The Supreme Court decided to not intervene–for the time being—in the case of a San Diego high school student with natural immunity who claims that the local school district’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate imposed on students aged 16 and older unconstitutionally discriminates against her by not offering a religious exemption. The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is one of the few in the United States that requires students to receive the vaccine for in-person instruction while not offering a religious exemption for schoolchildren. Separately, the school district fired in January more than 70 employees who failed to get vaccinated. The case took … Continue reading Supreme Court denies injunction against San Diego school vaccination mandate; leaves door open

The bipartisan Indiana Election Commission has unanimously dismissed a Democratic challenger’s bid to force an outspoken pro-Trump Republican congressman off the 2022 ballot for contesting the 2020 presidential election results. Aaron “A.J.” Calkins of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who’s running in a three-way Democratic Party primary for the right to face third-term U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) in the November general election, filed a formal challenge on Feb. 10. Calkins claimed in the filing that Banks was guilty of a “violation of the 14th Amendment supporting an insurrection.” Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “No person shall be … Continue reading Indiana officials unanimously reject Democrat’s effort to disqualify Rep. Jim Banks from 2022 election run

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who wants communities in her state to continue accepting private funding for election administration, is trying for the third time to have a lawsuit challenging the practice thrown out. The legal controversy arose after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife gave $419.5 million to left-wing activist groups during the 2020 election cycle, purportedly to ease the strain on election systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these “Zuck bucks,” as some call the money, $350 million went to the Safe Elections Project of the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL), which in turn used … Continue reading Plaintiffs in Michigan lawsuit over Zuckerberg funding of elections fighting state’s 3rd attempt to dismiss case

An Indiana Democratic challenger is seeking to use an obscure constitutional provision to disqualify Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Banks in this year’s congressional election, arguing that Banks’s vote in Congress against certifying the 2020 presidential election results constituted supporting an insurrection. In a Facebook post before the votes, Banks had said he was simply doing his job as a member of Congress. “Article II, Section 1, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that Presidential Electors must be appointed according to rules established by each state’s legislature,” Banks wrote. “But in the months before the 2020 election, these rules were thwarted … Continue reading Democratic challenger seeks to disqualify Indiana’s Banks for vote against certifying 2020 election

North Carolina officials have no authority to block the reelection bid of U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) on 14th Amendment grounds over his actions in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol building, his attorney told The Epoch Times. Cawthorn’s mere advocacy of a pro-Trump position during the aftermath of the hotly contested 2020 presidential election doesn’t constitute participating in an insurrection, something that can trigger a constitutional bar that prevents the insurrectionist from seeking elective office, Cawthorn attorney James Bopp Jr. told The Epoch Times on Feb. 14. Cawthorn, who had been sworn in as a … Continue reading NC board can’t disqualify Rep. Cawthorn from 2022 election on 14th Amendment: attorney

Five Orthodox Jews, including a rabbi, and one Roman Catholic filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against New York Mayor Eric Adams, claiming the city’s COVID-19 vaccine passport regime is an “unprecedented abuse of power.” The suit claims the internal passport policy created in a series of executive orders runs afoul of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The legal complaint labels the sweeping restrictions applied to unvaccinated individuals as part of a “reckless, ill-conceived government policy that ignores sound medical science and the principle of informed consent to medical treatment.” The 18 plaintiffs, three of whom … Continue reading Orthodox Jewish families sue NYC over internal vaccine passport rules

The Missouri Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended the law licenses of a Missouri couple convicted of misdemeanors for holding guns outside their St. Louis home in 2020, when a group of protesters, including BLM activists, demonstrated in their gated community. At the same time, the court stayed the suspension, subject to a year of probation during which the two attorneys–who have become folk heroes among conservatives–must “not engage in conduct that violates the Rules of Professional Conduct.” For defending their home, Mark and Patricia McCloskey were honored speakers at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Mark McCloskey is currently running for a U.S. Senate seat … Continue reading Law licenses suspended for McCloskeys, the Missouri couple who held off protesters outside their home

The Supreme Court may end the use of race-based so-called affirmative action in college admissions in cases later this year, legal experts told The Epoch Times. Although left-wing activists such as advocates of Marxist-derived critical race theory say race-conscious government policies are essential to dismantle the systemic racism they say pervades the American experience, critics say using race in the college admissions process is both anachronistic and wrong. Critics quote then-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who believed the policy was a necessary evil. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), she wrote: “We expect that 25 years from now the use … Continue reading Supreme Court may end affirmative action in college admissions, experts say

An electoral integrity group is suing Louisiana in federal court for refusing to allow inspection of voter list maintenance records, including information the state receives from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a controversial data-matching service accused of inaccuracy. Republican Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana’s secretary of state, is violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by not allowing the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) access to the voter documents, including data provided by ERIC, according to PILF. PILF, a nonprofit, describes itself as “the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity.” PILF “exists to assist states and others to aid the cause … Continue reading Group sues Louisiana for denying access to voter files after state rebukes Democrat-dominated data service

Labor unions and related organizations took in $36.7 million in federal taxpayer funds through the Paycheck Protection Program for which they were legally ineligible, according to a new report from the Freedom Foundation. Legislation creating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was signed by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The PPP authorized $349 billion in guaranteed U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for eligible individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations to cover payroll, rent, and utility payments. Some loans were forgivable if specific criteria were met. SBA … Continue reading Ineligible unions collected nearly $37 million in federal COVID-19 relief: Report

Fourteen states are urging the Supreme Court to reject a lower court’s ruling that a new congressional electoral map approved by Alabama’s Legislature last year be returned to state lawmakers for redrafting because it supposedly disadvantages black voters. The move comes after a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama issued a preliminary injunction on Jan. 24 against John Merrill, Alabama’s Republican secretary of state, temporarily forbidding him from conducting any congressional elections in the state, as The Epoch Times previously reported. The district court found that instead of having one predominantly black congressional district, as … Continue reading 14 states urge Supreme Court to block new Alabama redistricting ordered by lower court

Records that show foreigners registered to vote—and actually voted in North Carolina elections—will be disclosed by the state’s board of elections as a result of its legal settlement with an electoral integrity group. The Jan. 31 announcement that a settlement (pdf) had been reached came weeks after Garbant Piquant of Garner, N.C., was arrested and charged with falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen in order to register to vote, voting by an alien, and passport fraud. Authorities say the Bahamas native, who is not a U.S. citizen, voted in every primary and general election from 2018 through 2020, as The Epoch Times previously reported. The … Continue reading North Carolina agrees to release records showing foreigners voted