Free Republic

Four Missouri hunters who stepped diagonally from one parcel of federal land in Wyoming to another did not illegally trespass on the airspace of adjacent private property, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, firmly protects public access to millions of acres of land in the court’s six-state jurisdiction and substantially strengthens the rights of “corner-crossers” throughout the West. The case is rooted in a quirk of the region, where vast swaths of terrain have been divided since the 19th century...

AColorado web designer is appealing a ruling made Monday by the 10th Circuit Court that rejected her challenge of Colorado's anti-discrimination law and requires her to create wedding websites for same-sex couples despite it violating her religious beliefs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled 2 – 1 the state can force Lorie Smith of studio 303 Creative to design and publish websites promoting messages that go against her personal religious beliefs. The law at issue also prevents Smith from explaining on her company's website what sites she can create that are consistent with her beliefs. By...

March 7, 2003 G.O.P. Loses Filibuster Vote on Judicial NomineeBy NEIL A. LEWIS ASHINGTON, March 6 — Senate Republicans lost a crucial test vote today over President Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada to the federal appeals court in Washington, gaining 55 votes, 5 short of the 60 needed to cut off debate. Today's vote left only increased confusion over how the issue, with its complex brew of ethnic and judicial politics, will play out. Each side seemed increasingly obstinate, declaring that the other was trampling on the Constitution. The Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, enough to confirm...