WASHINGTON—U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Emmet Sullivan refused the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss a Democratic lawmaker-initiated lawsuit claiming that America’s first billionaire president violated the Constitution’s rarely cited Foreign Emoluments Clause. The lawsuit alleges that President … Continue reading Trump may be sued for violating Emoluments Clause, district judge says

Mindful of the leftist-led uproar over family separations at the border, immigration scammers are now taking advantage of American good will by “renting” children for cash to illegal aliens crossing the border to help them obtain quick release by the … Continue reading Rent-a-child services thriving at the border: A child is a get-out-of-detention-free card to some

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court could make it easier for lawful permanent residents to stay in the United States after being convicted of felonies. As of January 2014, the most recent date for which Department of Homeland Security figures are available, there were about … Continue reading Supreme Court to consider grounds for deporting permanent residents

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of a man injured in a boating accident, finding that the Knoxville-based Tennessee Valley Authority is not immune from lawsuits, as the federal government had claimed. The April 29 judicial opinion came in … Continue reading TVA can be sued when it acts like a business, Supreme Court rules

WASHINGTON—An unconscious person suspected of drunk driving forfeits his right to refuse consent for a blood draw aimed at gathering evidence against him because it was his own decisions that led to his unconsciousness, a lawyer for Wisconsin told the … Continue reading Supreme Court hears whether drunk drivers must give consent to blood tests

Florida appears poised to join a righteous law-and-order backlash against so-called sanctuary cities that shield and harbor illegal aliens in defiance of the nation’s immigration laws, after a pro-immigration enforcement bill passed the state’s House of Representatives. The Sunshine State … Continue reading Florida’s crackdown on sanctuary cities begins: Pending legislation would punish jurisdictions that harbor illegal aliens

WASHINGTON—A lawyer for the U.S. government told several skeptical Supreme Court justices that a defendant doesn’t have to be aware of his immigration status in order to be convicted of a federal firearms crime. The case involves Hamid Mohamed Ahmed … Continue reading Criminal intent irrelevant in illegal alien gun prosecutions, Supreme Court hears

WASHINGTON—Whether the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender and gay individuals from employment discrimination will be considered in three cases the Supreme Court has decided to hear. Title VII of that landmark federal statute that came out of the … Continue reading Supreme Court to consider transgender employment rights cases

WASHINGTON—Supreme Court justices split on ideological grounds on April 23 during high-stakes oral arguments about the legality of the Trump administration’s decision to ask individuals responding to the 2020 Census whether they are U.S. citizens. The results from the once-a-decade … Continue reading Supreme Court justices seem to split on adding citizenship question to census

Capitalizing on the political success of the so-called sanctuary city movement that shields illegal aliens from federal immigration enforcement authorities, gun-rights activists are using the “sanctuary” concept to defend Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed private gun ownership rights. Some law enforcement officials … Continue reading Second Amendment sanctuaries on the rise

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the better part of three so-called sanctuary laws interfering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to uphold federal immigration laws in the state of California. The … Continue reading Appeals Court denies Trump administration’s attempt to invalidate California sanctuary laws

Attorney General William Barr overturned a Bush-era policy by finding that asylum-seekers who enter the United States illegally are no longer eligible for release while their claims are processed. The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to reform … Continue reading No free ride for asylum seekers who enter U.S. illegally: Trump administration tries to rein in an out-of-control system

WASHINGTON—A proposal to guarantee that the winner of the national popular vote in future presidential elections becomes president of the United States—without going through the effort of amending the U.S. Constitution—now has 70 percent of the state-level support its backers … Continue reading National Popular Vote movement seeks to make Electoral College obsolete

WASHINGTON—North Carolina’s solicitor general told the Supreme Court that his state is entitled to tax residents who are beneficiaries of trusts created outside the state, even if they haven’t received payments from the trust. How the Supreme Court rules in … Continue reading Supreme Court hears case on when states can tax trust beneficiaries

WASHINGTON—A lawyer for an offshore oil rig employee who worked on the federally administered Outer Continental Shelf outside the three-mile U.S. jurisdictional limit told a skeptical Supreme Court on April 16 that federal law requires that California employment law be … Continue reading Oil rig worker off California coast argues before Supreme Court for higher pay