parties–themselves, mostly–seeking to enjoin enforcement of administration policies. District Court judges in venues remote from the issue at hand, like a federal judge in Hawaii who purported to block implementation of the administration’s “travel ban,” have issued nationwide injunctions far exceeding the scope of any case or controversy actually before them (if any). This is a perversion of our legal system that encourages, to put it mildly, judge shopping. As a 41-year litigation veteran, I can tell you that judge shopping happens all...

The Supreme Court has voted to allow the Trump administration to enforce its new rule that restricts the eligibility of new immigrants who are deemed to likely become “public charges” if they receive visas.The top court justices voted 5-4 on Monday to grant a stay on nationwide injunctions issued by a lower court, allowing the Trump administration to enforce its “public charge” rule across the country, except for Illinois, while the appeals play out in court. A separate injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois remains in effect but only in that state.Justices...

Actor and activist Alyssa Milano took to social media Wednesday to announce that she’s launched a fund-raising effort to support grassroots organizing efforts in three states that delivered the White House to President Donald Trump in 2016. Milano’s “2020 Fund” will aid groups in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which are already the focus of intense fundraising and campaign efforts by both the White House and the pack of Democratic 2020 hopefuls. Trump carried Wisconsin by just 22,748 votes in 2016, defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and capturing the state for Republicans the first time in a presidential election year...

Impeachment-Coup Update Judicial Watch Files New Supreme Court Brief in Key Abortion Case Honduras Arrests U.S.-Bound Iranians as New Caravan Heads North Trans State Workers Sue Florida Demanding Support for Controversial Surgeries The New Anti-Semitic Moment Impeachment-Coup Update The President, the rule of law, and our Constitution continue to be abused as the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump continues. We’ve done many media interviews on the current crisis, notably with Lou Dobbs and Dan Bongino. (My interview with Dan was retweeted by President Trump!) The president is going to be acquitted but with significant damage to our republic,...

President Trump on Friday becomes the first U.S. President to attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., a march he previously addressed via video, a march sure to be ignored by the lamestream media or downplayed as a gathering of white supremacists. It reflects his belief that every human life begins at conception and is a gift from God and reflects the fear, an unspoken motive for impeachment, that Trump will get to appoint more Supreme Court justices forming a majority to overturn the wrongly decided Roe V. Wade, another SCOTUS decision which, like Dred Scott, declared an...

Bye bye Blaine? In oral arguments yesterday, the Supreme Court questioned the litigants in a challenge to a Montana constitutional provision that bars any government benefit from flowing to private schools run by churches — even tax breaks for contributions. While it’s sometimes dangerous to assume a direction from the Socratic style of questioning used at Supreme Court hearings, NPR detects a significant drift in yesterday’s debate for Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito compared the exclusion of parochial schools from taxpayers-funded aid programs to unconstitutional discrimination based on race.That view...

On Wednesday, the March for Life announced that President Donald Trump will be the first sitting president in history to address the pro-life rally in person. The march will take place this Friday, January 24, in Washington, D.C. "We are deeply honored to welcome President Trump to the 47th annual March for Life. He will be the first president in history to attend and we are so excited for him to experience in person how passionate our marchers are about life and protecting the unborn," Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, said in a statement on Wednesday. "From...

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court seemed prepared Wednesday to rule that states violate the U.S. Constitution if they prevent religious schools from receiving some state benefits. During an hour of courtroom argument, the court's conservatives indicated they were inclined to lower somewhat the wall of separation between church and state. If that's how the court rules, it could affect laws or constitutional provisions in 37 states that currently bar public funding for schools and churches. The case involved a Montana program launched in 2015 to provide tax credits for people and businesses that donate to private schools. The organizations that...

Today the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case that could determine whether parents and taxpayers have any choices about the kind of religion American children are taught with taxpayer funds. Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue concerns whether private donations may support schools that make their religious beliefs explicit. It could also undo a century of U.S. court and legislative decisions that used animus between Protestants and Catholics to attack the faith of both kinds of Christians’ children over the last century.Five years ago, Montana’s legislature enacted a tiny school choice program that allows residents to deduct up to...

A marathon first day in the Senate impeachment trial against President Trump erupted into a shouting match well after midnight early Wednesday morning, as Trump's legal team unloaded on Democratic impeachment manager Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. -- in an exchange that prompted a bleary-eyed Chief Justice John Roberts to sternly admonish both sides for misconduct in the chamber. Nadler began the historic spat by speaking in support of the eighth amendment of the day proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, after each of Schumer's previous attempted alterations to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's rules were rejected by a united...

So much for the Spring Showdown. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court appeared ready to jump into the middle of a 2020 election debate over ObamaCare, telling both sides of an appear to submit briefs over the possibility of an expedited review of a case where the law was ruled unconstitutional. There was just enough time to add this to the calendar for this session — if the court wanted to stick their fingers into a political and electoral maelstrom.To quote Emily Litella … never mind: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Democrats’ plea to consider a high-stakes legal...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let residents of Flint, Michigan pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city and government officials that accused them of knowingly allowing the city’s water supply to become contaminated with lead. The justices turned away two appeals by the city and the state and local officials of a lower court ruling that allowed the lawsuit to move forward. The lower court rejected a demand for immunity by the officials, finding that they violated the residents’ right to “bodily integrity” under the U.S. Constitution by providing the tainted water after switching water...

The Supreme Court will allow a lawsuit to move forward against Flint, Mich., officials over their role in the city's public health crisis following its decision to switch water sources in 2014. The court said on Tuesday it would not hear an appeal from city officials after lower courts denied their efforts to have the case dismissed. After the city's decision to change water sources from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which had been widely considered to be contaminated, Flint residents reported widespread cases of hair loss, skin rashes, Legionnaire's disease and lead poisoning. Twelve people died from Legionnaire's...

Known to rarely speak in hearings, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas' voice is given center stage in an upcoming documentary. "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words" features his faith, political awakening, judicial philosophy and the role race has played in his life. Premiering nationwide in select theaters Jan. 31, the film includes Thomas' reflections on the contentious 1991 Senate confirmation hearings led by Joe Biden, who now is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

If you raise money for a nonprofit, but don’t finish all of the projects you were raising it for, you could go to prison for 10 years. This is no exaggeration. This is what happened to former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas. Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a conviction against him for that very reason. Two of the three judges on the panel were Obama appointees. The third judge, who wrote the opinion, is 82 and was so ill he never showed up for oral arguments. Shockingly, he wrote a politically charged opinion, evidenced right...

In 2005, George W. Bush appointed John Roberts to SCOTUS and also designated him as the Chief Justice, replacing the recently deceased William Rehnquist in both roles. Question: either now, or when Trump replaces the next departed justice -- can Trump change who is the Chief Justice? Because the Constitution doesn't say anything about how a person is designated to be the chief, I'm wondering if Trump could say, at any time (this is an example): "I'm nominating Amy Barrett to replace Darth Bader Ginsburg, John Roberts will become an Associate Justice, and I appoint Clarence Thomas as Chief Justice."...

The Supreme Court has twice protected the Catholic nuns. Now their case is before the Court once again.WASHINGTON, D.C., January 17, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The Supreme Court will once again weigh in on the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor in their legal battle against the HHS contraceptive mandate. The Supreme Court has twice protected the Catholic nuns, and an HHS rule issued in 2018 protects religious non-profits, but several states have dragged the Little Sisters of the Poor back to court. In Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Little Sisters are defending their...