The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Wisconsin state legislative maps drafted by the state’s Democratic governor and approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to block a new congressional map for the state that was chosen by the Wisconsin court. Republicans currently hold five of the state’s eight congressional seats, while Democrats hold three. Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature in the Badger State. Population shifts discovered after the 2020 Census forced the state to go through redistricting, a process that was hotly contested by both political parties. Republicans approved maps … Continue reading Supreme Court rejects Wisconsin election map drawn by Democratic governor

An appeals court misinterpreted an international child abduction treaty in a custody dispute by ordering that a child who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Italy, and had been living in Italy, should be returned to that country for the courts there to decide custody, the Supreme Court heard March 23. The case is Golan v. Saada, court file 20-1034. The case involves the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a 1980 treaty regarding international child abductions that take place during domestic disputes. It provides that children wrongfully removed from the country where they reside have … Continue reading Don’t send son back to Italy for custody hearing, American mother urges Supreme Court

North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature should be allowed to step in to advocate for a voter ID law in court because Josh Stein, the state’s Democratic attorney general, isn’t doing enough to defend the statute, Republican lawmakers told the Supreme Court on March 21. Republicans generally favor strengthening election integrity measures, such as requiring photo identification by voters. Democrats generally oppose photo IDs, saying that the requirement is overly burdensome and disenfranchises voters. Republican lawmakers complained that Stein’s advocacy has been half-hearted and has focused on technical issues instead of countering the oft-repeated left-wing claim that voter ID laws are racially discriminatory. … Continue reading NC Republicans urge Supreme Court to let them take voter ID law defense from Dem AG

The U.S. Supreme Court refused on March 21 to hear an appeal from a Christian mission that argued it cannot be forced to hire someone who disagrees with its beliefs, but two conservative justices left open the possibility of revisiting the case, which is still in progress before a lower court. The case is Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission v. Woods, court file 21-144. The U.S. Supreme Court did not provide reasons why it was denying the case, but Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, indicated in a statement (pdf) that the court may accept the case when some of the … Continue reading Supreme Court won’t hear case of Christian mission on refusal to hire someone who disagrees with its principles

An often-reversed Arkansas judge struck down four new election integrity laws approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature, finding the statutes unconstitutional—but an appeal to the state’s supreme court seems imminent. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen permanently enjoined the laws—Acts 249, 728, 736, and 973—on March 18 after a four-day trial. The statutes came as part of a nationwide wave of new state-level election laws that followed irregularities during the 2020 presidential election. In court, Griffen reportedly said the defendants, including Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston, a Republican, hadn’t demonstrated a need for the laws and that the state’s fears about … Continue reading Activist judge strikes down election integrity laws in Arkansas as unconstitutional

Democratic Party activists in Wisconsin have filed a suit in federal court arguing that a pro-Trump senator and two pro-Trump congressmen should be barred from office for speaking out on 2020 election irregularities and allegedly attempting to manipulate the congressional certification of the presidential election results. The Wisconsin Republican lawmakers targeted by the suit are two-term Sen. Ron Johnson, two-term Rep. Tom Tiffany, and freshman Rep. Scott Fitzgerald. All are seeking reelection in November. The suit claims the lawmakers cannot serve in Congress because the disqualification clause in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment forbids it. That rarely invoked constitutional provision was … Continue reading Democrats sue to disqualify 3 GOP congressmen from 2022 Ballot, alleging role in insurrection, election manipulation

Wisconsin Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject an electoral map drawn by the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, which they say is racially skewed, in favor of one crafted by the Republican-controlled state legislature. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin voted 4–3 to adopt congressional and legislative districts drawn by Evers over those prepared by the legislature. The maps adopted still reportedly favor Republicans, but by smaller margins than the Republican-drafted maps. Republicans approved maps in 2011 when they controlled the legislature and the governorship, but this time, the Democratic governor and the Republican legislature … Continue reading Wisconsin GOP appeals redistricting loss to Supreme Court

Two days after being sued by a Roman Catholic nun who provides free medical services to the poor, the District of Columbia seemed to capitulate on March 11 by granting the nun a religious exemption to the district’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers. But Sister Deirdre Byrne’s attorney said on March 12 that the lawsuit isn’t going away—at least not for the time being—because the exemption may be revoked by the D.C. government at any time. Byrne is a member and superior of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and a retired U.S. Army colonel … Continue reading DC provides dubious vaccination mandate exemption to nun-physician 2 days after lawsuit filed

A federal court ruled that Illinois violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) when it refused to provide an election integrity group with access to the state’s voter roll. “Election officials must allow citizens to see what they are doing,” said J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), the successful plaintiff in the case. Indianapolis-based PILF describes itself as “the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity.” The nonprofit organization “exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections.” PILF regularly uses the Public Disclosure Provision … Continue reading Illinois illegally denied elections group access to voter records, federal court rules

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a burglar’s 10 prior convictions arising from a single criminal episode don’t count as multiple convictions under a federal three-strikes sentencing law. The often-litigated federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) of 1984 was enacted in response to concerns that a small number of repeat offenders commit a disproportionate number of offenses. The statute requires that a 15-year minimum sentence be imposed on individuals found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm who have three or more prior convictions for a violent felony such as burglary “committed on occasions different from one another.” A violent felony … Continue reading Supreme Court reverses 6th Circuit, tosses enhanced sentence for convicted burglar found with gun

The Supreme Court may be on the verge of clawing back some of the sweeping regulatory authority it unwisely gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 15 years ago at the height of Al Gore-promoted global warming hysteria. This about-face by the high court could come if conservative justices have the courage to do the right thing in West Virginia v. EPA, which the court heard Feb. 28. In all, 19 states are challenging how much power the federal Clean Air Act gives the agency. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican leading the legal challenge, told this writer recently he is concerned … Continue reading A Supreme crackdown on the Environmental Protection Agency? Is the agency becoming a “central energy planning authority”?

The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration last week, upholding the longstanding state-secrets evidentiary privilege that prevents the disclosure of information deemed injurious to national security. In both cases, the high court reversed decisions of the often-overturned U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Specifically, the Supreme Court blocked testimony by U.S. government contractors about the alleged torture overseas of a suspected Muslim terrorist, and ordered lower courts to reconsider a case in which Muslims claimed the FBI unfairly targeted them in a counterterrorism investigation. In U.S. v. Zubaydah, court file 20-827, an accused terrorist’s lawyer asked the Supreme … Continue reading Supreme Court overturns 9th Circuit in 2 national security-related cases

After questioning the effectiveness of a pandemic-related public health order that allows the government to continue summarily expelling illegal aliens from the United States, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that the policy may continue, provided that aliens aren’t sent to places where they may be persecuted or tortured. The case deals with expulsions, as opposed to formal deportations, under which the person concerned has the right to a hearing. Critics say the government has been using the public health rationale to justify kicking out aliens without providing due process. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas justified the public health edict … Continue reading Court rules US can’t use CDC order to expel illegal aliens to countries where they may be harmed

Kentucky’s Republican attorney general should be allowed to continue to defend a state abortion law struck down as unconstitutional by lower courts after the state’s Democratic governor refused to do so, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 8–1 decision on March 3. Although Kentucky’s abortion law itself wasn’t at issue in the case, this is the court’s first opinion in an abortion-related case since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s addition to the bench in October 2020 gave its conservative wing a 6–3 majority. The high court examined only whether Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron should be allowed to intervene in the case … Continue reading Supreme Court reverses 6th Circuit, allows Kentucky attorney general to defend abortion law

The Supreme Court was urged on March 2 not to allow an innkeeper near the Canadian border, who sued for being injured by a U.S. Border Patrol agent, to pursue a lawsuit against the agent. The court granted the petition for review (pdf) on Nov. 5, 2021, in Egbert v. Boule, court file 21-147. The case concerns whether the half-century-old Bivens Doctrine, which shields federal agents from legal liability for actions performed in the course of their work, should be expanded to new contexts, such as those with national security implications, something legal observers say the Supreme Court seems unlikely … Continue reading Supreme Court urged to shield Border Patrol agent From liability in incident near Canada border