Tag Archives: federal judiciary

US Marshals: 457 “Serious Threats” To Judges In 2023

Reuters reports: Serious threats to U.S. federal judges have more than doubled over the past three years, part of a growing wave of politically driven violence, according to U.S. Marshals Service data reviewed by Reuters. The agency, responsible for the protection of 2,700 federal judges and more than 30,000 federal prosecutors and other court personnel, has seen a sharp rise …

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Billionaires Are Funding Luxury Travel Of Federal Judges

The Lever reports: In 2021 and 2022, two conservative, billionaire-funded legal interests sent more than 100 federal judges on 251 trips to conferences and seminars in cushy locations around the country and overseas, according to a Lever review of hundreds of federal financial disclosure forms. In all, George Mason University (GMU) and The Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers network, funded …

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REVEALED: More Unreported Gifts To Clarence Thomas

ProPublica reports: During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, …

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Biden Outpaces Trump, Obama In Judicial Nominees

The Associated Press reports: So far, 97 lifetime federal judges have been confirmed under Biden, a figure that outpaces both Trump (85) and Barack Obama (62) at this point in their presidencies, according to data from the White House and the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The 97 from the Biden presidency includes Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown …

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Woman Charged With Threat To Kill Mar-A-Lago Judge

NBC News reports: Tiffani Gish was arrested last week in the Houston area after she admitted to federal marshals that she had left three threatening voicemails for federal judge Aileen Cannon, telling her she was “marked for assassination” and that she planned to shoot her in front of her family, a federal criminal complaint says. Gish also made a number …

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Justice Clarence Thomas Discharged From DC Hospital

CNN reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from a Washington, DC, hospital Friday morning a week after he was admitted for what a court spokesperson described as an infection. Thomas, 73, entered Sibley Memorial Hospital last Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms. The court’s public information officer did not say anything about Thomas’ condition when he was released and …

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SCOTUS Still Mum On Status Of Clarence Thomas

CNBC reports: The Supreme Court has remained silent on the condition of 73-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas since it announced his hospitalization earlier this week and said he was on the mend. Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. Friday night, where he was being treated for an infection, the court said in a statement released Sunday. The …

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LIVE VIDEO: Breyer Formally Announces Retirement

The New York Times reports: President Biden will formally announce the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer on Thursday, White House officials said, a step that will kick off a weekslong political clash on Capitol Hill as Mr. Biden seeks to put his imprint on the Supreme Court. Officials said the president would deliver his remarks at 12:30 p.m., flanked by …

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BREAKING: SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer To Retire

NBC News reports: Justice Stephen Breyer will step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, according to people familiar with his thinking. Breyer is one of the three remaining liberal justices, and his decision to retire after more than 27 years on the court allows President Joe Biden to appoint a successor who could serve …

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Stephen Breyer: “I Don’t Intend To Die On The Court”

Mother Jones reports: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been on something of a media blitz this past week, giving a series of well-publicized interviews about his new book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics. Today, he appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, where he once again disappointed Democrats by refusing to say when …

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Justice Breyer Says He’s Considering Retirement

The New York Times reports: Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor. “There are many things that go into a retirement decision,” he said. He recalled approvingly something Justice Antonin Scalia had told him. “He …

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Justice Breyer: I Haven’t Decided About Retirement

CNN reports: Justice Stephen Breyer has not decided when he will retire and is especially gratified with his new role as the senior liberal on the bench, he told CNN in an exclusive interview — his first public comments amid the incessant speculation of a Supreme Court vacancy. Far from Washington and the pressures of the recently completed session and …

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Senate Confirms Biden’s First Judge In 66-33 Vote

Axios reports: The Senate voted 66-33 on Tuesday to confirm Julien Xavier Neals to be U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey. Neals is President Biden’s first judicial nominee to be confirmed, as Democrats begin a push to “restore the balance” of the courts after the GOP-led Senate confirmed a record number of conservative judges under former President …

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Trump Judge Overturns National Evictions Moratorium

Newsweek reports: A federal judge has vacated a nationwide eviction moratorium put in place by the CDC to aid millions of renters who are struggling financially amid the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled Wednesday that the CDC overstepped its authority by extending the moratorium. The temporary hold on evictions …

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Biden To Nominate Diverse Slate Of 11 Federal Judges

Axios reports: President Biden on Tuesday announced plans to nominate 11 judges to the federal courts, including D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace former D.C. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland, who is now U.S. attorney general. The nominees include three Black women, and could seat the first Muslim federal judge in the country’s history, the first AAPI …

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Trump Judge Rules Against Moratorium On Evictions

CNN reports: A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional, according to court documents. US District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the court in the Eastern District of Texas, stopped short of issuing a preliminary injunction, but said he expected the US Centers for Disease Control …

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Federal Judge Calls Trump A Criminal In AP Interview

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Iowa who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons, including those issued to convicted Republican campaign operatives and former members of Congress. “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,” senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa told The Associated …

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Trump-Appointed Federal Appeals Court Judges Strike Down Palm Beach County’s “Conversion Therapy” Ban

Via press release from Lambda Legal: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit today reversed a lower court ruling and struck down local Palm Beach County. Florida, and City of Boca Raton ordinances banning so-called conversion therapy on minors. Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings issued the following statement: “The City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County joined …

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McConnell Vows To Confirms Judges Until Last Minute

Talking Points Memo reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowed Friday that he would continue his full-court press to remake the judiciary up until January 3, when Democrats may take over the Senate, depending on the outcome of next week’s election. “We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does …

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Biden Vows To Form Commission On Court Reform

“If elected what I will do is I’ll put together a national commission of — bipartisan commission of — scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative, and I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack, the way in which it’s …

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