Free Republic

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts and must share search data. Alphabet shares popped 6% in extended trading. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice, including selling off its Chrome browser, which provides data that helps its advertising business deliver targeted ads. “Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment,” the decision states. “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking...

Trump can’t use National Guard, military in California to enforce laws, Judge Breyer rules

An appeals court has overturned a federal judge’s ruling blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating $20 billion in grants for several climate groups. A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday issued a 2-1 ruling in favor of the Trump EPA’s efforts to slash billions of dollars in grant money to green groups obligated during former President Joe Biden‘s administration. The District of Columbia Circuit Court judges were Gregory Katsas, Neomi Rao, and Cornelia Pillard, who dissented. The district court “abused its discretion” by issuing the injunction preventing the EPA from rescinding the funds, the judges wrote. They...

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration violated federal law in the use of National Guard troops amid Southern California immigration enforcement operations and accompanying protests. Judge Charles Breyer found President Donald Trump’s administration violated federal law by sending troops to the Los Angeles area. The judge in San Francisco did not require the remaining troops to be withdrawn, however. He set his order to go into effect on Friday. The order comes after California sued. *** Lawyers for the Republican administration have argued the Posse Comitatus Act doesn’t apply because the troops were protecting federal officers, not...

Kari Lake’s effort to fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz has been blocked by a federal judge. Lake has been trying to oust Abramowitz as she reduces the staff of the agency, but Abramowitz has fought back, saying the only way to fire him is to go through an advisory board that requires Senate confirmation, according to The Washington Post. He has been on paid leave since March. President Donald Trump removed everyone on the board in January. Replacements are not yet in place. Trump chose Lake to oversee the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which includes VOA, but...

Key Points * Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook sued to challenge her removal by President Donald Trump. * Trump said Monday that he was firing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. * Critics say that the move undermines the independence of the Fed, which sets key interest rates that affect mortgage rates and other debt rates. * The case was assigned to Judge Jia Cobb, who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Joe Biden. ========================================================================= A judge set a hearing for Friday morning on Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook’s request to block...

Illegal alien MS-13 gang member and wife beater Kilmar Abrego Garcia is now trying to obtain a gag order against DHS Chief Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi. A federal grand jury in Tennessee recently indicted Kilmar Abrego Garcia for “transporting undocumented migrants within the United States.” He was charged with one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers asked Nashville-based US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, to impose a gag order on Bondi and Noem so he could have a ‘fair trial.’

It is the first time a Jan. 6 rioter who was convicted and then pardoned will get a refund.A federal judge has authorized a $2,200 refund to a Jan. 6 rioter whose felony conviction was dropped after President Donald Trump issued a blanket pardon to those who breached the Capitol or attacked police.It is the first time a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant has received a refund of the fines and restitution that many were ordered to pay, even though the Justice Department endorsed the refunds in April.U.S. District Judge John Bates approved the return of the $2,000 restitution paid by...

Even a far-left federal judge isn’t buying Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s claim she’s immune from criminal prosecution. Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan claims she’s immune from being prosecuted over federal charges she helped a violent illegal immigrant elude Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. But Dugan learned on Tuesday that no man — or woman — is higher than the law. Apparently, Dugan’s alleged conduct was so egregious that even one of the more notoriously leftist federal judges in the country couldn’t look the other way. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman agreed with a U.S. Magistrate’s previous recommendation that...

The Republican National Committee was dealt a blow by a unanimous decision of the Third Circuit Appeals Court in the RNC's effort to discard undated and misdated ballots in Pennsylvania. The three-judge panel said in the 55-page ruling that the affected ballots needed to be counted and failing to do so was unconstitutional. Pennsylvania voters are required to write the date on the envelope for their mail-in ballots. "The date requirement imposes a burden on Pennsylvanians' constitutional right to vote," the court ruling reads. "And it culminates in county election boards discarding thousands of ballots each time an election is...

A judge on Monday ordered the Republican-dominated Utah legislature to redraw its congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms, after the body appeared to ignore safeguards voters put in place to ensure districts aren’t gerrymandered. The Congressional map, which was drawn in 2021, divided the Democratic Salt Lake County into the state's four districts, which diluted Democratic influence. The districts have since been won by Republican candidates, per the Associated Press. U.S. District Court Judge Dianna Gibson ruled that the maps need to be redone because state lawmakers ignored an independent commission that was established by voters to limit partisan...

Abrego Garcia immediately put up a legal fight to stop his deportation. “I fear persecution in Uganda on account of my race, nationality, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group. I also fear torture by or at the acquiescence of a public official in that country,” Abrego Garcia said on Saturday. On Monday, Judge Xinis temporarily blocked the Trump Admin from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Parents of an 11-year-old girl have asked the Supreme Court to hear their complaint against a Massachusetts school district that secretly transitioned her to (sexual deviancy) — even having her work with a gender-transitioning nonprofit behind their backs. Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri say the Ludlow School Committee, a Massachusetts public school system, socially transitioned their daughter against their wishes. School officials at Baird Middle School in Ludlow allowed her to transition to a (censored) identity, use boys’ facilities, go by a male name and use nonbinary pronouns, the parents’ complaint states. “For more than a century, this Court has...

Thursday, the Supreme Court announced its opinion in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association. The case involved the fate of approximately $783 million in NIH research grants that were tied to DEI initiatives rather than to general scientific research. By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that a single federal judge could not compel the federal government to spend nearly $1 billion on nonsensical pseudo-research it no longer wished to fund.This case may ultimately prove more important than the money it saved because it indicated the Supreme Court was losing patience with inferior courts and with one...

When reading Scripture, it’s not uncommon to come across passages describing corrupt, evil judges and rulers who oppressed their people. These wicked judges and rulers exhibited moral failure and corruption. They accepted bribes, prioritized personal gain, and led entire societies away from righteousness. They serve as cautionary tales of how authority can be abused, causing societal decay and even divine judgment.It continues today. Here is a short list of modern judicial actions that have interfered with the policies of the Trump administration. Comparing corrupt judges from the biblical and modern eras reveals themes of ideological bias, the perversion of justice,...

Justice Neil Gorsuch called out lower courts on Thursday for a pattern of defying Supreme Court rulings. Allowing the Trump administration to move forward with cutting millions in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants marked the “third time in a matter of weeks” the Supreme Court had to reverse a lower court on an issue it had already addressed, Gorsuch wrote. “Lower court judges may sometimes disagree with this Court’s decisions, but they are never free to defy them,” Gorsuch wrote in an opinion joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

A federal judge out of San Francisco on Friday blocked President Trump from pulling federal funds from ‘sanctuary cities.’ US District Judge William Orrick, and Obama appointee, blocked Trump from withholding funds from Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and more than 30 other sanctuary cities. The Associated Press reported: A judge ruled late Friday the Trump administration cannot deny funding to Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and 30 other cities and counties because of policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration efforts. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from cutting off or...

The rogue judicial branch continues to overstep its bounds. In the latest example yet, a federal judge just ordered the effective shutdown of Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention facility. Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, ruled that no new illegal alien detainees can be brought in to Alligator Alcatraz. In addition, she has barred further construction and given orders for many parts of the facility to be dismantled within 60 days. Here are the details: JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump admin and FL from bringing new detainees into “Alligator Alcatraz” and to dismantle some aspects of the...

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at an immigration detention center — built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws. The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the ruling during a hearing and said she will issue a written order later Thursday. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee...

A federal judge rejected President Donald Trump’s use of a loophole to keep Alina Habba in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor. In a 77-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann said Thursday that Habba “is not lawfully holding the office of United States Attorney” and has been in the position without legal authority since July 1. As a result, Habba, who had previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney, cannot participate in prosecutions by the office “as the ‘acting U.S. Attorney’” and seemingly cannot run the office the president maneuvered to keep her in charge of after her interim...