California officials have agreed to pay $800,000 in prevailing-party attorneys’ fees to a popular Christian megachurch in Los Angeles after state and federal courts in California issued permanent injunctions barring government officials there from ever again imposing discriminatory restrictions on houses of worship. In the United States, unsuccessful litigants only rarely have to pay their opponents’ legal fees, even when their cases are weak. Although it’s common in other parts of the Anglosphere such as the United Kingdom and Canada for the unsuccessful party in civil litigation to be required to pay the legal costs of the successful litigant, it’s “very rare” … Continue reading Governments must pay $800,000 in legal fees to church for COVID-19 overreach

Parents in Billings, Montana, who say parents should decide whether their children wear masks, are demanding the immediate resignation of the local school district superintendent. He had abruptly announced the local K–12 mask mandate would be reimposed because the reported number of COVID-19 infections among students was rising. Meanwhile, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, is holding firm in his opposition to mandatory masking in enclosed spaces. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that vaccinated people in areas with high COVID-19 caseloads should resume wearing face masks indoors. Greg Upham, superintendent of Billings Public Schools, announced that effective Aug. 22 he … Continue reading Montana moms demand school district ouster over mandatory masking

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia must reinstate gym teacher Tanner Cross, who was suspended after speaking out in public against a proposed policy that would force him to go against his conscience by professing that a boy can be a girl and vice versa, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled. The Aug. 30 ruling in the case, known as Loudoun County School Board v. Cross, record number 210584, upheld a June ruling by Judge James E. Plowman. The state circuit judge stayed Cross’s suspension, finding that if the case went to trial, the school district would be … Continue reading Virginia supreme court orders school district to reinstate teacher who objected to transgender policy

YouTube has abruptly restored liberal skeptic Naomi Wolf’s DailyClout video channel, after an article in The Epoch Times drew attention to its sudden deletion last week. Wolf, a co-founder of the DailyClout website, is a widely published journalist and bestselling author of books such as “The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women” (1990) and “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot” (2007). She was an adviser to then-President Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign and to then-Vice President Al Gore, both Democrats. Earlier this summer, Twitter banned Wolf, who has been critical of vaccine passports … Continue reading YouTube channel restored for big tech, pandemic coverage critic Naomi Wolf

The Supreme Court of the State of Idaho unanimously ruled this week that the state’s new statute governing citizen-initiated ballot initiatives is unconstitutional because it infringes on the public’s right to enact laws without the participation of the state Legislature. The decision came Aug. 23 in the case known as Reclaim Idaho v. Denney, dockets 48784 and 48760. Lawerence Denney is Idaho’s Republican secretary of state. Reclaim Idaho is a left-wing political action committee that led a successful Medicaid expansion initiative in 2018 and supports boosting funding in kindergarten through 12th-grade education by increasing Idaho’s corporate tax rate and taxes on individuals … Continue reading Idaho supreme court invalidates ballot initiative law

Liberal author Naomi Wolf’s DailyClout channel was abruptly deleted by YouTube after she posted an interview with a prominent critic of mandatory masking policies in schools. “This censorship highlights the extreme clampdown on free speech and public discourse prevailing in the United States,” Wolf said in an Aug. 24 statement after the channel was eliminated. Wolf, a co-founder of the DailyClout website, is a widely published journalist and bestselling author of books such as “The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women” (1990) and “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot” (2007). She was an adviser to then-President … Continue reading YouTube bans forced-vaccination, big-tech critic Naomi Wolf

The last of the three Florida counties that took grant monies from a left-wing activist group funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to help administer the 2020 elections has returned the remaining funds to the group after a new state law banned such grants, according to the Public Interest Legal Foundation. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, supporters of President Joe Biden and Democratic Party candidates, grabbed headlines during the last election cycle by giving as much as $400 million to the Chicago-based Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL). CTCL in turn then distributed the money in the form of grants to jurisdictions … Continue reading The era of ‘Zuckbucks’ in Florida election administration ends

The Supreme Court agreed on Aug. 23 to consider whether two illegal aliens in immigration detention for more than six months are entitled to a bond hearing. The noncitizens entered the United States unlawfully and have reportedly been deemed by federal authorities to have a well-founded fear of persecution in their native countries. The decision to hear the two cases came after the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on June 29 that previously deported illegal aliens again facing deportation who claim a fear of persecution if they are removed to their country of origin may be indefinitely detained by the government. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the court’s opinion in the case, … Continue reading Supreme Court to consider whether detained illegal aliens have right to bail hearing

Landlords in Louisiana are asking a federal appeals court to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s legally dubious nationwide eviction moratorium while that court considers an appeal from the landlords. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the moratorium earlier this month after President Joe Biden acknowledged doing so would be illegal and after Congress opted not to extend it. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed an order Aug. 3 determining that allowing tenants to be evicted for failing to make rent or housing payments could harm public health control measures aimed at slowing the spread of the CCP virus, also known … Continue reading Landlords ask 5th Circuit Court to stay CDC eviction moratorium

The Supreme Court of the State of Arizona refused to block Proposition 208, which authorizes a new income tax for high earners approved by voters last year that would provide direct funding to schools, but at the same time, the court found that the mechanism for distributing the extra revenue to schools violates the state constitution. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican opposed to the tax increase that was expected to generate upwards of $800 million per year for K–12 schools, was jubilant after the ruling. “The Supreme Court has said it plainly and clearly: Prop 208 is, in their … Continue reading Arizona supreme court gives partial victory to opponents of high-earner tax increase for education

In the November 2020 general election, whose chaotic results have been vigorously disputed, almost 15 million mail-in ballots went unaccounted for, according to a good-government group that focuses on electoral integrity. The research brief by the Indianapolis-based Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) notes that as the nation dealt last year with the CCP virus (which causes COVID-19), various U.S. states “hastily pushed traditionally in-person voters to mail ballots while, at the same time, trying to learn how to even administer such a scenario.” PILF describes itself as “the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity,” existing “to assist states and others to … Continue reading Nearly 15 million mail-in-ballots unaccounted for in 2020 election, report says

The Alabama Board of Education has decided to ban public schools in the state from teaching the Marxist-invented critical race theory, which critics say holds that white people and the nation itself are inherently racist. The move comes as public resistance to critical race theory (CRT) grows and intensifies among parents in communities across the nation who are fighting back by protesting and taking over local school boards. In 26 state legislatures, bills have been introduced or other steps have been taken to prevent CRT from being taught, Education Week reported. Critical race theory spreads a false and hateful narrative about U.S. history … Continue reading Alabama Board of Education bans teaching critical race theory

Chemicals giant Bayer AG announced on Aug. 16 it would ask the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that upheld damages to a customer blaming his cancer on Roundup, a glyphosate-based weed-killer that has been on the market since the 1970s, in a move aimed at stemming a potential wave of cancer-related lawsuits against it. Bayer reached a settlement deal in principle with plaintiffs last year but failed to secure court approval for a separate agreement on how to handle future cases, Reuters reports. The petition in the case known as Monsanto Company v. Hardeman was filed with the Supreme Court … Continue reading Bayer takes Roundup case to Supreme Court

Depriving someone of his truck when it serves as his home constitutes an excessive fine that is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled. The case is City of Seattle v. Long, court file 98824-2; it was decided on Aug. 12. In 2016, Steven Gregory Long, at the time a 56-year-old member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, parked his truck for more than 72 hours on land owned by Seattle, a violation of the Seattle Municipal Code. Long worked as a general tradesman and stored work tools along with personal effects … Continue reading Washington state supreme court rules in favor of Seattle man living in his truck

Independent truckers in California are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate an unusually restrictive and possibly unconstitutional state law that virtually outlaws independent contracting. Independent truckers say the California law known as AB5, which took effect Jan. 1, 2020, will kill their industry by preventing companies from hiring them. The law was temporarily enjoined as to motor carriers by U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California the day before it took effect, as The Epoch Times previously reported. That injunction has been left in place temporarily by a federal appeals court. The statute, which was pushed by organized … Continue reading California truckers take fight against anti-gig law to Supreme Court

Antique dealers are challenging a law that makes it nearly impossible to market some of their wares in New York state that are otherwise legal to sell in the United States. The case is Art and Antique Dealers League of America Inc. v. Seggos, pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Basil Seggos is the commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Also listed as defendants–appellees in the case are the Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The plaintiffs–appellants are … Continue reading Antique dealers challenge New York’s ivory overreach

A Christian mission in Seattle is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Washington Supreme Court ruled it doesn’t have the right to refuse to hire someone who disagrees with its beliefs. “Churches and religious organizations have the First Amendment right to hire those who share their beliefs without being punished by the government,” said John Bursch, a former Michigan solicitor general who is now senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a public interest law firm that’s representing the mission. “Courts have consistently recognized that a religious organization’s purpose will be undermined if … Continue reading Seattle mission asks Supreme Court to uphold right to hire co-religionists

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that a state law requiring individuals to possess a permit to carry a handgun in public is constitutional and doesn’t contravene the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ruling comes as President Joe Biden presses for a ban on so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and for more background checks, as Biden’s controversial nomination of anti-gun activist David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives flounders in the U.S. Senate. On Aug. 7, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) implored Biden to withdraw the nomination, saying the Senate “has spent quite … Continue reading Minnesota Supreme Court upholds state’s gun-carrying law