TAG · Law & Justice
A retired University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor who received a $313 trespassing fine for walking his dogs along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Shorewood, Wis., has appealed the case, arguing that Wisconsin law entitles the public to…
4 MIN READA federal appeals court ruled Monday that Alabama's use of nitrogen gas for executions requires further study on whether it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, with the state set to carry out a nitrogen gas…
3 MIN READThe Kennedy Center has removed President Donald Trump's name from its website, complying with a federal judge's order that the performing arts venue cannot be renamed without an act of Congress. The removal on Monday, June 8, came ahead of…
3 MIN READThe federal government dropped all charges against five activists known as the Broadview Six after a judge sharply criticized prosecutors for grand jury manipulation, marking the latest in a series of failed prosecutions of immigration…
3 MIN READA D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit against musician Chuck Redd on Friday, ruling that the Kennedy Center's suit violated Washington's Anti-SLAPP law. Redd had canceled a Christmas Eve performance after the…
3 MIN READBillionaire father-and-son hoteliers Robert and Blake Rowling are waging a takeover fight for the Greenbrier, the historic West Virginia resort owned by U.S. Sen. Jim Justice. The Rowlings, who own Omni Hotels & Resorts, paid $289 million…
5 MIN READA Virginia judge sentenced former IRS agent Brendan Banfield to life in prison without parole Friday for the murder of his wife, Christine Banfield, and a stranger, Joseph Ryan, in a plot with an au pair with whom he was having an affair.
3 MIN READA federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday struck down a series of Trump administration immigration policies, ruling that the government must resume processing asylum applications and green card petitions from citizens of 39 countries.
3 MIN READThe Arizona Supreme Court on June 4 denied an appeal by prosecutors seeking to overturn a lower-court order that sends the state's fake elector case back to a grand jury, marking another setback for Attorney General Kris Mayes as she seeks…
3 MIN READA special judge in Arkansas has dismissed a second-degree murder charge against Aaron Spencer, the Republican nominee for sheriff in Lonoke County, after ruling that law enforcement's loss of a dash camera memory card that may have…
3 MIN READThe Kennedy Center ordered its staff Thursday to remove all references to President Donald Trump from the center by June 12, the first sign the institution is complying with a federal judge's ruling that the board overstepped its authority…
3 MIN READPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday that he expects acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to become his permanent choice for the nation's top law enforcement officer, according to an interview broadcast on Pod Force One.
3 MIN READSam Bankman-Fried, the former cryptocurrency billionaire serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for fraud, has applied for a pardon from President Donald Trump, according to records from the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon…
3 MIN READThe top federal prosecutor in Chicago acknowledged Wednesday that he personally addressed a federal grand jury in October 2025 before it indicted protesters who opposed the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps, a rare admission of…
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An immigration judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 21 ordered the deportation of a 19-year-old Honduran man who was fatally shot in November 2024, ruling that he failed to appear for his hearing. The judge rejected documentation of…
3 MIN READA New York judge held a sealed virtual proceeding in the Luigi Mangione murder case on Wednesday, barring the press and public from attending despite objections from media organizations who were given no opportunity to argue against the…
3 MIN READThe Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling and cleared the way for Alabama to use a congressional map that a three-judge panel had found "tainted by intentional race-based discrimination," a decision that will likely cost…
3 MIN READFlorida executed Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, on Tuesday evening for the 1996 murder of his girlfriend's 5-month-old daughter, Gabrielle Hanshaw. Lukehart died by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford after the state Supreme…
3 MIN READThe Louisiana Supreme Court voted 4-3 on Monday to approve the elimination of the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court office, ending a legal path for Calvin Duncan, a New Orleans exoneree who won a landmark election to the post. The…
3 MIN READThe Department of Justice said on June 1 that it will comply with a federal judge's order to temporarily halt work on the Trump administration's anti-weaponization fund, pausing disbursements ahead of a scheduled mid-June court hearing.…
4 MIN READThe Justice Department said Monday it will comply with a federal court ruling that temporarily blocks the Trump administration's $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponization fund' while a legal challenge proceeds. The department said it 'disagrees…
3 MIN READAn international court in The Hague has ruled the United Kingdom does not have to pay Rwanda any of the more than £100m the Rwandan government sought over the collapsed asylum deal. The Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Rwanda's…
3 MIN READPresident Donald Trump announced he will relinquish control of the Kennedy Center to Congress following a federal judge's order blocking his proposed renovations and mandating the removal of his name from the venue.
3 MIN READFor nearly 12 months, members of Congress and advocates for Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse survivors have pushed federal agencies to release records and pursue criminal referrals. Lawmakers have conducted interviews with some of the…
3 MIN READA federal judge on Friday reopened Trump v the Internal Revenue Service to scrutinize a $1.8 billion out-of-court settlement that created a discretionary fund for the Trump administration, after a bipartisan group of federal judges filed a…
3 MIN READSocial Circle, a Georgia town of approximately 5,000 residents, has filed a federal lawsuit to block a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, alleging the facility would violate state public nuisance laws and…
3 MIN READThe UK government will publish the second batch of documents detailing Lord Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the United States on Monday, according to three government sources. The release follows a parliamentary vote forcing…
3 MIN READNicola Sturgeon told the BBC she feels she is "serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit" after her estranged husband pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000 from the Scottish National Party.
3 MIN READFormer Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to answer questions Friday about President Donald Trump's involvement in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files during a closed-door interview with House lawmakers. Bondi defended the…
3 MIN READThe Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who argued that racial discrimination tainted the selection of the jury that convicted him, in a 5-4 ruling that faulted a process in which 11 of the 12…
3 MIN READA federal judge in Baton Rouge ruled he cannot order Louisiana to improve dangerously harsh working conditions for prisoners forced to labor in extreme heat at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, citing a recent appellate court…
3 MIN READJonathan Loadholt, a 37-year-old former truck and bus driver from Staten Island, was sentenced Wednesday in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty to conspiring to stalk and launder money for an Iranian government-directed…
3 MIN READFormer President Joe Biden sued the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday in an effort to prevent the release of audio recordings and transcripts from interviews he gave to a ghostwriter that were obtained during a special counsel…
3 MIN READA federal appeals court is giving former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil more time to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him, extending a legal battle that has drawn attention over free speech and…
3 MIN READLawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss the Justice Department’s April indictment of the civil rights nonprofit, arguing the charges are part of a top-down campaign of retribution against…
3 MIN READAttorneys for journalist Don Lemon argued Wednesday that a wave of recent findings of prosecutorial misconduct in grand jury proceedings warrants the unsealing of the secret transcripts that led to his indictment on federal civil rights…
3 MIN READA federal appeals court has put its ruling on hold, giving former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident, extra time to challenge the Trump administration’s effort to deport him. Khalil was detained last year…
3 MIN READJoe Biden sued the Justice Department in federal court Tuesday seeking to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his 2016 and 2017 interviews with a ghostwriter. Biden’s lawyers said the Justice Department plans to…
3 MIN READA federal jury in Oakland, California dismissed Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI on Monday after the court found the case was filed past a statutory deadline, ending a high-profile trial that highlighted internal battles over AI’s costs…
3 MIN READFormer Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court declined to rehear a ruling that put the government one step closer to deporting him. The American Civil…
3 MIN READPresident Donald Trump’s critics, including a fired former prosecutor, sued Friday to block payouts from a newly announced $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” aimed at resolving the president’s IRS-related lawsuit over the leak of his…
3 MIN READTwo former immigration judges who worked in Massachusetts said federal actions are undermining judicial independence and increasing pressure on judges, after the Executive Office for Immigration Review terminated several judges when their…
4 MIN READA federal judge in Tennessee dismissed human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March 2025 despite a ruling that should have blocked it. The judge found evidence of “vindictive…
3 MIN READA federal judge dismissed a human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying prosecutors pursued the charges to punish him for challenging a mistaken deportation to El Salvador last year. The judge found the government’s case…
3 MIN READTennessee officials on Thursday called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers after execution team members struggled for more than an hour to establish an intravenous line. Gov. Bill Lee said the state will not try again for at least…
3 MIN READFormer Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court on Friday declined to review a decision that moved the government closer to deporting him, his lawyers…
3 MIN READThe U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Alabama’s appeal seeking permission to execute an inmate found by lower courts to be intellectually disabled. The justices’ action on Thursday leaves in place rulings favorable to Joseph Clifton Smith, who…
3 MIN READWASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of owners of Cuban property confiscated by Fidel Castro’s government more than 65 years ago, reviving claims filed by a U.S. company. By an 8-1 vote, the justices held that a…
3 MIN READActing U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that former Cuban President Raúl Castro, now 94, has been indicted on murder, conspiracy and aircraft‑destruction charges for ordering the 1996 shootdown of two civilian exile…
3 MIN READFormer Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in his effort to block deportation after a federal appeals court declined to rehear his case. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in…
3 MIN READThe Trump administration’s Justice Department acknowledged it removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, calling the information “partisan propaganda.” The change comes as the…
3 MIN READA coalition of President Donald Trump’s critics filed lawsuits seeking to stop payouts from a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” meant to compensate Trump allies they say were targeted by a “weaponized” government. The federal case…
3 MIN READA Manhattan federal jury convicted Daniel Sikkema on Friday of murder-for-hire conspiracy for the 2024 stabbing death of his estranged husband, prominent New York art dealer Brent Sikkema. Sikkema, 55, faces a mandatory life sentence.
3 MIN READA federal judge in Manhattan on Friday dismissed author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against first lady Melania Trump, ruling that his “contorted” attempt to prevent her from suing him for $1 billion over statements about Jeffrey Epstein “is…
4 MIN READFormer immigration judges in Massachusetts are publicly warning that Trump administration policies—including the firing of probationary judges and new case-completion quotas—are dismantling judicial independence and compromising due…
3 MIN READA federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday dismissed human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ruling that the Justice Department engaged in "vindictive prosecution" of the Salvadoran national. The decision closes the criminal…
3 MIN READA federal judge in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday dismissed the Justice Department’s human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, finding the prosecution was brought in retaliation for Abrego Garcia’s successful challenge to his…
4 MIN READA coalition of individuals who have faced legal action from the federal government — including a fired federal prosecutor and a university professor acquitted of assaulting officers during a protest — filed a lawsuit on Friday, May 22,…
4 MIN READFederal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed U.S. Department of Justice lawsuits seeking detailed voter registration information, court filings described. The decisions come as the Trump administration has pursued similar…
3 MIN READA Virginia judge dismissed all charges against Ebony Parker, a former Richneck Elementary assistant principal accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun before a teacher was shot, according to court reporting. Acting Circuit…
3 MIN READFormer immigration judges in Massachusetts said federal changes since 2025 have led to judge terminations at the end of probation, pressure to follow agency priorities, and a shrinking asylum caseload, as appellate guidance shifts and…
3 MIN READA federal judge in Tennessee dismissed a human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ruling prosecutors brought the charges after his mistaken deportation to El Salvador last year for what the judge described as selective or…
3 MIN READA federal judge in Manhattan dismissed author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against first lady Melania Trump, rejecting his effort to stop her from suing him for $1 billion over statements he made about her and Jeffrey Epstein. The judge, Mary…
3 MIN READSan Francisco’s main federal immigration court shut down May 1 after most of its judges were fired, retired or resigned during a White House purge, an Associated Press report said. The remaining two judges will handle cases from a…
4 MIN READThe Supreme Court voted 8-1 Thursday to revive a long-stalled lawsuit by a U.S. company seeking compensation from four cruise lines that used dock facilities in Havana confiscated by the Castro government more than 60 years ago.
3 MIN READA divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Alabama’s appeal to execute death-row inmate Joseph Clifton Smith, whom lower courts found to be intellectually disabled, leaving in place the rulings that block the state from carrying…
3 MIN READThe U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Alabama’s appeal on Thursday in the case of a death-row inmate found by lower courts to have intellectual disability. The court’s action left in place lower-court rulings barring the state from executing…
3 MIN READA Florida man convicted of fatally stabbing his cousin’s girlfriend and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter was executed Thursday evening, state prison officials said. Richard Knight, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. after a three-drug…
3 MIN READThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a federal appeals court in Atlanta wrongly dismissed claims by Havana Docks seeking recovery tied to property confiscated by Fidel Castro’s government more than 65 years ago. In an 8-1 decision,…
3 MIN READA federal judge ruled Wednesday that defense attorneys for Jonathan Rinderknecht, accused of starting the Palisades Fire, cannot introduce certain evidence about alleged negligence by the Los Angeles Fire Department during an earlier…
3 MIN READFederal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that sought to compel the states to hand over detailed voter registration information. The rulings add to a string of defeats for…
3 MIN READFederal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits by the U.S. Department of Justice that sought to compel the states to turn over detailed voter registration information. The rulings add to a series of defeats for the…
3 MIN READA federal judge on Wednesday refused to postpone a June 1 civil trial over claims stemming from the 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, rejecting requests from companies involved in the disaster. U.S. District Judge James…
3 MIN READA Virginia judge dismissed all charges against Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before teacher Abby Zwerner was shot at Richneck Elementary School, Newport News, AP…
3 MIN READA Tennessee judge set bond at $1 million for a white livestreamer charged in the May 13 shooting of a Black man outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Clarksville. The case, involving a creator who has promoted racial slurs online,…
3 MIN READPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may release his current tax returns after his legal team reached a deal with the Justice Department involving his IRS tax examinations. The settlement would permanently drop tax claims against…
4 MIN READU.S. government officials said they will permanently withdraw tax claims against President Donald Trump as part of a settlement in a lawsuit over allegations of leaked confidential tax returns. The agreement, disclosed through a document…
3 MIN READRichard Knight, 47, was executed by lethal injection Thursday evening at Florida State Prison for the June 2002 stabbing deaths of Odessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter Hanessia Mullings, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his…
3 MIN READAn Arizona inmate, Leroy Dean McGill, was executed Wednesday in Florence after being convicted of murdering Charles Perez by setting him on fire in 2002. Officials said the lethal injection proceeded without significant disruption, and…
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