Free Republic

CV NEWS FEED // The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 26 that Planned Parenthood is not required to pay back millions of dollars it defrauded from Medicaid, reversing a lower court ruling. POLITICO reported that both Texas and Louisiana attempted to remove the local branches of Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs after a whistleblower revealed that the abortion company provided fetal tissue from abortions to researchers in 2015. During years of litigation to remove Planned Parenthood, the company’s attorneys advised that the Texas and Louisiana branches continue billing Medicaid. Texas ultimately succeeded in removing Planned Parenthood from...

The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that protects children from viewing sexually explicit performances. The court on Monday denied a petition from Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based theater group, that claimed a law banning sexually explicit performances in front of children violated the First Amendment. In July, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the law could take effect, overturning a federal judge’s decision to block the law. “Another big win for Tennessee! Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Friends of George’s v. Mulroy,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said....

A federal judge on Thursday delivered a major blow to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), denying their attempt to force the Trump administration into continuing taxpayer funding for their massive refugee resettlement operations. Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, rejected the bishops’ request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have forced the administration to immediately restore funding. The lawsuit, filed by the non-profit organization USCCB in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenged the Trump administration’s decision to cut off federal grants that fuel the mass resettlement of migrants across America—programs that have...

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals put a final end to former President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan on Tuesday. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey originally sued the Biden administration over its $500 million effort to wipe away student loans, known as the SAVE plan. The court's Tuesday ruling found that Biden's secretary of education had "gone well beyond this authority by designing a plan where loans are largely forgiven rather than repaid." Bailey noted in a statement that the ruling has no active impact beyond blocking future presidents from attempting Biden's maneuver. "Though Joe Biden is out...

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration’s student loan relief plan known as SAVE, a move that will likely lead to higher monthly payments for millions of borrowers. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the seven Republican-led states that filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education’s plan. The states had argued that former President Joe Biden lacked the authority to establish the student loan relief plan. The GOP states argued that Biden, with SAVE, was essentially trying to find a roundabout way to forgive student debt after the Supreme Court blocked his...

A federal judge has blocked a Maine law requiring a three-day waiting period to buy a firearm in response to a legal challenge filed by gun dealers who argue the restrictions are unconstitutional. The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Lance Walker sided with the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Gun Owners of Maine and several gun sellers who filed a lawsuit last year alleging the law requiring people to wait 72 hours to acquire a firearm — even if they pass a required criminal background check. Walker's ruling temporarily blocks the law while he considers the legal challenge. "Citizens wishing...

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily extended his restraining order blocking the Trump Admin from placing USAID workers on leave. Last week Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee said he will halt a midnight deadline for USAID to be reduced to couple hundred workers. President Trump planned to drastically reduce the USAID workforce to a few hundred workers. Thousand of workers were to be placed on administrative leave. On Thursday Judge Nichols extended his restraining order until February 21.

The Kenosha County Eye has noted a lawsuit filed by Milwaukee man Kenneth Karwacki in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division. The lawsuit is against Josh Kaul, the Attorney General of Wisconsin for denial of civil rights, 28 U.S.C.§§ 1331 and 1343. The office of the AG refused to issue a permit to carry a concealed weapon because of a misdemeanor conviction of Karwacki for the delivery of peyote while in the U.S. military. Records published online show a United States Air Force Criminal Court of Appeals convicted Airman First Class Kenneth J....

A federal judge rejected Cooper Union's request to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Jewish students that alleged the New York college violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect them from anti-Semitic attacks.Judge John Cronan also admonished Cooper Union for arguing that the Jewish students should have hidden when anti-Semitic agitators cornered them in the school library...In October 2023, anti-Israel protesters... banged on the locked doors and the large floor-to-ceiling windows, demanding to be let in.In response, 10 Jewish students filed suit against Cooper Union in April 2024, alleging that the college failed to protect them...

The Corporate Transparency Act, which requires businesses to disclose ownership information, was blocked by a federal judge as beyond Congress’s authority.The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a federal law requiring companies to report information about their owners in an effort to combat money laundering, the drug trade and terrorism.The court’s brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The ruling was provisional, reinstating the law while a challenge to it moves forward.Critics say that the law, the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, is needlessly burdensome, a threat to privacy and an unconstitutional federal...

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday allowed the release of the volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report dealing with President-elect Trump’s efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power. In a five-page ruling, Cannon denied an effort by Trump and his two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago documents case to block the release of both volumes of the report, noting that prosecutors argued the election inference report has little to do with the ongoing trial against the two men. “Based on these representations, the Court sees an insufficient basis to grant emergency injunctive relief as to Volume I,”...

Within one month of each other, two federal judges ruled that a law passed by Congress is “likely unconstitutional” and ruled in favor of small businesses. At issue is the Corporate Transparency Act, which Congress passed in 2021, overriding a veto issued by then President Donald Trump. The law requires entities incorporated under state law to disclose the personal information of their stakeholders, including current address, identification documents, and other sensitive information, to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. After Trump’s veto was overridden, several small businesses in Texas sued U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, arguing the...

In a major victory for cable companies and telcos that raises concerns about the Federal Communications Commission's regulatory authority in the wake of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the agency’s net neutrality rules. The rules require broadband operators to treat all internet traffic equally and banned them from giving preferential treatment to some sites by speeding up or slowing down consumer access. The FCC had implemented net neutrality rules under former President Barack Obama, which were then dropped during the Trump administration. Last April the FCC voted 3-2, along party...

From U.S. v. Saleem, decided [yesterday] by Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson, Steven Agee, and Allison Rushing: The Supreme Court in Heller defined "arms" as "any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another." Therefore, "the Second Amendment extends … to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding." While a silencer may be a firearm accessory, it is not a "bearable arm" that is capable of casting a bullet. Moreover, while silencers may serve...

A federal judge has halted President Joe Biden’s plans to open the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, to illegal aliens enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In May, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced a final rule to open Obamacare rolls to some DACA illegal aliens enrolled in the program. Former President Barack Obama first created the DACA program via executive order, shielding more than a million illegal aliens from deportation through the years. On Monday, District Judge Daniel Traynor granted a preliminary injunction and stay to ensure that Biden’s agencies cannot implement such...

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a high-profile case brought by the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT). The decision mandates the FDA to release the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) file for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine no later than June 30, 2025. The case stemmed from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the PHMPT, which sought comprehensive data related to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA initially claimed it would need up to 75 years to process and release the requested documents....

A few hours before the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade was to start, a federal judge ordered the city to allow an LGBTQ pride group’s float to be included. Prattville Pride called the order “a powerful affirmation of the importance of visibility, representation, and inclusion for all members of our community,” in a Facebook post. “The Christmas parade is a cherished holiday tradition, and we are excited to celebrate alongside our neighbors and friends in the spirit of love, joy, and unity.” “While we celebrate this important step forward, we must also acknowledge the challenges and hateful rhetoric that...

A three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government has the authority to deport illegal immigrants even if local leaders try to impede the process. The case arose after King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an executive order in 2019 that instructed county officials to prohibit “fixed base operators” (FBO) on a county airfield from servicing flights chartered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport illegal immigrants who are lawfully removable. FBO’s “lease space from the airport and provide flights with essential services, such as fueling and landing stairs,” according to the ruling.The...

The Ninth Circuit has long been the left-most federal appellate court in the United States. However, the day after Thanksgiving, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that must have made President-elect Donald Trump very happy: It concluded that the Supremacy Clause means what it says, namely, that when it comes to the border, local political bodies cannot use regulations governing private parties to override the federal government’s supremacy on immigration matters. United States v. King County revolved around Boeing Field, an airport in King County, Washington (i.e., the Seattle area). In 1941, King County conveyed the field to the U.S....

The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled. The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring. At issue is an April 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine, which directed county officials to prohibit fixed base operators on a county airfield near Seattle from servicing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights used to deport illegal foreign nationals. Constantine’s order prohibited King...