As if gun rights activists have not had enough winning for one week, with the landslide Trump election win.  Now, a major victory for gun rights advocates has unfolded in Illinois...

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a state law that would require classrooms in Louisiana to post the Ten Commandments starting in January.

The paper was never completed after the teacher discovered its use of AI. The high schooler received a zero and was allowed to start again. He was given a D on the second effort.

The post Parents of Hingham student disciplined for using AI await federal judge’s ruling appeared first on Boston.com.

Tyler, TX — The National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rule, originally set to go into effect Feb. 26, has been put on hold until at least March 11.

Tyler, TX — A federal judge in Texas has vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rule, but NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran says the decision is “not the last word.”

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Federal Judge rules in favor of a crypto company, argues SEC committed an abuse of power.

A federal judge in Idaho issued a block on a state law that would ban gender transitions for children before it was set to go into effect Jan. 1.

A federal judge is permanently blocking Georgia’s 2019 “heartbeat" abortion law, finding that it violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled against the state Monday in a lawsuit filed by abortion providers and an advocacy group.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Georgetown Law Professor Steve Vladeck about the role federal courts can play as a check on presidential power during a second Trump Administration.

The law requires public schools to display a poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

A Louisiana law that sought to post the Ten Commandments in every schoolroom in the state has been shelved by a federal judge. U.S. District Court Judge John W. deGravelles, […]

The post Obama-Appointed Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Ten Commandments Law appeared first on The Western Journal.

A federal judge dismissed most claims in a lawsuit challenging Connecticut's restrictions on magnet schools, charter schools, and school choice programs, saying there is no fundamental right to equal education opportunity under the U.S. Constitution.

In a case that has drawn the involvement of the Trump administration, a federal judge holds that state rules limiting in-person instruction are not infringing on federal constitutional rights.

District Court sends stolen ammo investigation back to Superior Court, awards DOJ legal fees A U.S. District Court Judge has rejected an attempt by Cabela’s Inc. to hinder the Delaware Attorney General’s investigation into reports of 500,000 rounds of ammunition shoplifted from the retailer’s Christiana location.  Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced last summer that she […]

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JUDY WOODRUFF: And in the day’s other news: A federal judge in Hawaii struck down the Trump administration’s latest travel ban.

That temporarily blocks enforcement of the order nationwide, but the Justice Department says it will appeal. The ban extended to six mostly Muslim nations, plus North Korea and Venezuela.

Pennsylvania Congressman Tom Marino withdrew today from consideration to be President Trump’s drug czar. That followed an investigation by The Washington Post and CBS News. They found Marino was key in passing a 2016 law that limits the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to rein in opioid distribution.

A new verbal battle has broken out between the president and Republican Senator John McCain. It began last night in Philadelphia, when the Arizona senator and former Vietnam POW appeared to criticize Mr. Trump and his followers. He cited a list of failings.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-Ariz.: To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters-of-a-century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JUDY WOODRUFF: The president answered by saying, “At some point, I fight back, and it won’t be pretty.”

In turn, McCain said, “I have faced tougher adversaries.”

In Afghanistan, Taliban bombings and shootings left at least 74 people dead today. The worst was Paktika province in the east, where two car bombs killed dozens, including the provincial police chief, and wounded more than 100 others. Taliban militants also staged attacks in the south and west of the country.

In Syria, militia forces backed by the U.S. say they have retaken the Islamic State group’s de facto capital. The city of Raqqa had been under ISIS control since 2014. The battle to recapture it began in June. Today, Kurdish-led fighters celebrated as they moved into the city center. The U.S. military said 90 percent of Raqqa has been taken, with pockets of militants remaining.

There’s word that U.S. airstrikes in Yemen killed dozens of Islamic State fighters on Monday. The strikes were apparently carried out by drones. The Pentagon says the targets were training camps for recruits.

In Northern Iraq, Kurdish forces withdrew from more territory today, as Iraqi government troops advanced. It came on the heels of the Kurds’ vote for independence. Federal forces and allied militia had already forced the Kurds to leave the area in and around Kirkuk and its oil fields.

Iraq’s prime minister said that paves the way for talks.

HAIDER AL-ABADI, Prime Minister, Iraq (through interpreter): I call for dialogue on the basis of partnership in one country and under the Constitution. The referendum is finished and has become a thing from the past. We hoped that they would cancel it, but we have finished it on the ground.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, insisted that the referendum will not be in vain.

Another 10,000 to 15,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Buddhist Myanmar for Bangladesh over the weekend. Drone video showed snaking lines of refugees making the trek to already crowded camps. Many told of villages torched by mobs and soldiers. Others said they were starved out of their homes.

Back in this country, a new fire broke out in the San Francisco Bay Area, just as crews had made major progress against other fires in Northern California. Thick smoke billowed from the new site early today, as it burned through forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Weary fire crews said they’re calling in more help.

ROB SHERMAN, Division Chief, Cal Fire: So, the idea is to hit it pretty hard with aircraft and then go ahead and hit it with the ground resources at the same time. We have had north winds, a lot of drying, and everything’s really, really dry. So it’s challenging.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In Southern California, yet another fire spread on Mount Wilson, about 25 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It threatened a historic observatory and communications towers.

President Trump’s overall wealth has taken a hit, as his New York real estate loses some of its luster. Forbes ranks him 248 this year on its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. That’s down nearly 100 points from last year. His estimated worth is $3.1 billion.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates again tops the list. He’s worth nearly $90 billion.

And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average traded above 23,000 for the first time. In the end, it gained 40 points to close at 22997. The Nasdaq fell a fraction, and the S&P 500 added one point.

The post News Wrap: Trump’s latest travel ban blocked by federal judge appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Today, a federal appeals court judge in California rebuked the Trump administration for its zealous deportation policy and for "ripping apart a family." Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that he had no power to stop the removal of Andres Magana Ortiz, but nevertheless took the time to write a short opinion blasting his deportation as "inhumane."

"We are unable to prevent Magana Ortiz's removal, yet it is contrary to the values of this nation and its legal system," Reinhardt wrote in a six-page concurring opinion. "Indeed, the government's decision to remove Magana Ortiz diminishes not only our country but our courts, which are supposedly dedicated to the pursuit of justice…I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not."

As Reinhardt detailed in his opinion, Magana Ortiz came to the United States from Mexico 28 years ago, built a family and a career, and paid his taxes. His wife and three children are American citizens. His only legal transgressions were two DUIs, the last one 14 years ago. "[E]ven the government conceded during the immigration proceedings that there was no question as to Magana Ortiz's good moral character," Reinhardt noted. Nonetheless, in March the government decided to deny Magana Ortiz's application for a stay of removal while he applied for legal residency status, a process that is still underway, and moved to deport him to Mexico.

Reinhardt took particular aim at the fact, demonstrated repeatedly in the first months of Donald Trump's presidency, that the administration's immigration crackdown is not only targeting violent criminals. "President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the 'bad hombres,'" he wrote. "The government's decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the 'good hombres' are not safe. Magana Ortiz is by all accounts a pillar of his community and a devoted father and husband. It is difficult to see how the government's decision to expel him is consistent with the President's promise of an immigration system with 'a lot of heart.' I find no such compassion in the government's choice to deport Magana Ortiz."

Read the full opinion below.

Part of the Keystone oil pipeline was shut down after a 5,000-barrel leak in South Dakota, the pipeline's operator TransCanada said.

Joseph McGhee, a former Flagstaff restaurant worker, filed the challenge last month, saying he was laid off after Ducey prohibited in-house dining

The U.S. Justice Department can not withhold millions of dollars in federal funding to Colorado law enforcement agencies by attaching immigration-related terms and conditions to securing the grants according to a federal judge's ruling.

A federal judge dealt a significant blow to the U.S. Women’s national team’s fight for equality on Friday. While the U.S. women’s team’s claim of unequal working conditions can go forward, a federal judge rejected the player’s claims of pay inequality. In March 2019, the USWNT filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The suit alleges the U.S. Soccer Federation’s has federally discriminatory payment practices, arguing that they pay women less than men “for substantially equal work and by denying them at least equal playing, training, and travel conditions; equal promotion of their games; equal support and development for their games; and other terms and conditions of employment equal to the MNT.” Judge R. Gary Klausner wrote in his decision that USWNT members did not prove wage discrimination under the Equal Pay Act because the women’s team played more games and made more money than the men’s team. Furthermore, the women’s team also rejected a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) where they would have an identical pay structure to the men’s team in favor of a different CBA. This CBA guarantees players are compensated regardless of whether they play, while the men’s CBA does not. “This approach — merely comparing […]

Garcia Luna, accused of turning a blind eye toward murderous drug overlord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman while serving as Mexico’s secretary of public security from 2006-12, arrived in Brooklyn Federal Court with his attorney for a Friday afternoon hearing.

Judge Jack Weinstein on Monday moved to inactive status, closing out a 53-year career. A highlight of his law career was working with Thurgood Marshall on the legal arguments that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was illegal. He was named a federal judge in 1967, and on his retirement was the last appointee of President Lyndon Johnson still on the bench.

A federal court on Thursday denied a motion to block an Arkansas directive preventing patients from receiving abortion care.

A federal judge dismissed most claims in a lawsuit challenging Connecticut's restrictions on magnet schools, charter schools, and school choice programs, saying there is no fundamental right to equal education opportunity under the U.S. Constitution.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- A federal judge in Arkansas on Thursday upheld the state’s requirement that women obtain a negative coronavirus test before having an abortion.

Calling the decision “agonizingly difficult,” Judge Brian Miller for the Eastern District Court of Arkansas said the state’s testing mandate—which applies to all elective surgeries and not just abortions—is “reasonable” during the public health emergency and was not done “with an eye toward limiting abortions.

The judge noted that “it is undisputed that surgical abortions have still taken place.”

The abortion clinic Little Rock Family Planning Services had requested a temporary injunction on the state health department’s requirement that elective surgery patients obtain a negative new coronavirus (COVID-19) test result within 48 hours before the procedure.

Previously, the health department ordered a halt to non-essential surgeries on April 3 to preserve resources for treating COVID-19.

The Little Rock abortion clinic performed abortions while claiming they were offering “essential” procedures, and after the health department ordered them to stop on April 10, the clinic challenged the state in court. The diocese’s Respect Life Office noted that women were traveling to the clinic for abortions from nearby states such as Texas and Louisiana.

The clinic won its case for a temporary restraining order at the district court level, but the Eighth Circuit appeals court subsequently overruled that decision and sided with the state.

The April 3 directive was updated April 24 to allow for some elective surgeries provided certain conditions were met. Elective abortions were included in the “non-essential” surgeries that were allowed to continue on April 24.

These conditions included no overnight stays, no contact with COVID-19 patients in the previous 14 days, and a negative COVID-19 test for patients within 48 hours of the surgery.

According to the clinic, which asked for a temporary injunction, three women were seeking to obtain “dilation and evacuation” abortions but were prevented from meeting the state’s testing requirmenet. One woman said she was unable to get a COVID-19 test; another said the lab could not guarantee she would receive results in 48 hours. The third woman was unable to get an abortion in Texas, and drove to the Little Rock clinic; she was told the results of her test would not be available for several days.

In response, the state’s health department said that four surgical abortions had still been performed at the clinic between April 27 and May 1, with COVID-19 test results having been obtained within 48 hours of the abortions, and thus the directive was not an “undue burden” on women seeking abortion.

In his decision on Thursday, Judge Miller said that the pandemic is a serious threat, noting that at the time of the opinion more than 70,000 people had died in the U.S. from the virus including more than 3,500 people in Arkansas.

He said the case “presents the tug-of-war between individual liberty and the state’s police power to protect the public during the existing, grave health crisis,” and noted that the three women as well as others “are very troubled. There is a strong urge to rule for them because they are extremely sympathetic figures, but that would be unjust.”

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- A federal judge in Arkansas on Thursday upheld the state’s requirement that women obtain a negative coronavirus test before having an abortion.

Calling the decision “agonizingly difficult,” Judge Brian Miller for the Eastern District Court of Arkansas said the state’s testing mandate—which applies to all elective surgeries and not just abortions—is “reasonable” during the public health emergency and was not done “with an eye toward limiting abortions.

The judge noted that “it is undisputed that surgical abortions have still taken place.”

The abortion clinic Little Rock Family Planning Services had requested a temporary injunction on the state health department’s requirement that elective surgery patients obtain a negative new coronavirus (COVID-19) test result within 48 hours before the procedure.

Previously, the health department ordered a halt to non-essential surgeries on April 3 to preserve resources for treating COVID-19.

The Little Rock abortion clinic performed abortions while claiming they were offering “essential” procedures, and after the health department ordered them to stop on April 10, the clinic challenged the state in court. The diocese’s Respect Life Office noted that women were traveling to the clinic for abortions from nearby states such as Texas and Louisiana.

The clinic won its case for a temporary restraining order at the district court level, but the Eighth Circuit appeals court subsequently overruled that decision and sided with the state.

The April 3 directive was updated April 24 to allow for some elective surgeries provided certain conditions were met. Elective abortions were included in the “non-essential” surgeries that were allowed to continue on April 24.

These conditions included no overnight stays, no contact with COVID-19 patients in the previous 14 days, and a negative COVID-19 test for patients within 48 hours of the surgery.

According to the clinic, which asked for a temporary injunction, three women were seeking to obtain “dilation and evacuation” abortions but were prevented from meeting the state’s testing requirmenet. One woman said she was unable to get a COVID-19 test; another said the lab could not guarantee she would receive results in 48 hours. The third woman was unable to get an abortion in Texas, and drove to the Little Rock clinic; she was told the results of her test would not be available for several days.

In response, the state’s health department said that four surgical abortions had still been performed at the clinic between April 27 and May 1, with COVID-19 test results having been obtained within 48 hours of the abortions, and thus the directive was not an “undue burden” on women seeking abortion.

In his decision on Thursday, Judge Miller said that the pandemic is a serious threat, noting that at the time of the opinion more than 70,000 people had died in the U.S. from the virus including more than 3,500 people in Arkansas.

He said the case “presents the tug-of-war between individual liberty and the state’s police power to protect the public during the existing, grave health crisis,” and noted that the three women as well as others “are very troubled. There is a strong urge to rule for them because they are extremely sympathetic figures, but that would be unjust.”

Coronavirus illnesses to date may touch as little as 4 percent of meat and poultry employment, but it been enough to roil the industry over how much protection the plants need to be safe. Actions taken in tight proximity to one another by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. District Court Judge Greg... Continue Reading

A federal court has shut down two Dallas tax preparers during the height of tax-filing season. Chief Judge Sidney Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas signed a temporary restraining order barring Ethel Washington from preparing any tax returns. The court has also permanently barred Washington’s former employer, Tina Preston, and her firm, The Preston Group & Associates Inc., from preparing federal tax returns.

A federal court today has permanently barred two additional former employees of Preston Tax Services, Inc., from preparing federal tax returns.

Today, in federal court in Dallas, U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Miami physician Keith Russell, 65, and physician’s assistant Jorge Luis Pacheco, 50, were each sentenced to 97 months in prison, and physician’s assistant Eda Marietta Milanes, 43, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, for their roles in fraud schemes that involved billing Medicare for $10,903,509 worth of unnecessary HIV infusion treatments.

The Justice Department announced today that Tyree Davis Sr. of Flossmoor, Ill., was arrested on an eight-count indictment charging him with obstruction of justice and filing fraudulent multi-billion dollar liens against government employees.

Tyree Davis Sr., 42, of Flossmoor, Illinois, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of filing false retaliatory liens against government officials, the Justice Department announced today

A Federal judge has ruled that seven Virginia homeowners made legitimate damage claims regarding corrosion of metal items in the home and personal inconvenience caused by use of

The Trump administration wants tjhe ruling put on hold until appeals are resolved. The judge says the Democrat-let House Judiciary Committee consented to a brief delay.a

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be back to prioritizing President Trump's judicial nominations when the Senate returns to Washington on Monday.

El Chapo's lawyer revealed that the arrest warrant for Ovidio Guzman Lopez that led to Thursday's violence in Culiacan, Mexico, stemmed from a federal judge in Washington, DC.

The US women's soccer team have been involved in a court case against United States Soccer Federation over pay discrimination.