In the Courts

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a plaintiffs coalition can proceed with a lawsuit against President Donald Trump that claim that his failure to divest of business ownerships violates the Constitution.  The plaintiffs are a group of hoteliers and restauranteurs who claim they have lost business to Trump properties. They are joined by the watchdog group Citizens for ...

Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly switched positions during the Supreme Court’s closely-held deliberations over the government’s bid to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form. The chief justice originally cast his vote with the Trump administration, but defected to the other side as the internal process progressed, unnamed sources told CNN. Precisely when Roberts may have changed his ...

The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration Wednesday to enforce new immigration rules that would deny asylum to migrants who did not seek protected status in a country they passed through on their way to the southern border. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from Wednesday’s decision. The Border Patrol has intercepted approximately 350,000 asylum-seekers from the northern ...

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed President Donald Trump a major victory regarding his plan to prohibit most immigrants from applying for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit late Tuesday night rolled back a decision made by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, appointed by President Obama, who had reinstated a nationwide ban ...

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday remanded the lenient prison sentence given to the man who attacked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on his property, finding that a federal district court lacked a “compelling justification” for sentencing him to only 30-days in prison. Rene Boucher was arrested in November 2017 for attacking Paul outside his Kentucky home after the ...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations scored a big court victory on Thursday, with a federal judge ruling that the FBI’s terror watchlist violates the Constitution. Judge Anthony Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in favor of 23 Muslim Americans who filed a lawsuit alleging that their inclusion on the Terrorist Screening Database violated their due process rights. Trenga, ...

Alva Johnson, the former Trump campaign aide who accused President Trump of forcibly kissing her during a campaign stop in 2016, dropped her lawsuit on Wednesday, weeks after video emerged casting doubt on her allegations. Johnson, 44, sued Trump and the campaign on Feb. 25 for gender and race pay discrimination, as well as battery. She alleged that during a ...

A federal jury on Wednesday acquitted former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig on charges that he lied to federal officials regarding his work on behalf of the Ukrainian government in 2012. The Washington, D.C. jury delivered the verdict after several hours of deliberation. The case was spun off from an investigation that originated with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia ...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said her health is improving after a fourth bout with cancer Saturday, telling a friendly audience in Washington, D.C., that her work sustains her during difficult periods. The Supreme Court announced Aug. 23 that the 86-year-old progressive icon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. “This audience can see that I am alive,” Ginsburg said during ...

A California court overturned the conviction Friday of a five-time deported homeless illegal immigrant who shot Kate Steinle in 2015. The 1st District Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge erred in not giving the jury “the momentary possession instruction,” NPR reported. “It is undisputed that defendant was holding the gun when it fired. But that fact alone does ...

A federal appeals court has ruled for the first time that religious believers can invoke the First Amendment when declining to participate in same-sex weddings. The case involves a Christian couple named Carl and Angel Larsen, who operate a media production company.  The Larsens want to expand their business to include weddings, but a Minnesota state law requires that they ...

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Monday to allow enforcement of new immigration rules that would deny asylum to migrants who did not seek protected status in a country they passed through on their way to the southern border. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, a federal judge in San Francisco, entered a preliminary injunction against those rules on July ...

A Montana judge sentenced two men to prison on Aug. 23 for separate crimes and ruled they would not be eligible for parole until they complete a writing assignment for lying about military service. Cascade County District Judge Greg Pinski ordered Ryan Patrick Morris, 28, and Troy Allan Nelson, 33, to hand write 6,756 names of U.S. veterans killed in ...

The Supreme Court announced Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was successfully treated for pancreatic cancer. Friday’s announcement is the second time in recent months the justice disclosed a serious medical condition after she completed treatment. In both instances, her diagnosis remained closely held for several weeks. The last 10 months have been particularly punishing for the 86-year old progressive ...

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island is navigating an ethics complaint and vigorous criticism from the right after filing a brief in a Second Amendment case before the Supreme Court. The senator’s legal filing broached the possibility of court-packing and accused the justices of elevating conservative political rules over the law.  Whitehouse defended the brief, saying the court’s reputation ...