Claiming New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is engaging in religious discrimination, Orthodox Jewish groups are asking the Supreme Court to freeze the Empire State’s tough restrictions on attendance at houses of worship during the ongoing pandemic. The legal challenge comes as New York and several states have reported a dramatic uptick in cases involving the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, and on the same day—Nov. 16—that Moderna’s vaccine was reported to be 94.5 percent effective in early testing. Pfizer and BioNTech announced on Nov. 9 that their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective. The surge has prompted several states to consider … Continue reading Orthodox Jews ask Supreme Court to override Cuomo’s religious lockdown

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to a California law that gives labor organizers permission to trespass on private property and disrupt business operations 120 days a year to recruit new members. The high court granted the petitioners’ application Nov. 13 to review a ruling of a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in a case known as Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. As is its custom, the court didn’t explain why it granted the petition. The petitioners are Cedar Point Nursery, a strawberry farm in Dorris, and Fowler Packing Co. Inc. in Fresno, which produces grapes and … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear challenge to California law allowing aggressive labor recruitment

Two small businesses in central California are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom over his strict continuing lockdowns purportedly aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic. The 109-page lawsuit, Ghost Golf Inc. v. Newsom, filed in Fresno County Superior Court by Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public interest law firm based in Sacramento, claims the governor lacks the power to unilaterally shutter businesses. “An emergency doesn’t give the governor authority to decide fundamental policy for the State; only the legislature can make law, and that remains true even in a time of crisis,” said PLF attorney Luke Wake, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing a … Continue reading California businesses sue Gov. Newsom over pandemic lockdowns

A Guatemalan national whose refugee claim was rejected shouldn’t be removed from the United States because the government allegedly failed to serve a legal notice on him properly, the Supreme Court heard in a highly technical case. The Trump administration favors deportation in the case. If the government loses, it may become more difficult to deport illegal aliens. Cited as Niz-Chavez v. Barr, the case is an appeal from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. After an immigration judge rejected the claim, the man appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the 6th Circuit, both of which agreed with the immigration judge. Agusto Niz-Chavez, an … Continue reading Failed refugee claimant should not be deported if paperwork was defective, Supreme Court hears

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 to let it join Pennsylvania Republicans’ lawsuit seeking to rein in a three-day extension of a receipt deadline for mail ballots that they say was illegally extended. Trump claimed victory in Pennsylvania late Nov. 4, a call that hasn’t been echoed by mainstream media outlets. Trump was leading Democrat Joe Biden 50.3 percent to 48.6 percent, or about 109,000 votes out of more than 6.3 million cast in Pennsylvania, with 88 percent of precincts reporting, as of 3 p.m. local time on Nov. 5, according to The Associated … Continue reading Trump campaign asks to join Supreme Court lawsuit over Pennsylvania ballot deadline extension

Lawyers for a Roman Catholic charity and two foster parents urged the Supreme Court to allow the agency to refuse on religious-freedom grounds to place children with same-sex couples. Although only one hour was allotted for oral argument in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Chief Justice John Roberts allowed the Nov. 4 hearing to go on for one hour and 52 minutes, perhaps signaling the importance of the issues involved. The Trump administration backed the charity and the parents, arguing as a so-called friend of the court. The case dates to March 2018, when Philadelphia officials said the opioid crisis had created … Continue reading Catholic foster care agency should be able to refuse to work with same-sex couples, Supreme Court hears

A federal appeals court upheld a Maine law under which the state may offer tuition reimbursement to parents who enroll their children in private schools but not to parents who enroll their children in religious schools. About half of U.S. states have some kind of tuition voucher program. The parents who unsuccessfully challenged the state law, along with their attorneys at the Institute for Justice (IJ) and the First Liberty Institute, say they will appeal. The Oct. 29 judgment from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit came in a 63-page ruling in a case known as Carson … Continue reading Federal appeals court upholds Maine law denying tuition reimbursement for religious school students