The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a free speech challenge to the Biden administration’s encouragement of platforms to remove posts that officials deemed misinformation, including posts relating to elections and COVID-19. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana along with five individuals, raises critical questions about the intersection [...]
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US Supreme Court indefinitely extends stay blocking Texas illegal entry law
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has indefinitely extended a stay blocking the enforcement of a Texas law that criminalizes illegal entry into the state from other countries. Monday’s extension came just as a previous extension issued last week was set to expire. In late February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the [...]
US Supreme Court temporarily blocks Texas law criminalizing immigration offenses
The US Supreme Court temporarily blocked Senate Bill (SB) 4 on Monday, a strict, new Texas immigration law criminalizing various immigration offenses. The Court’s order was in response to an administrative stay granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Saturday, allowing the law to be enforced. The applicants, the [...]
US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Trump-era bump stock ban
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the legality of a Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that banned rapid-fire “bump stock.” The case is an appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which struck down the rule. Throughout all the arguments, the justices wrestled with [...]
Biden administration files appeal with Supreme Court over ghost gun ruling
The Administration of US President Joe Biden on Wednesday filed an appeal with the Supreme Court over a 2022 Fifth Circuit ruling on so-called “ghost guns.” The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) defines a “firearm” as “(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted [...]
In what proved to be a constitutionally fraught week, the Governor of the State of Texas, Greg Abbott, stated on January 26 he will oppose any measure to infringe on Texas’s placing of razor wire on the US-Mexico border, a move that has bolstered Texas nationalists and increased calls that Texas should secede from the [...]
US appeals court denies wrongful arrest claim from Texas journalist
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Tuesday the appeal of Texas citizen journalist Priscilla Villarreal, who claimed that her arrest for misuse of information was unconstitutional. Villarreal had brought a civil rights claim against the city of Laredo, Texas over her 2018 arrest. Villarreal, known online as “La Gordiloca,” is a [...]
US federal appeals court hears oral arguments in Mississippi felony disenfranchisement case
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case challenging a Mississippi felon voter disenfranchisement law. Several voters who were previously convicted of felonies challenged the law on the basis of it being an unconstitutional example of cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. The [...]
US appeals court upholds injunction against Texas law censoring 'sexually explicit' school books
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Wednesday that Texas legislation aimed at restricting or banning “sexually explicit” books in public school libraries likely violates the Constitution, affirming a lower court’s injunction against it. The law under scrutiny, known as the Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, compels vendors [...]
US appeals court orders rehearing of Texas Rio Grande barrier case
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted an en banc rehearing Wednesday to Texas in the state’s dispute with the federal government over a barrier meant to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, vacating the court’s previous judgment. This means that the full court will hear the case instead of a [...]