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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that President Trump’s use of emergency powers to allocate millions of dollars in funding for the construction of a southern border wall was illegal, the latest blow to the Trump administration’s effort to limit immigration. In the 2-1 decision, the court upheld a December 2019 district court summary judgment in favor of a request from the advocacy groups the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition against Defense Secretary Mark Esper, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and “all persons acting under their direction ... from using military construction funds...

The Supreme Court has allowed President Trump to defy Congress and continue to spend more than $6 billion diverted from military funds to pay for the construction of a border wall in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.

The Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote has denied a request to halt construction of President Trump’s border wall over environmental concerns. A number of groups, including the ACLU and Sierra Club, had asked the high court to get involved again after the justices last year cleared the way for the administration to use military funds for construction while the case played out in the courts. A federal appeals court had ruled against the administration last month, but the justices, for now, have given another temporary victory to the administration.

A federal appeals court decided 2-1 Friday that the Trump administration violated the law when it used military funds to build a wall on the Mexican border. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the power of the purse belongs to Congress, and the administration lacked constitutional authority to transfer the military money. Two Democratic appointees were in the majority. A Trump appointee dissented.

Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit warned a House Judiciary subcommittee Thursday that their jurisdiction should not be split in two. "Circuit division would have a devastating effect on the administration of justice in the western United States," Chief Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas said in prepared remarks to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.

Liberal Judge Sidney Thomas Makes Obama's Short List for Supreme Court Washington, DC -- Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Judge Sidney Thomas is one of four people said to be on the short list of names President Barack Obama is considering to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens. The list includes two key abortion advocates but Thomas would likely uphold Roe v. Wade. http://LifeNews.com/nat6307.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A person familiar with the conversation tells The Associated Press that President Barack Obama has interviewed federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana for the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama's candidates for the Supreme Court include a new name, federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana, and at least six others who were considered contenders when Obama chose his first high court nominee last year, The Associated Press has learned. Among the others under consideration are former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, federal appeals court judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The president is seriously reviewing about 10 people as a potential nominee to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An administration official says President Barack Obama is considering federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana for the Supreme Court, one of about 10 people under serious review.