House Judiciary Introduces FISA Reform Bill

A group of lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee has unveiled legislation Monday to restrict the intelligence community’s warrantless surveillance authority and impose stiffer punishments for violations.

Spearheaded by Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs, the plan boasts Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Ranking member Jerold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., as cosponsors, The Hill reported.

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FBI Asks Judge to Block Discovery in Tennessee Star’s Lawsuit Seeking Covenant Killer Records

Earlier this month, attorneys for Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Star and The Star News Network, filed a motion after the leak of three pages of Covenant Presbyterian School mass murderer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s writings. The motion asserts the leak proves, “assuming the three pages’ authenticity,” that the FBI “could have selectively released” redacted portions of the manifesto without jeopardizing ongoing investigations.

The FBI has yet to confirm the authenticity of the manifesto pages shared online, but the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has confirmed they are Hale’s writings. Prior to that admission, The Star was among the first outlets to independently verify the pages were part of Hale’s manifesto.

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Judge Admonishes Trump Attorney over Former President’s Testimony in NYC Civil Trial, ‘Control Him’

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York City on Monday admonished the former president’s attorney over her client’s testimony, saying ‘control him.”

Judge Arthur Engoron (pictured), was, according to courtroom reports, frustrated with Trump failing to answer questions in a yes-no-format, in the trial in which the Trump organization and its principals are accused of inflating assets to gain favorable interest rates. 

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Attorneys for Covenant Church File Motions to Intervene in Lawsuits Seeking Covenant Killer’s Writings

Attorneys for the Covenant Presbyterian Church have filed a motion to intervene in Star News Digital Media Inc.’s lawsuit seeking the immediate release of the manifesto and related documents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender killer behind the March 27 mass shootings at the private elementary school.

The 20th Circuit Court-Davidson County will hold a hearing on the motion to intervene, which seeks to protect the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s “interests relating to the release of records sought in this matter.” The court set a hearing for 9 a.m. May 26.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Fair Trials Are Impossible for January 6 Defendants

Odds are jurors in Douglas Austin Jensen’s trial took longer to fill out the verdict forms than they took to decide his fate.

After only a few hours of deliberations on Friday, 12 residents of the nation’s capital found Jensen guilty on seven counts related to his involvement in the Capitol protest on January 6, 2021. Jensen, an alleged QAnon follower, infamously confronted Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman inside the building that afternoon; he potentially faces decades in prison for convictions on impeding law enforcement officers and obstruction of an official proceeding, a dubious nonviolent felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

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Commentary: White House Border Policy Racks Up Losses in Court

Joe Biden in 2020 promised he would return “normalcy” to the White House, that the adults would be back in charge, and that America would enter a new era of prosperity. In other news, the Titanic is an unsinkable ship and Enron stock is the foundation of a solid investment portfolio.

It is becoming difficult for even the most partisan Biden supporter to put a positive spin on the current administration’s growing list of failures. The centerpiece of the White House’s calamity is its immigration policy, which is deeply unpopular with a majority of Americans. It is even less popular in America’s courts, where judges continue to reject Biden’s attempt to impose a unilateral vision of a borderless country and all the suffering that comes with it.

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Tennessee Should Collect, Connect Data on Court Fines and Fees Statewide: Report

Tennessee Supreme Court building

As Tennessee lawmakers continue to examine reforms in the criminal justice system, two recently released reports showed that the state is not collecting the proper data to evaluate the fines and fees collected from its court system.

Non-profit policy think tank Think Tennessee found that, despite a 2019 law requiring all courts to create a payment plan system for those who financially will have issues paying court fees, the law has been implemented inconsistently throughout the state.

“For Tennesseans who face an endless cycle of penalties due to an inability to pay court debt, the county where they live could determine whether they have access to a payment plan that could help them break free,” Think Tennessee wrote. “Moreover, court fines and fees have a disproportionate impact on people who are low-income, Black and/or rural, and the financial hardship they experience may lead to increased recidivism with more significant impacts for communities as a whole.

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City Council President Requests Transparency for Flint’s Legal Fees

Kate Fields of Flint, Michigan, City Council

The president of the Flint City Council is asking a court to help her recoup the legal fees she incurred in a lawsuit she won against the city earlier this week. She is also challenging the city to disclose how much money it will spend defending itself from legal actions she initiated after the council imposed a gag order on her.

The Flint City Council voted 5-2 to censure President Kate Fields on Sept. 28. The resolution banned her from leading council meetings and openly speaking for 30 days, but still allowed her to vote. Fields is campaigning for reelection for Flint’s 4th Ward in next Tuesday’s election.

The resolution stemmed from an incident earlier this year, when Fields ordered the removal of 1st Ward Council member Eric Mays from a virtual meeting for disruptive behavior and denied him an opportunity to appeal her decision. Mays has a reputation for behavior deemed inappropriate, including a March 2020 incident during which he was removed from a City Council meeting in handcuffs and subsequently banned from council meetings for 30 days. 

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School Sees COVID Cases Decline after Court Said It Can’t Require Masks

Group of young students working in classroom

After a judge told a school district it couldn’t require masks for students without a quarantine order, the district reported fewer COVID-19 cases, but it has faced other consequences.

It comes as a member of the Illinois Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules said there is further evidence the Illinois State Board of Education can’t revoke a public or private school’s recognition status for failing to follow the governor’s mask mandate.

Attorney Thomas DeVore said since securing a temporary restraining order enjoining the Hillsboro school district from mandating masks on children on Sept. 17, cases have gone down.

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Human Rights Campaign Fires Alphonso David for Advising Cuomo on #METOO Allegations

Alphonso David

The nation’s largest LGBTQ rights advocacy group has fired its president for advising Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the #METOO allegations against the governor.

The two Human Rights Campaign (HRC) boards terminated Alphonso David “for cause” Monday evening, The New York Times reported. David called his termination unjust in a Monday evening statement and accused the HRC board of lying to him about its investigation.

“As a black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” he said. “Expect a legal challenge.”

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‘Creepy Porn Lawyer’ Michael Avenatti Cries as He’s Sentenced to Prison for 30 Months for Trying to Extort Nike

Disgraced former attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for trying to extort millions from the sportswear company Nike.

The former media gadfly and anti-Trump resistance hero reportedly cried in court as he made a statement thanking his family. According to Washington Post reporter Devlin Barrett, Avenatti admitted “I and I alone have destroyed my career, my relationships, my life, and there is no doubt that I deserve to pay, have paid, and will pay a further price for what I have done.”

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Biden Civil Rights Nominee Pressed Colleges to Adopt Policies Often Struck Down in Court

Catherine Ilhamon

The Biden administration reached back into Team Obama to fill an Education Department slot that oversees civil rights, including Title IX enforcement.

Catherine Lhamon’s nomination last month drew immediate concern from advocates of due process and fair procedures in college Title IX investigations because so many court decisions — 200 by one count — have since challenged the approach she and others in the Obama administration took in investigating campus sexual assaults.

Two more rulings arrived this week, from the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals and an Iowa district court under its jurisdiction.

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Ohio Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Jury Must Consider Ability to Pay Fines

Darren Taylor, who was convicted of murder and other charges, is suing the state of Ohio because a trial court refused to waive his fees after doing an analysis of his current earnings from his prison job, but did not do an analysis of his ability to pay these fines in the future. Taylor, who is serving 36 years to life, will be in his 80s when he gets out of prison.

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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine Announces Plan for 30 New Drug Courts to Combat Opioid Epidemic

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine unveiled the latest aspect of his plan Tuesday to fight opioid addiction by creating more specialty courts statewide. The plan is the latest announced component of his upcoming budget proposal for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.  If approved, it would allocate $2.5 million in 2020 for the creation of “15 specialty dockets” as well as an additional $5 million in 2020 to “support the newly created specialty dockets and fund an additional 15.” Governor DeWine said of the courts: Specialty dockets give judges the flexibility necessary when they encounter someone in the court system who is may benefit more from treatment for substance use disorder rather than serving jail time,…These specialty courts are a proven way to hold those with substance use disorder accountable and ensure participation in mental health and addiction treatment. According to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, Specialty Courts, often referred to as “Drug Courts,” “specialize in the adjudication and treatment of offenders who use drugs.”  Judges across the state found that they were seeing the same individuals again and again for drug-related offenses. These courts were designed to more effectively address the issues relating to these individuals. The only offenders eligible for these courts are those who have been…

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Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms State Can ‘Defund’ Planned Parenthood

The Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 11-6 Tuesday that Ohio has the right to withhold public funds from abortion providers, most notably Planned Parenthood. On Feb. 21st, 2016, then-Republican Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 294. The bill’s intent is to prevent the use of public funds for elective (a.k.a. “nontherapeutic”) abortions. Before the law, roughly $1 million a year in state health funding went, primarily, to organizations like Planned Parenthood. This law denied that funding. Three months later,  Judge Michael R. Barrett of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued a restriction, preventing the law from being implemented in Ohio. He argued that if the law went into effect, it could cause “irreparable harm” to citizens who rely on non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood. Later, he outright declared the law unconstitutional, setting off a series of appeals. The latest of these appeals decided on Tuesday, affirmed that Ohio has a constitutional right to cut funding for Abortions. The majority opinion, written by Judge Jeffrey Sutton, noted that a state: …may choose not to fund a private organization’s health and education initiatives. Private organizations do not have a constitutional right to obtain governmental funding to support their activities. The State also…

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Ohio Federal Judge Clears Way for Massive Opioid Lawsuit

A massive lawsuit by 1,500 counties, cities, townships, and other communities nationwide, against the opioid industry has been permitted to move forward by a federal judge in Ohio. Over the past two years, local and state governments in Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nevada, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois, New York, Washington, and California have all filed separate suits against the various manufacturers, distributors, and sellers comprising the opioid industry. These local governments allege that the “defendants have contributed to the addiction of millions of Americans to these prescription opioids and to the foreseeable result that many of those addicted would turn to street drugs.” In the past year, the majority of these cases were folded into one giant multidistrict litigation that has been consolidated in the Ohio federal courts. The defendants in this case include the three largest drug wholesalers in America: AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Cardinal Health. These three entities are commonly referred to as the “Big Three,” accounting for “about 85 percent to 90 percent of all revenues from drug distribution in the United States.” United States District Judge Dan A. Polster of the Northern District of Ohio rejected Wednesday a Motion to Dismiss by the…

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Turkish Court Orders Andrew Brunson Released After Four Witnesses Recant Testimony

by Chuck Ross   A Turkish court on Friday convicted American pastor Andrew Brunson of terrorism charges but ordered his release from house arrest, a decision that will allow him to return back to the U.S. During a court hearing, four government witnesses retracted their statements that Brunson had aided two organizations, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and the network of supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Brunson, 50, was arrested in October 2016 on claims that he supported the two groups. He was sentenced to three years in jail on Friday but released due to time served. The Turkish court also relaxed a travel ban against Brunson, allowing the North Carolina native to return home. Brunson and his wife had operated Christian churches in Turkey for 23 years until his arrest. Brunson’ case touched off a bitter diplomatic dispute between the U.S. and Turkey. The Trump administration pushed its Nato ally to release Brunson, arguing that the charges against him were bogus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected those requests, saying publicly that he was using Brunson as a bargaining chip to force the U.S. to extradite Gulen, who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. The Trump administration…

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Oregon Senators to Use Senate ‘Blue Slip’ Privilege Against Trump Judicial Nominee

Two Democratic lawmakers said they’ll flex senatorial privilege to block one of President Trump’s judicial nominations, erecting yet another roadblock as the White House tries to reshape the federal courts. Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley said they won’t return their “blue slips” signaling acquiescence in the nomination of Ryan Bounds, Mr. Trump’s pick for…

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Commentary: Another Federal Judge Seizes Presidential Power

by George Rasley, CHQ Editor February 15, 2017 Reprinted with permission from ConservativeHQ.com Emboldened by Judge James L. Robart’s anti-constitutional power grab and the refusal of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate his order temporarily restraining President Trump’s Executive Order 13,769 temporarily pausing immigration from seven terrorist hotspots Judge Leonie Brinkema, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has also chosen to seize the president’s Article II constitutional prerogatives. (To oppose this power grab please sign our Impeach Power Grabbing Judges Petition). In a 22-page ruling Monday night, Judge Brinkema, said lawyers for President Trump had provided no evidence supporting the restriction of travel from seven majority-Muslim countries. According to WTOP’s Neal Augenstein, Judge Brinkema said, “…they [the Trump administration] have not offered any evidence to identify the national security concerns that allegedly prompted this EO (executive order), or even described the process by which the president concluded that this action was necessary.” The claim that the government has “not offered any evidence to identify the national security concerns that allegedly prompted this EO” is either incredibly bad pleading by the government’s lawyers, willful blindness on the part of Judge Brinkema – or an anti-constitutional power grab. Last summer, Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane, two Somali immigrants, were found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and providing material support to…

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The Judicial Coup Against President Trump Proceeding As Planned

by CHQ Staff February 10, 2017 Reprinted with permission from ConservativeHQ.com As we predicted in our column “The Judicial Coup Against President Trump [29]” the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has left in place Federal Judge James’ Robart’s anti-constitutional order suspending President Donald Trump’s Executive Order No. 13,769 pausing immigration from seven terrorist hotspots. The Executive Order is now headed to the Supreme Court where a 4 – 4 tie is expected to leave the order in place, much as a tie left in place Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s preliminary injunction shutting down President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program while the legal case filed by Texas and other states proceeded. The Obama administration appealed, and a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed the injunction. When the Supreme Court split, Judge Hanen’s order remained in place while the case went forward. The Left was very strategic in filing the challenge to President Trump’s Executive Order and its strategy is unfolding precisely as planned as Far-Left progressive judges in the Ninth Circuit substitute their liberal policies for the plain language of the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress. Legal scholars, including some liberals, have suggested an alternative, however. Harvard Law School professor emeritus…

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Fifteen Federal Judges Have Been Impeached by the House of Representatives

Fifteen federal judges have been impeached since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, according to the Federal Judicial Center. Eight have been convicted, three have resigned prior to trial in the Senate, and four have been acquitted. The list includes one associate justice of the Supreme Court, thirteen federal district judges, and one commerce court judge. Here’s the full list, courtesy of the Federal Justice Center: Impeachments of Federal Judges John Pickering, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 2, 1803, on charges of mental instability and intoxication on the bench; Convicted by the U.S. Senate and removed from office on March 12, 1804. Samuel Chase, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 1804, on charges of arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials; Acquitted by the U.S. Senate on March 1, 1805. James H. Peck, U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 24, 1830, on charges of abuse of the contempt power; Acquitted by the U.S. Senate on January 31, 1831. West H. Humphreys, U.S. District Court for…

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Critics: Whacky 9th District Court of Appeals Ignore Basic Legal Principals, Side with Open Borders Zealots

Thursday evening, America’s dinner hour was interrupted by an unsavory display of jurist malpractice as the 9th District Court of Appeals once again lived up to its reputation as the Most Incompetent Court in the nation. The Court ruled 3-0 to DENY the Trump Administration’s pleading to stay the lower Court’s decision to disallow a pause in the admittance of (un)vetted refugees from 7 countries plagued by out-of-control terrorist activity and utterly failed central governments. Upon a quick review of the rambling, 29-page ruling, Legal Insurrection founder and attorney William Jacobson let loose a withering hot take on Twitter: When do confirmation hearings start to appoint 9th Circuit panel co-Directors of Homeland Security? https://t.co/1opVnWwfCA — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 9, 2017 1/ Here's how insane 9th Circuit Order on Trump Immigration EO is: Because Court refused to draw distinction among permanent residents, — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 10, 2017 2/ lawful visa holders in U.S., visa holders traveling abroad temporarily, and people abroad who never even have applied — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 10, 2017 3/ some guy sitting on mountain in Yemen who has no connection to U.S. and hasn't even applied for visa yet has U.S. constitutional —…

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