Free Republic

In what is likely to become a landmark case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an en banc decision of all the judges in the circuit, struck down the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule which changed the definition of a machinegun to include bump stocks. Thirteen judges were in the majority, with three judges dissenting. The case is Cargill v. Garland. This correspondent wrote about it previously. Here is a summation of how the sixteen judges ruled. From the opinion: Of the sixteen members of our court, thirteen of us agree...

Jan 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a rule the Trump administration had adopted following a 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that banned "bump stocks," devices that allow people to rapidly fire multiple rounds from semi-automatic guns. In a 13-3 decision, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that despite "tremendous" public pressure to impose a ban, it was up to the U.S. Congress rather than the president to take action.... "The resulting circuit split should bring this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court's attention promptly and supply a suitable vehicle for...

he 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed former Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman and Assistant Chief Robert Lanning from lawsuits filed by bikers alleging false arrest after the 2015 Twin Peaks shootout, but left former McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna as a defendant. The ruling, issued late last week, is the most recent development in the six-year legal battle waged after hundreds of Bandidos and Cossacks and their respective support clubs squared off in the Twin Peaks parking lot while families were dining or shopping May 15, 2015, at the busy Central Texas Marketplace. About 134 bikers...

In Denton v. City of El Paso, Texas, (5th Cir., July 6, 2021), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case to a Texas federal district court ordering it to grant a preliminary injunction barring El Paso from prohibiting religious proselytizing at the weekly outdoor El Paso Art and Farmers Market. The city's rules bar fundraising, political campaigning and religious proselytizing from the market. The court held that these exclusions are content-based, and concluded: It is unclear whether the City has asserted a compelling government interest. We need not decide this issue ......