U.S. District Court Archives

Trump’s Lawyers Argue Judge’s Failure to Recuse Will Cause ‘Irreparable Damage’ to Judicial System for ‘Generations’

September 18, 2023September 18, 2023 Admin

Former president Donald Trump’s lawyers doubled down on their call for the judge hearing his 2020 election case to recuse in a Sunday court filing, arguing that her failure to do so would cause “irreparable damage” to the judicial system for “generations to come.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office made a fiery defense of U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, in a Friday filing, where they slammed Trump’s recusal request as having “no valid basis” and accused him of cherry-picking statements that don’t actually show “improper bias.” Trump based the initial call last week for Chutkan to recuse on remarks she made during sentencing hearings for two Jan. 6 defendants that allegedly suggested Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned.

Arizona Senate Republicans Continue Legal Fight to Protect Women and Girls Sports

August 4, 2023August 3, 2023 Hannah Poling

Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) is increasing his legal efforts to protect women and girls from being required to compete in sports against biological males at public schools, colleges, and universities in Arizona.

This follows after Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) filed a motion intervening in a lawsuit in May that threatened to repeal the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which tries to level the playing field for women and girls in athletics, was passed into law last year.

Environmental Groups File Suit Against the Navy over Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia

June 28, 2023June 28, 2023 The Center Square

Two environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, violated the Clean Water Act through munitions testing in and over the Potomac.

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleging NSWC Dahlgren has discharged over 33 million pounds of munitions into the Potomac containing toxic metals, solvents, explosives and other potentially harmful constituents.

Another U.S. Citizen Caught Smuggling Migrants Gets Sentenced to Prison

May 19, 2023May 18, 2023 Neil Jones

Tucson resident Michael Lopez-Loreto, 22, has been sentenced by the U.S. District Court for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for profit and placing the life of a person in jeopardy.

According to a Tuesday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez-Loreto is going to jail for two-and-a-half years following an incident in January 2023. After receiving a call from a property owner reporting an unidentified car parked on their land, Border Patrol agents witnessed people running through the desert into Lopez-Loreto’s car. However, the group ran into agents blocking the road before he could make it far.

Ohio Woman Sues Columbus Hospital for Refusing Religious Exemption to COVID Vaccination

February 4, 2023February 4, 2023 Hannah Poling

A Pickerington woman is suing Nationwide Children’s Hospital, saying she was wrongfully fired because she refused to get the COVID-19 immunization. She asserts that the hospital ought to have honored the request for a religious exemption she made as a Christian.

Invoking the violation of her civil rights, Tina Moore filed a federal civil complaint in U.S. District Court in Columbus.
She claims in the lawsuit that she was a surgical scheduler for the hospital for 24 years.

Biden Admin Scraps Another Trump-Era Policy

August 10, 2022August 9, 2022 Admin

The Biden administration has ended a program used to expel migrants to Mexico as they await immigration proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement Monday.

The Trump-era policy, which is also known as “Remain in Mexico,” was long fought in the courts after the Texas attorney general sued the Biden administration for ending the program.

Commentary: Stolen Elections, a Tale of Two D.C. Courtrooms

May 28, 2022May 27, 2022 Admin

The Elijah Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, D.C. is center stage this month to two competing tales of stolen presidential elections.

In the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, federal prosecutors have presented a detailed account of the greatest scandal in U.S. political history: the conspiracy of the country’s most powerful interests to fabricate the Trump-Russia collusion hoax in order to sabotage Donald Trump before the 2016 election.

Commentary: States vs. Biden’s Prison-to-Streets Pipeline for Illegal Immigrant Convicts

March 31, 2022March 30, 2022 RealClearWire

The Biden administration has allowed a more than eleven-fold increase in the number of illegal immigrant offenders let out of Texas prisons and into the general U.S. population, despite federal immigration law requiring ICE to take convicts into custody after serving their time, usually in advance of deportation.

The disclosure emerges from state-initiated litigation that is beginning to shed light on what critics call the administration’s secretive and lenient handling of immigrants beginning last year – treatment that is imperiling public safety, alarmed state authorities say.

Attorneys General Sue Biden Administration over Justice Department’s Call to Investigate Protesting Parents

March 12, 2022March 11, 2022 The Center Square

Fourteen Republican attorneys general, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, have sued the Biden administration for not responding to a Freedom of Information request related to the Department of Justice calling for surveillance of parents expressing opinions at school board meetings and other forums.

The lawsuit follows a chain of events that began last October.

Sixteen States File New Lawsuit Against Federal COVID Vaccination Mandate

February 6, 2022February 5, 2022 The Center Square

Sixteen states again are challenging a federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers who work at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Friday’s filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana comes after the issuance of final guidance on the mandate from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), arguing the guidance is an action that is reviewable.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by 5-4 vote Jan. 13 against the original Louisiana challenge to the mandate and a similar Missouri filing.

Brnovich Requests Restraining Order Against Biden Vaccine Mandate

October 27, 2021October 26, 2021 The Center Square

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the U.S. District Court in Arizona for a temporary restraining order and nationwide preliminary injunction against the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“The COVID-19 vaccine mandate is one of the greatest infringements upon individual liberty, federalism, and the separation of powers by any administration in our country’s history,” Brnovich said in a news release Friday.

Clint Eastwood Wins Millions in CBD Company Lawsuit over Fake Endorsements

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Admin

Actor Clint Eastwood and the company that controls the rights to likeness won a $6.1 million lawsuit Friday against a Lithuanian company that used the actor’s image on its products without his consent, the New York Times reported.

Judge R. Gary Klausner of U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of Eastwood and his company Garrapata after Lithuanian company Mediations UAB did not respond to a summons in March, according to the NYT. The Lithuanian company was also ordered to pay for Eastwood’s $95,000 legal charges and is blocked from using his name again.

All Bets Are Off on Mobile Sports Wagering Being Legal in Florida on October 15

September 28, 2021September 27, 2021 The Center Square

Under the Florida-Seminole Tribe gaming compact signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by lawmakers in May, mobile online sports wagering becomes officially legal in the Sunshine State on Oct. 15.

But after two Florida pari-mutuels filed a motion in federal court late Tuesday to block the sports wagering component of the 30-year gaming deal from being implemented, don’t bet on it.

Michigan GOP Sues over Gov. Whitmer Campaign Funding Maneuver

September 23, 2021September 22, 2021 The Center Square

The Michigan GOP and Chair Ron Weiser are suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, challenging $3.4 million of campaign donations to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that they say is illegal.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan aims to force Benson to apply Michigan election law, compliant with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, to equally enforce contribution limits on all candidates. Whitmer raised funds over Michigan’s $7,150 contribution limit under the loophole of the recall exception, despite no apparent active recall efforts.

Preliminary Injunction Will Keep Lee’s Mask Order Unenforceable in Shelby County

September 20, 2021September 19, 2021 The Center Square

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday that will allow Shelby County Schools to continue to mandate all students wear masks as a way to mitigate COVID-19.

The order blocks Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order that allowed parents to opt children out of school mask mandates. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Judge Sheryl Lipman previously issued a temporary restraining order in the case, which prevented the enforcement of Lee’s executive order through Friday.

COVID Vaccination Status Increasingly Determines Treatment Under American Legal System

September 7, 2021September 6, 2021 Admin

Are you vaccinated against COVID-19? The answer to that question may determine how the American legal system treats you, whether an inmate, party or even lawyer.

From custody fights and bail conditions to courthouse access and grooming privileges, vaccination status is playing an outsized role in courts and jails nationwide.

An Illinois judge provoked outrage a month ago by revoking a divorced mother’s visitation rights to her 11-year-old son after Rebecca Firlit told him she couldn’t get vaccinated because of adverse reactions.

Michigan State University Sued over Vaccine Mandate

September 1, 2021August 31, 2021 The Center Square

A Michigan State University (MSU) employee sued over the school’s recently announced vaccine mandate, saying she has naturally acquired immunity to COVID-19 after recovering from the virus last year and doesn’t need the vaccine.

Jeanna Norris is a supervisory administrative associate and fiscal officer at MSU, which has threatened disciplinary action, including termination, if employees do not comply with the school’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for the Fall 2021 semester, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Pediatricians Sue Biden Administration for Requiring Doctors to Perform Trans Surgeries Against Beliefs

August 29, 2021August 28, 2021 Admin

Medical professionals are suing President Joe Biden’s administration over a mandate requiring doctors to perform transgender surgeries in violation of their religious beliefs or medical judgement.

Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American College of Pediatricians, the Catholic Medical Association and an OB-GYN doctor specializing in adolescent care filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga Thursday against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Biden DOJ Sues Texas over Executive Order Banning Transportation of Sick Illegal Aliens

August 1, 2021August 8, 2021 Admin

The Biden Justice Department on Friday sued Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott seeking to overturn an executive order prohibiting the ground transportation of illegal aliens who could be carrying COVID-19.

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s team argued in U.S. District Court that Abbott’s order interferes with the federal government’s ability to address immigration.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would contest the order and “keep President Biden out of Texas business.”

State of Florida Appeals Social Media Law Injunction

July 15, 2021July 14, 2021 Casey Owens

The law banning social media and big tech companies from “deplatforming” or “cancelling” political candidates on the internet was blocked by a federal judge a day before the law was to take effect.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a 31-page order on June 30th outlining his decision to approve an injunction filed by tech companies, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association.

Garland Favorito, Who Alleged Vote Switching, Called to Speak Before Georgia House, Presented Abnormal Vote Spikes and Improper Vote Processing

December 11, 2020December 10, 2020 Corinne Murdock

The Georgia House of Representatives held a hearing on Thursday to discuss claims of election fraud and voting irregularities. Career IT professional and nonpartisan voting integrity organization VOTERGA Co-Founder Garland Favorito testified before the House – he’d previously been called to testify before the Georgia Senate on his findings.

Favorito explained that he’d been challenging Georgia’s electronic voting systems since 2002 with the implementation of Diebold DRE system. For 17 years, Favorito alleged that the system was “not verifiable, auditable, and [not] recount capable,” and was ignored by the Secretary of State’s office and Georgia Supreme Court. Then, in 2019, Favorito explained that the U.S. District Court agreed that the Diebold systems were unconstitutional. That decision led to the Secretary of State’s office to purchase the Democracy Suite 5.5 BMD system from Dominion Voting Systems.

CNN Calls for Emergency Hearing in Response to White House Threats on Acosta

November 20, 2018November 20, 2018 Admin

by Hanna Bogorowski After receiving a letter from the White House saying CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass could be revoked again by the end of November, CNN has asked the U.S. District Court for an emergency hearing. CNN won a temporary restraining order Friday after suing President Donald Trump and…

Court Backtracks On Order Forcing Trump’s EPA To Enforce Obama-Era Rule

September 6, 2018September 5, 2018 Admin

by Chris White A federal court back-peddled Tuesday night after business groups criticized a previous order forcing the EPA to enforce an Obama-era rule designed to regulate chemical plants. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an original ruling Aug. 31 after activists asked the judges to skip…