Commentary: Judgment Day in America

To save America, first save the court system. Because it may be the last institution in the country doing its job — repelling progressive insanity. Four sound, sage judgments last Friday battered the Left all the way up from a local school district to the White House. Two of them made it a very bad day for the trans movement. But all stress the urgency of voting conservative to maintain righteous normalcy, far more than political circuses like last Wednesday’s Fox Business/Univision/RNC-mounted Republican Primary Debate.

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Clarence Thomas Clerks Dominate Trump’s Judicial Appointments

by Kevin Daley   One credential in particular has been a boon to candidates President Donald Trump considers for judicial appointments: a clerkship with Justice Clarence Thomas. As of this writing, the president has appointed seven Thomas clerks to the federal appeals courts, while an eighth is expected in the near future. As such, Thomas’s legal approach — sometimes branded unusual or idiosyncratic — can claim adherents among a new generation of judges. “At this point, Justice Thomas is clearly the leading intellectual force on the conservative side of the bench,” said Carrie Severino, a former Thomas clerk who leads the Judicial Crisis Network, an advocacy group that supports Trump’s efforts to recast the judicial branch. “His principled approach to the law is very much in the ascendency and those are the kind of judges that this president has pledged for the courts,” Severino added. Thomas generally hires law clerks who share his originalist judicial philosophy. Among the Supreme Court’s conservatives, he is somewhat unique in that respect: former Justice Antonin Scalia periodically hired liberal “counter clerks” to sharpen his work, while the hiring practices of other conservatives like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appears slightly more varied. “I’m…

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Former Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer Tells The Tennessee Star Report She Will Run in Special Election to Replace State Sen. Mark Norris, When It Is Officially Called

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the team talked with former Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer about the process to replace State Sen. Mark Norris (R-Germantown), who was recently confirmed as a federal judge, in the Tennessee State Senate. Shafer said that the process to replace Norris will be triggered after he formally resigns his seat in the State Senate and notifies the courts, events that are likely to take place after the November 6 elections. If Norris resigns after November 6, a special primary election will be held as early as December, with a general election some time in January, just before the next session of the Tennessee General Assembly convenes. Here is the transcript: Shafer:  Good morning ya’ll it’s good to talk with you. Leahy: So tell us all the twists and turns because of course the, you kow, Mark Norris was nominated to be a judge back in July of last year, and only just a week ago I guess it was he was he confirmed by the Senate, has he resigned yet?  What…

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Poll: Conservatives See Democrats Working for Minority Rule Through Supreme Court

Brett Kavanaugh

by CHQ Staff   Conservatives see Democrat opposition to Judge Brett Kavanaugh as opposition to majority rule itself, according to a poll by FedUp PAC. An almost unanimous 99% say that liberal Democrats “rely on the courts to overrule the majority” of Americans and that they oppose any judge who “would rule impartially according to the Constitution and the laws.” Democrats have relied on Supreme Court rulings to impose abortion on demand and homosexual marriage, as well as to nearly abolish the death penalty through a maze of restrictions and limitations. Kavanaugh is known as a judge who can be expected to rule in accordance with the text and intent of the Constitution and the law, and is unlikely to discover “rights” that had somehow escaped notice during more than two centuries under the Constitution.   By replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh would reduce to four the number of Supreme Curt justices who have shown a propensity for rewriting the Constitution. The four justices appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama have often treated it as a “living” document subject the change by a five-vote majority on the Court rather than by the amendment process. President Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh, who is…

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The West Virgina Legislature Moves to Impeach Its Entire Supreme Court for Corruption

West Virginia Supreme Court

by Kevin Daley   Who presides over the impeachment trial of a state Supreme Court justice if the entire state Supreme Court is being impeached? It’s an absurd constitutional hypothetical West Virginians are left to grapple with, after the West Virginia House of Delegates Judiciary Committee drafted articles of impeachment against four justices on the state’s highest court. Five justices sit on the state Supreme Court in West Virginia. The state legislature has drafted articles of impeachment against Chief Justice Margaret Workman and Justices Robin Jean Davis, Beth Walker, and Allen Loughry. The court’s fifth justice, Menis Ketchum, retired in late July. Ketchum will plead guilty to two federal corruption charges on Aug. 29. Loughry was placed on unpaid administrative leave in June after a state commission lodged a 32-count complaint against him, alleging pervasive violations of the state ethics code. He has since been indicted in federal court for fraud, witness tampering, and making false statements to investigators. The remaining three justices — Workman, Davis, and Walker — face impeachment for wasting government resources and failing to effectively administer the state courts. All three spent large sums of taxpayer dollars on lavish improvements to their chambers in the state capital, which cumulatively totaled…

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Commentary: It’s Time For President Trump To Go Full Andrew Jackson On Overreaching Judges

John D Gates

by CHQ Staff   The news that a Bush-appointed federal district judge, John D. Bates (pictured), has ruled that Obama’s executive amnesty, not actual immigration law, is the law and that Trump must fully restore and renew the program is such a radical exhibition of judicial overreach that it should have been a banner headline or lead segment in every major media outlet. Instead it generated hardly a mention, let alone any outrage, from the establishment media who long ago fell into the trap of accepting the anti-constitutional concept of judicial supremacy over the Executive and Legislative branches of government. For a complete rundown on this outrageous usurpation of the powers of the legislative and executive branches of government see Daniel Horowitz “Bush judge demands that Trump rule as king. Really!” “The tyranny of the legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come,” Jefferson wrote Madison six weeks before Washington’s first inauguration. “The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.” Jefferson, Adams, Madison and other members of the founding generation of the American republic rightly feared the tyranny of the…

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Commentary: It’s Time For President Trump To Go Full Andrew Jackson On Overreaching Judges

John D Gates

by CHQ Staff   The news that a Bush-appointed federal district judge, John D. Bates (pictured), has ruled that Obama’s executive amnesty, not actual immigration law, is the law and that Trump must fully restore and renew the program is such a radical exhibition of judicial overreach that it should have been a banner headline or lead segment in every major media outlet. Instead it generated hardly a mention, let alone any outrage, from the establishment media who long ago fell into the trap of accepting the anti-constitutional concept of judicial supremacy over the Executive and Legislative branches of government. For a complete rundown on this outrageous usurpation of the powers of the legislative and executive branches of government see Daniel Horowitz “Bush judge demands that Trump rule as king. Really!” “The tyranny of the legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come,” Jefferson wrote Madison six weeks before Washington’s first inauguration. “The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.” Jefferson, Adams, Madison and other members of the founding generation of the American republic rightly feared the tyranny of the…

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Grassley Wants To Pull Out All The Stops To Confirm Trump’s Judges

Chuck Grassley

by Kevin Daley   GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged the Senate to work through weekends and the August recess on Friday to continue processing President Donald Trump’s nominees to the federal courts. Grassley, who leads the Republican judicial confirmation effort from his perch as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Twitter that Democratic obstruction warranted recourse to unconventional measures. Senate Judic Cmte has been hard at work processing judges to fill the 147 judicial vacancies At evry turn it seems we are met w Democrat filibusters Lets work Friday/Saturday/August recess to get more done in the Senate & help the judicial branch do its job — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 1, 2018 Senate Judic Cmte has been hard at work processing judges to fill the 147 judicial vacancies At evry turn it seems we are met w Democrat filibusters Lets work Friday/Saturday/August recess to get more done in the Senate & help the judicial branch do its job — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 1, 2018 Although 2017 saw Trump and congressional allies set a record for appeals court confirmations in the first year of a presidential term, Senate Republicans now must manage a burgeoning pool of nominees, who languish…

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Judge Recuses After Suppressing Campaign Ad Blasting His Own Associates And Donors

by Kevin Daley   Circuit Judge Doug Martin, an Arkansas judge who issued a restraining order barring broadcast of a political ad attacking his own associates and campaign donors, has recused himself after The Daily Caller News Foundation first revealed his conflicts of interest. The ad in question criticized Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson for accepting gifts from an attorney who argues before her. Her defamation case against the ad’s creators will be assigned to another judge, though the restraining order remains in effect. Goodson is standing for reelection to the state Supreme Court on May 22. She drew two challengers. Judicial elections in Arkansas are nonpartisan. The piece was produced by the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a Washington-based conservative advocacy group. The justice brought a defamation suit against JCN, and asked the Washington County Circuit Court to enjoin its broadcast. Martin issued a restraining order, known as a TRO, forbidding dissemination of the ad on several television stations. TheDCNF reported Tuesday night that Martin accepted campaign contributions from individuals referenced in the ad. In addition, his wife has substantial business connections to Goodson’s husband. Mrs. Martin owns an equity share in a consultancy Mr. Goodson owns, and the…

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Steve Gill Analysis: Does Justice Kennedy Control the Post Midterm Balance of Political Power in the US Senate?

Kennedy

In early March Nevada Senator Dean Heller reignited speculation about the long-rumored retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a somewhat conservative but often swing-vote on critical legal issues. The 81 year old Justice who will turn 82 in July is the second oldest serving on the Court, behind Ruth Bader Ginsberg who is 85, and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan after Judge Robert Bork fell short of confirmation. Kennedy is the longest serving Justice on the current court. Justice Robert Gorsuch, appointed last year by President Donald Trump, once served as a law clerk for Kennedy.  While there had been some speculation prior to the appointment of Gorsuch that Kennedy might soon retire, once he was named to the Court most observers correctly assessed that Kennedy would spend at least one term on the Court with his former law clerk. But despite their history and the obvious fondness that Kennedy has for Gorsuch, they have not been completely aligned in their rulings. In divided cases, Kennedy and Gorsuch were on the same side of issues in their first term together 38% of the time; by comparison Gorsuch sided with Justice Clarence Thomas 100% of the time. As the…

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Six More Judge Nominees Advance in Trump Bid to Reshape Judiciary

by Fred Lucas   President Donald Trump is completing a strong week, and is set to kick off a strong next week, in his push to reshape the federal courts, with Senate Republicans forcing votes on six more of his judicial nominees. Despite the Democratic minority in the Senate using procedures to delay many confirmation votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have prioritized pushing through appeals court judges, and 2017 was a record year for confirmations. “This week, the Senate will consider another slate of extremely well-qualified nominees for seats on the federal bench,” McConnell said in a statement Monday. “A thoughtful, independent, and expert judiciary is a cornerstone of our constitutional order. It’s been the case since the very beginning.” Moreover, six of the 16 of the Trump-nominated circuit court judges confirmed have replaced Democratic appointees, Axios reported. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ]  That’s important because circuit courts are the final stop for a case before it reaches the Supreme Court. In cases the high court declines to hear, the circuit courts are the last…

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Senate Confirms ‘the Neil Gorsuch of Louisiana’ to High-Ranking Federal Bench

by Tiffany Bates and Elizabeth Slattery   The Senate voted 50-47 on Tuesday to confirm all-star appellate lawyer Kyle Duncan to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Duncan is President Donald Trump’s 15th circuit court nominee to be confirmed since taking office. Dubbed by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry as “the Neil Gorsuch of Louisiana,” Duncan is currently a lawyer in private practice. He has argued more than 30 cases in federal appellate courts, including two before the Supreme Court. Previously, Duncan served as Louisiana’s first solicitor general (or appellate chief), as general counsel of the Becket Fund (a nationally recognized public interest law firm), and as a law professor at the University of Mississippi Law School. After entering private practice, he continued to advance Louisiana’s interests by defending the state’s laws on marriage, abortion, and religious liberty. At Becket, Duncan served as the lead lawyer in Hobby Lobby’s challenge to the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. He supervised Becket’s representation of an Orthodox Jewish inmate against a prison that violated his rights and a mosque against a discriminatory land-use regulation under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The…

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Three Cases to Watch as the Supreme Court Begins to Wrap This Term

by Sarah Williams   This week marks the start of the Supreme Court’s final oral argument sessions of the current term. The justices will hear arguments in several important cases, including challenges to the constitutionality of administrative law judges, state sales taxes for out-of-state online retailers, and the infamous Trump “travel ban,” making this month one to watch. South Dakota v. Wayfair Can states require online retailers to collect sales taxes even if they do not maintain a physical presence in those states? That is the question before the court April 17 (fittingly, Tax Day). The court will consider whether it should overturn Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, a 1992 ruling that forbade states from requiring mail-order retailers to collect a state’s sales tax if they do not have a physical presence within that state, such as a store or employees. Given the rapid growth of online sales, many states complain they are losing out on millions of dollars in lost sales tax revenue. [Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. But this can’t be done alone. Find out more >>] South Dakota passed a law directly challenging the Quill case by requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax if they…

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Mark Norris Continues His Duties in the State Senate as He Awaits Confirmation by the US Senate to the Federal Bench

While State Senator and Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) is awaiting US Senate confirmation to become the next United States District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee, he will continue to serve his constituents in state Senate district 32. “I’m not going to resign the seat which my constituents have elected me or this leadership for which you elected me.” Norris told the Tennessean. “It’s very constructive to be crucified for the sins of others, to see what other people who demonize us say about us and how they see us.” Mark Norris was tapped by the Trump Administration in July 2017 to fill the federal judgeship that was vacated a few months prior in March. “I am honored by the nomination and appreciate the President’s confidence in me,” he said at the time. “This is just the first step under the Constitution, and I look forward to the Senate confirmation process. In the meantime, I will continue to serve the citizens of the 32nd District who elected me to the Senate and my Senate colleagues who elected me as their Leader.” Five months later, Norris’ judicial nomination was supported by a 11-9 party-line vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee at the…

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