In evaluating state laws restricting guns in certain places, a Ninth Circuit panel heeded the Supreme Court's directive to examine historical traditions.
BOISE, Idaho — A federal court in Idaho did not totally dismiss Robert F. Kennedy’s allegations that the state’s election rules, which require independent presidential candidates to name a VP before the political parties’ candidates must, violate the equal protection clause. Because the RFK campaign alleged an injury-in-fact, their claims proceed, in spite of his decision to drop out of the race for the presidency.
WASHINGTON — A federal court in the District of Columbia sided with two parolees who say they, and other disabled parolees, suffer systematic discrimination from the U.S. Parole Commission and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. They have shown that medical, mental, intellectual and developmental disabilities interfere with their capacity to attend appointments and participate in programs required by their parole, and that they have not been accommodated despite requesting help.
SAN DIEGO — An anti-abortion advocate says a proposed ordinance to establish "buffer zones" around certain medical facilities in San Diego prevents him from providing sidewalk counseling and prayer to people entering the facility, in violation of his free speech rights.
JD Vance and other Republicans failed to convince the full appeals court that recent Supreme Court rulings allow for an overhaul of campaign finance law.
Arguments over how Indiana structures state judicial elections in three racially diverse districts seemed to annoy the white chief judge of the appellate court, while the court's first Asian-American judge was taken aback at the racial disparity itself.
PHILADELPHIA, Penn. — A medical student might well be right that the National Board of Medical Examiners’ method of scoring exams is discriminatory against those with disabilities, ruled a Pennsylvania federal court. Nevertheless, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not give the courts power to reshape how medical licensing exams are graded, so the student’s request for an injunction or restraining order is denied.
The civil rights investigation focuses on two state prisons where inmates have long said that sexual violence by staff members goes unchecked.
Texas increased its per-person fee on adult establishments in 2023, which one nightclub says is a violation of the First Amendment.
ALBANY, N.Y. — The Second Circuit remands a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and recommends a conditional writ for a defendant who confessed to murdering a relative in 2007, but was found incompetent to stand trial due to mental illness. A cycle appears to have repeated: He’d be given medication and would appear competent, then would be transferred to Rikers Island for trial but refuse the meds, then be deemed incompetent and returned to a psychiatric hospital, where the cycle renewed. The circuit asks state courts to consider determining competency closer to the trial.
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana governor may not dismiss, as moot, a federal civil rights suit against the state brought by some three dozen incarcerated juveniles who say they are being housed at a parish prison where they are exposed to adult inmates. The suit is not dismissed because corrections officials previously made “promises and representations” that were not trustworthy; limited discovery may be conducted, and dismissal can be once again urged later.
