In the Courts

The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. agreed Thursday to rehear arguments to drop the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The decision nullifies a ruling that a three-judge panel on the appeals court handed down last month. The judges voted 2-1 on June 24 to order U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to comply with the Justice ...

The U.S. carried out its second federal execution Thursday morning after the Supreme Court lifted a series of injunctions preventing the execution. Wesley Ira Purkey was lethally injected a 8:19 a.m. at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Associated Press reported. Purkey was convicted and sentenced to death for kidnapping, raping and killing 16-year-old Jennifer Long before ...

The United States Supreme Court ruled to uphold conscience exemptions from former President Barack Obama’s birth control mandate in a victory for the Little Sisters of the Poor. SCOTUS ruled 7-2 that the Catholic nuns are exempt from Obama’s contraceptive mandate.  “For over 150 years, the Little Sisters have engaged in faithful service and sacrifice, motivated by a religious calling ...

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that states can require members of the Electoral College to vote for the same presidential candidate as their respective state. The ruling puts an end to the occasional so-called faithless electors, who vote for a candidate different than that of the state they are representing. Though many states already have laws in place that ...

The United States Supreme Court struck down a ban on taxpayer funding of religious schools Tuesday in a monumental win for school choice. Chief Justice John Roberts joined conservative justices in a 5-4 ruling backing a Montana tax-credit scholarship program that gives residents credit if they donated to private scholarship organizations, according to Fox News, which would help the students ...

Conservatives are turning against Chief Justice John Roberts after the Supreme Court justice sided with liberal judges in a monumental abortion ruling. Roberts sided with liberal members of the court in the close 5-4 ruling, saying “the Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons.” “Roberts ...

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the dismissal of charges against General Michael Flynn and the end to the lower court’s attempt to gather amicus briefs in hopes of finding a way to deny the dismissal motion. The decision comes in response to Flynn’s legal counsel having filed a petition of mandamus when District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan requested ...

A federal judge has blocked the Department of Justice’s request to block a book by former National Security Advisor John Bolton. The upcoming book, “The Room Where It Happened,” is reportedly filled with criticisms of Trump, and the Justice Department sued Bolton Tuesday to delay the release of book. But a federal judge denied this request on Saturday, saying that ...

The New York State Supreme Court ruled against Occupy Wall Street encampments in 2011, stating free speech is not a justification to camp somewhere for months on end. Occupy Wall Street — a series of demonstrations protesting economic inequality — had its epicenter in privately-owned Zuccotti Park in Manhattan. Protesters maintained the idea that their continued presence in the area ...

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday struck down an amendment that would ban the ownership of assault weapons due to misleading wording. Ban Assault Weapons Now, which prohibited the “possession of assault weapons,” banned magazines holding more than 10 rounds and mandated registration for these guns, was set to appear on the 2020 ballot. However, justices voted 4-1 to ensure ...

The Supreme Court of the United States has rejected a request from a church to block California restrictions on religious services. South Bay United Pentecostal Church of Chula Vista, California, filed a petition over Memorial Day weekend saying that Newsom’s coronavirus restrictions “arbitrarily discriminate against places of worship in violation of their right to the Free Exercise of Religion under ...

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal statute that outlaws encouraging illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. unlawfully in a decision Thursday. The Supreme Court justices voided an earlier decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ruled that a federal anti-harboring statute was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment by restricting free ...

Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments about a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow people to use recreational marijuana. Proponents of the amendment, including Make It Legal Florida, are seeking to have the amendment placed on the 2022 ballot. To do so, they need the Florida Supreme Court to give the green ...

A lawsuit seeks to stop Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom from doling out roughly $75 million in taxpayer funds to foreign nationals living unlawfully in the country. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal firm, filed a temporary restraining order against Newsom to keep him from spending about $75 million of state taxpayer funds on direct cash benefits to illegal aliens, the ...

An appeals court has blocked the Trump administration’s request to allow for a ban on immigrants who don’t have health care or otherwise cannot afford health care expenses. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected the White House’s motion for a stay pending appeal of a court order that prevents the administration from enforcing its proclamation on immigrants ...