The Supreme Court has decided to hear an appeal about ownership of a valuable painting that was seized by the Nazis from a German Jewish family during the Holocaust and is now on display in an art museum in Madrid. The case is Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, court file 20-1566. The foundation is an agency of the Kingdom of Spain. The petitioners are: David Cassirer, a descendant of the original painting owner, Lilly Cassirer; an estate; and the Jewish Federation of San Diego County. “This is a miscarriage of justice that has been going on for way too long,” … Continue reading Supreme Court to hear case of ownership of painting stolen by Nazis now worth millions

A federal court struck down two Texas state laws that forced voters to refrain from wearing clothing with political messages on them in or near polling places as unconstitutional infringements of free speech. According to Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a national public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California, that represented plaintiff Jillian Ostrewich, the laws gave thousands of election workers across the state unlimited discretion to confront any voter wearing a T-shirt, hat, or button related to any past, present, or future candidate, political party, or ballot measure. “This is an important win for Texans’ free speech rights,” PLF attorney Wen Fa … Continue reading Federal judge strikes down Texas polling-place dress code

A federal judge has tossed charges against a Michigan physician who had been accused of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on young girls, and accused the prosecutors of vindictively pursuing new charges after he previously struck down as unconstitutional an earlier version of the federal anti-FGM law. FGM is “a procedure performed on a woman or girl to alter or injure her genitalia for non-medical reasons” and “most often involves the partial or total removal of her external genitalia,” according to UNICEF. In some countries where the practice persists, “it is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood, while others see … Continue reading Federal judge tosses female genital mutilation charges

The pork industry is asking the Supreme Court to strike down a voter-approved law in California that would ban the sale of pork in the state from hogs raised anywhere in the world that fail to meet the state’s production standard requiring each sow be given a specific amount of space that exceeds industry norms. California officials are drafting implementing regulations for the law, which supporters promoted as an animal welfare measure, that will take effect Jan. 1, 2022. To continue selling pork to the 40 million consumers who live in the state, which represents about 15 percent of the U.S. pork … Continue reading Industry asks Supreme Court to invalidate California law regulating treatment of hogs outside its borders

Government workers involved in four separate lawsuits are asking the Supreme Court to compel labor unions to return forced fees illegally seized from their paychecks that they say the unions refused to refund after losing a major case in 2018. The appeal from a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, Brice v. California Faculty Association, was filed with the Supreme Court last week, a spokesperson for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation told The Epoch Times. As of press time, it didn’t appear to have been docketed yet by the high court. The cases were all filed with free legal … Continue reading Government workers in California and Oregon take fight over forced union dues to Supreme Court

Parents and a civil rights group are asking a court to force California to immediately halt Aztec prayers in public school classrooms that are required by the California State Board of Education’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. This novel curriculum includes a section on “Affirmation, Chants, and Energizers.” Among these is the “In Lak Ech Affirmation,” which invokes five Aztec deities—Tezkatlipoka, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totek, and Hunab Ku. The pagan prayers address the deities both by name and traditional titles, recognize them as sources of power and knowledge, invoke their assistance, and give them thanks. Aztec religious practices included the cutting out of human hearts … Continue reading California parents seek court injunction blocking Aztec prayers in school

Evidence seized by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents in a warrantless vehicle search near the international border with Canada cannot be used in state prosecutions, a divided Vermont Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 24. Vermont’s high court rebuked the CBP. Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution, which “protects individuals from unreasonable searches or seizures ‘by any officer or messenger,’” guarantees “individuals the right to privacy in their vehicles and to containers within those vehicles,” Justice William D. Cohen wrote for the court in the 3–2 decision. Justice Karen Carroll authored the dissenting opinion, which Justice Harold Eaton Jr. joined. They held … Continue reading Vermont Supreme Court rebukes Border Patrol, excludes seized evidence

A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4–3 to take up a lawsuit from Wisconsin voters over the state’s redistricting process that may lead to the court drawing up the state’s new electoral map for 2022 if the Democratic governor and Republican state legislature fail to agree on one. The lawsuit, Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, was filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Aug. 23 invoking the court’s original jurisdiction. Although the state legislature and the governor, currently Tony Evers, normally approve new legislative maps, some Wisconsinites fear that a divided government will lead to an impasse that will require a judicial plan … Continue reading Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to consider redrawing state’s electoral map

A barbeque food truck operator in North Carolina is suing a local government after it enacted protectionist regulations that increased food truck permitting fees by close to 8,000 percent. The lawsuit, Shirley v. Town of Farmville, was filed Sept. 21, in state court in Pitt County, North Carolina, on behalf of plaintiff Mark Shirley by Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California. Shirley resides in Walstonburg, just west of Farmville. “Many restaurants faced difficulties throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jessica Thompson, a PLF attorney representing Shirley, told The Epoch Times. “And when so many small businesses are fighting to … Continue reading North Carolina food truck operator fights protectionism

The Supreme Court sided with Ohio in putting on hold an appeals court ruling from June that threw out a conviction and death sentence imposed on prisoner August Cassano, who complained that a trial court denied him his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself. An execution date had not yet been scheduled. Late on Sept. 20, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh ordered that the June 17 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit was stayed, giving Cassano’s jailer time to file a petition for certiorari, or review, of the appeals court decision with the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh did not provide … Continue reading Supreme Court sides with state, stays retrial order in death-penalty case

The legal team seeking an emergency injunction to prevent Maine from enforcing a new CCP virus vaccine mandate that requires healthcare workers to get the jab or lose their jobs is optimistic that a federal judge will rule against the state because the mandate does not allow religious exemptions. The case comes after a federal judge on Sept. 14 granted an emergency injunction blocking the state of New York from enforcing a new virus vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, as The Epoch Times previously reported. Seventeen medical health professionals had asked the court to enjoin enforcement of New York’s mandate that then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Aug. 16. … Continue reading Federal judge may rule soon on Maine vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

Enrollment at U.S. community colleges suffered a steep decline after the arrival of the CCP virus last year, falling 11.3 percent in the spring of 2021 compared to the year-earlier period. In the same time frame, among community college students aged 18 to 20, enrollment plunged an even bigger 14.6 percent, Caleb Rider reports at The College Fix, drawing upon data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Columbia University’s Community College Research Center, and EducationData.org. Community college students in that age range make up more than 40 percent of all undergraduates. Davis Jenkins, a senior research scholar and research professor … Continue reading Community college enrollment plunges following onset of pandemic

President Joe Biden earlier this month quietly fired two presidential appointees from the Trump administration who had sued the Department of Education for refusing to deliver their signed presidential commissions. The two men, economics professor Steve Hanke and law professor John Yoo, were appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES) when he signed their respective commissions in December 2020. Hanke is at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Yoo is at the University of California–Berkeley. The appointees stayed in touch with the department about the paperwork when the Trump administration was in power and after the … Continue reading Biden admin quietly fires Trump education appointees who filed lawsuit

A private investigator is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision by the Maine Department of Public Safety denying him a license to practice his profession because he criticized a Maine State Police officer’s conduct in a fatal shooting. The investigator, Joshua Gray, claims that the denial of the license constitutes a violation of his right to free speech under the First Amendment, according to his attorneys at the Institute for Justice (IJ), a public interest law firm with a special interest in occupational licensing issues. “When the government retaliates against people because of their speech, it violates the … Continue reading Citing First Amendment, private investigator asks Supreme Court to review license denial

A federal judge on Tuesday granted an emergency injunction blocking the state of New York from enforcing a new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. Seventeen medical health professionals had asked the court to enjoin enforcement of New York’s mandate that then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Aug. 16. The mandate required staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, adult care facilities, and other congregate care settings, be vaccinated for COVID-19 to continue to be employed. The plaintiffs, including doctors, nurses, a medical technician, and a physician’s liaison, were facing termination, loss of hospital admitting privileges, and the destruction of … Continue reading Federal judge blocks New York state health care worker vaccination mandate

The online learning environment hastily imposed on students during the ongoing pandemic has accelerated the growth of cancel culture at U.S. universities, according to a new report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). Relying on empirical data taken from student surveys along with insights from faculty and higher education leaders across the nation, the Sept. 8 report “Building a Culture of Free Expression in the Online Classroom” asserts that the sudden, widespread adoption of virtual education in this country worsened the free-speech crisis on college campuses, further limited diversity of viewpoints, and encouraged more self-censorship among students. “The lifeblood of the liberal arts is debate, dialectic, inquiry, … Continue reading Remote learning advances cancel culture, report says

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is taking his fight against what he calls the “patently unconstitutional practice” of proxy voting in the U.S. House of Representatives to the Supreme Court. In the early days of the pandemic in May 2020, the House approved a resolution allowing members to cast votes on the House floor by proxy on the theory that it was advisable to limit attendance in Congress to combat the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said at the time the new absentee voting protocol was needed because the virus posed a “mortal danger.” House Democratic … Continue reading House GOP leader asks Supreme Court to end proxy voting

The Supreme Court late on Sept. 8 granted a last-minute reprieve to a convicted murderer in Texas who wants his pastor physically by his side, touching him, and praying aloud for him at the time of his execution. The case, Ramirez v. Collier, was filed with the Supreme Court on Sept. 7. The condemned man is John Henry Ramirez. The respondent is Bryan Collier, executive director of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. On July 19, 2004, a 20-year-old Ramirez, seeking money to buy drugs, robbed and murdered Pablo Castro, 46, stabbing him 29 times in a convenience store parking … Continue reading Supreme Court stays execution of Texas inmate who wants preacher with him, agrees to hear appeal

An estimated 27,000 mail-in ballots in Georgia were returned as undeliverable by the post office during the 2020 election, according to a research brief by a good-government group. The number is more than double the margin of victory—12,000 votes—by which President Joe Biden won the state. The new report from the Indianapolis-based Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) raises questions about the efficacy of voting-by-mail policies that were hurriedly adopted across the nation in the early days of the pandemic last year, purportedly to arrest the spread of the CCP virus that causes the disease COVID-19. PILF describes itself as “the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated … Continue reading Undeliverable mail-in ballots in Georgia were double the official margin of victory, report says