Tohono O'odham, Native American Tribe, loses border wall argument

Federal judge clears way for Arizona border wall after tribe's bid to block construction fails

A federal judge denied the Tohono O'odham Nation's attempt to halt border wall construction along 62 miles of its Arizona reservation, ruling that national security interests outweigh the tribe's claims of harm. The Nation consists of 2.8 million acres.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon rejected the tribe's request for a preliminary injunction, a court order that would have stopped the Trump administration from building on or near the reservation's southern boundary with Mexico.

The ruling allows federal contractors to move forward on a stretch of border that has long lacked a physical barrier, cutting through the Sonoran Desert along one of the most remote corridors on the entire U.S.-Mexico line. Fox News Digital reported that Judge Leon grounded his decision in a 1907 presidential proclamation and the timeline of the reservation's own creation.

The tribe, which has more than 37,000 members, thousands of whom live on the Mexican side of the border, argued the wall would damage sacred sites, disrupt religious rituals, and sever family ties between communities split by the international boundary. Judge Leon was not persuaded. A 1907 proclamation settled the legal question before it started--

Judge Leon's reasoning turned on a fact of chronology. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued a proclamation placing all public land within 60 feet of an international boundary under exclusive federal government control. Roosevelt's stated purpose: "a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and the Republic of Mexico."

The Tohono O'odham (meaning desert people) reservation was not officially established until 1917, a full decade after Roosevelt's order. Leon cited that sequence directly, concluding that the federal government's claim to the border strip predated the reservation itself.

Read about it... The United States owned the land first and put under U.S. government control..

Somalia TPS is over

Judge Burroughs Lifts Block on Ending Somalia TPS After Rep Andy Ogles Impeachment Filing

Burroughs Drops The Stay After 50 Days

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, lifted her administrative stay on Friday, allowing the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis to take effect.

According to the source report, that stay had been in place for 50 days while the administration waited for a real order it could deal with through the normal appeals process.

Earlier in the day, DHS General Counsel James Percival publicly criticized Burroughs for keeping the stay in place despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving TPS. Then, later Friday, the stay was lifted. Amazing how fast paperwork can move when the spotlight gets bright enough.

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Firebrand Rep. Andy Ogles lost in the Republican primary in the state’s newly redrawn 5th District which is the latest loss for a Trump-backed candidate. No one knew him in this new district. Shocking.

Proud Boys Jan 6 Convictions dismissed

Federal judge dismisses Proud Boys Jan. 6 convictions after DOJ moves to end cases permanently

A federal judge on Friday wiped away the remaining convictions of four Proud Boys members who faced some of the longest sentences handed down in connection with the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach, granting a Justice Department motion to dismiss the cases with prejudice (permanently thrown out by the court) thus permanently closing the door on prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly approved the dismissal for Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola, all convicted in 2023 on multiple felony charges.

Three of the four, Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl, had been found guilty of seditious conspiracy, a charge that carried enormous political weight during the Biden administration's sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution campaign.

The ruling marks the final legal chapter for the Proud Boys defendants. Their sentences had already been commuted by President Trump. The U.S. Court of Appeals had previously vacated the convictions. And in April, the DOJ filed a motion asking the trial court to formally dismiss the indictment.

Judge Kelly granted that motion Friday, but not without making clear he wasn't endorsing the outcome, only recognizing the constitutional boundaries of his own authority.

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Citizenship Verification System for Voter rolls

Florida judge orders DHS to restore voter verification database, setting up legal clash with D.C. ruling

A federal judge in Florida ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restore key features of a citizenship verification system that states use to maintain their voter rolls, ruling Tuesday that the agency violated a settlement agreement by disabling the tools under pressure from a competing court order out of Washington, D.C.

U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II found that DHS was "plainly in violation" of its deal with states, including Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana, by shutting down the bulk-upload and Social Security number search functions of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE.

The ruling hands the Trump administration a significant win in its push to tighten election integrity safeguards, but it also drops DHS squarely between two federal judges issuing contradictory commands.

The order, first reported by Just The News, gives DHS until July 14 to file a status report on its compliance.

The SAVE system was enhanced under the Trump administration to better support state election integrity efforts, including the maintenance of voter rolls.

Under a 2025 settlement resolving a 2024 Florida lawsuit against the Biden administration, DHS agreed to provide states with expanded access to the database, including the ability to run bulk uploads and search by Social Security number to verify a registrant's citizenship or immigration status.

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Not guilty by reason of insanity

Judge Miguel Manuel de la O

Florida AG calls for impeachment after judge acquits mother who killed baby and blamed COVID

Precious Bland of Miami drowned her 15-month-old daughter Emii in a bathtub on Aug. 23, 2021, then proceeded to stab her husband — who attempted to save the infant — in the head and neck. When her stepdaughter tried to grab the drowned toddler, Bland slashed her, then proceeded to cut her own wrists.

According to a police report reviewed by CourtTV, Bland's husband told police that the killer had been ranting about how "COVID is going to kill us all," how Christ's return was imminent, and how she wanted to baptize her family in the bathtub.

'I’m sure that my family is very vigilant now.'

Bland, who subsequently spent four years in jail and additional time on house arrest while awaiting trial, was initially charged with murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, and two counts of aggravated child abuse.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Judge Miguel Manuel de la O of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida found the 43-year-old mother — who admitted to killing her child — not guilty of aggravated manslaughter and first-degree attempted murder by reason of insanity.

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Over-sexed Judge - A complaint, a reprimand, and an Impeachment

Must be something in the food lately

Georgia Republicans file impeachment articles against federal judge over misconduct allegations

Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, introduced three articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross, who serves on the Northern District of Georgia bench in Atlanta. Rep. Buddy Carter joined as a cosponsor.

The charges center on allegations of sexual activity in her chambers, attendance at a partisan political event, and making false statements to investigators.

The move marks an unusual escalation. Congressional impeachment of a sitting federal judge is rare, and the articles land amid a broader stretch of scrutiny for Ross tied to a Justice Department election records case and her role in a high-profile sentencing.

11Alive reported that Clyde's impeachment filing rests on three specific episodes.

• The first involves allegations that Ross engaged in sexual activity with a "uniformed law enforcement officer" during work hours in her chambers, on multiple occasions and within earshot of staff.
• The second accuses Ross of attending a political event hosted by Fulton County State's Attorney Fani Willis.
• The third charges her with making false statements to investigators looking into the allegations about sexual conduct in her office.

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Judge Brinkema Blocks DOJ Anti Weaponization Fund

Judge Brinkema Blocks Trump DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund Payouts

A federal judge has put a temporary stop on the Trump Justice Department’s new Anti-Weaponization Fund, at least for now. That means anyone hoping to get money from the program will have to wait while the court sorts it out.

The ruling came Friday from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who said the government cannot move forward until after a hearing.

The order blocks the DOJ “from taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.”

A hearing is now set for June 12 in Alexandria, Virginia.

The case was brought by a group of plaintiffs that includes former career prosecutor Andrew Floyd, who says he was fired over his work on Jan. 6 cases. Other plaintiffs include California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, the watchdog group Common Cause, the city of New Haven, Connecticut, and the National Abortion Federation.

Judge Brinkema was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton. Her order keeps the fund on ice while the court reviews the challenge.

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Obama appointed Judge giving Trump some "static" about IRS suit

Judge signals trouble for Trump’s $10B lawsuit against the IRS

Court sets May hearing on whether president can sue the government he oversees

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has asked Trump’s private attorneys and Justice Department lawyers representing the IRS to address whether his control over the government’s actions in the case means it’s the kind of dispute federal courts cannot consider.

“Although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting president and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction,” Williams wrote in a four-page order. “It is unclear to this Court whether the Parties are sufficiently adverse to each other so as to satisfy [the Constitution’s] case or controversy requirement.”

Williams, a Miami-based appointee of former President Barack Obama, noted that Trump has personally acknowledged the novelty of the situation. Shortly after filing the suit in January, he agreed with a reporter that it was unusual to be on both sides of a lawsuit.

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Judge Blocks Virginia's Referendum - Republicans Celebrate Court Win

Virginia Court Rules Democrat Redistricting Vote Unconstitutional in Major GOP Win

President Trump scored a major victory in Virginia after a judge blocked Democrats’ newly approved redistricting referendum, stopping a map that could have gutted Republican House strength in the state.

The ruling handed Republicans an immediate legal win and threw Democrats’ sweeping power play into chaos just hours after voters approved it.

Virginia Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley ruled Wednesday that the redistricting referendum was unconstitutional. The decision came one day after voters approved the Democrat-backed measure. Hurley found that all votes for or against the proposed amendment were invalid because the referendum did not meet required legal standards.

The ruling immediately froze Democrats’ effort to move the new map forward. It also showed that the legal fight over the referendum is far from over.

Republicans quickly hailed the ruling as a major breakthrough and Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that the court had blocked certification of the election. “The Tazewell Circuit Court just ruled the referendum unconstitutional,” Cuccinelli wrote on X.

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Democrat running for Judge in Texas married to lifetime sex offender

Democratic judicial candidate in El Paso married to lifetime registered sex offender

Christina Montes, a Democrat running for judge of County Court at Law No. 2 in El Paso, Texas, is married to a man required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and the couple has been campaigning together at recent events, Facebook photos show.

Juan Manuel Montes, 44, was charged with indecency with a child by contact and sexual performance by a child over a 2011 incident involving a 12-year-old female. He took a plea deal in 2013, completed seven years of community supervision, and had the charges dropped in 2020.

But the lifetime sex offender registration requirement remains. Court records reviewed by the Daily Mail confirmed the registration obligation, which requires him to update his information on the Texas sex offender registry four times a year.

Christina Montes, also 44, is competing in the May 26 Democratic primary runoff. The winner will take office on January 1, 2027, and serve a four-year term presiding over misdemeanor criminal cases, including family violence, DWIs, burglaries, and prostitution.

That a candidate for a criminal court judgeship is married to a lifetime registrant on the sex offender registry raises questions El Paso voters deserve to have answered before they cast their ballots.

Read about it...

Judge Blocks Ballroom

A Bush-Appointed Judge Just Blocked the White House Ballroom and Trump Had the Perfect Response

What Judge Leon Actually Said--
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon – a George W. Bush appointee – ruled Tuesday that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is likely to win its case against the ballroom project, issuing an injunction that stops all above-ground construction.

His reasoning: no law gives the president authority to build at the White House without congressional approval first. "No statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have," Leon wrote. Then he gave Trump 14 days before enforcement kicks in – an invitation to appeal.

The DOJ accepted before the afternoon was over, filing a notice with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The ballroom is a 90,000-square-foot venue with Greco-Roman columns, privately funded through donations from businesses and individual donors.

The National Trust, Trump wrote, is "a Radical Left Group of Lunatics" suing him over a ballroom that is "under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World."

Since January 2025, district court judges have issued hundreds of injunctions blocking Trump administration priorities – deportations, agency restructuring, birthright citizenship orders, workforce reorganization. The pattern is identical every time: a single judge blocks, the administration appeals, the Supreme Court reverses.

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CBP One App

Obama appointed Judge on restoring legal status to Illegals

"The Trump administration must restore the legal status of potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States legally through a Biden-era pathway, federal judge Allison Burroughs of Massachusetts ruled.

U.S. District Judge Burroughs said on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully last year when it sent a notice telling many of the over 900,000 immigrants who used the CBP One app: "It is time for you to leave the United States."

During the Biden administration, nearly over 900,000 immigrants used the app to make appointments with immigration officials at ports of entry in hopes of later applying for humanitarian parole or other forms of immigration relief that would allow them to enter the country.

Those who were granted parole were allowed to temporarily receive work authorization while their cases were adjudicated.

The CBP One App has been repurposed to allow migrants to self-deport."

Read more...

More than likely, this will be another ruling that will be appealed.

Judge says Trump can't defund NPR and PBS

Obama appointed Federal judge permanently blocks Trump executive order defunding NPR and PBS

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday permanently blocked President Donald Trump's executive order directing all federal agencies to cut off funding to NPR and PBS, ruling the action unconstitutional and calling it one of the clearest cases of government viewpoint discrimination he had seen.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee, found the executive order "unlawful and unenforceable" under the First Amendment. The ruling goes beyond the now-defunct Corporation for Public Broadcasting, barring federal agencies across the board from denying funding to the two media entities based on the president's directive.

The White House wasted no time pushing back. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson called it "a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law," Fox News Digital reported.

Here is the core tension: taxpayers have a legitimate interest in deciding where their money goes, and the president has a legitimate interest in executing the spending priorities Congress sets.

But the judiciary keeps stepping in to tell this administration what it cannot do, and in this case, the judge's reasoning raises real questions about whether federal courts are effectively granting media organizations a permanent entitlement to public dollars.

What the judge said, and what he missed

The White House asserted that Congress had already voted to defund NPR and PBS. The administration has signaled it expects to appeal.

Judge Moss has ruled against Trump several times.

Judge allows Trump White House Ballroom to proceed

Federal judge tosses injunction against Trump's $400 million White House ballroom

A federal judge on Thursday denied a legal challenge seeking to block President Donald Trump's planned 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom, clearing the way for construction to continue.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the injunction sought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, dismissing the group's legal arguments as a "ragtag group of theories."

The ruling is a clean win for the administration. The project moves forward, the preservationist lawsuit stalls, and the broader regulatory approval process continues on schedule.

Read about it...

Obama Judge Just Emptied Trump’s Toughest Detention Center With One Ruling

Trump builds detention centers. Obama judges empty them.

Trump locked three murderers and a child predator inside Angola Prison

An Obama judge ordered all four released back into American communities.

DHS warned the consequences will be "the continued rape, murder, assault, and robbery of more American victims."
Trump Designated Louisiana Lockup For Worst Criminal Illegals. Angola Prison is Louisiana's only maximum-security facility. Trump partnered with Governor Jeff Landry in September 2025 to turn part of Angola into the Louisiana Lockup.

The facility was designed specifically to house the most dangerous criminal illegals arrested by ICE.

All four had final removal orders.

All four served their criminal sentences.

All four were supposed to be deported.

Instead, Judge deGravelles sent them back onto the streets.

Read about these criminal illegal felons

The rule of law put woke ideology squarely in its place

US District Court Judge Katherine Menendez

Biden-Appointed Judge Rejects Bid to Halt Trump Immigration Operation in Minnesota

There was a time, not so long ago, when everyone in America understood a simple concept: separation of powers. The people elect their leaders, Congress makes the laws, and the president enforces them. It wasn’t always pretty, but it worked.

But today’s Left has cooked up a toxic new recipe for ‘governing’: If you can’t win an election, sue. It’s a cheap workaround for actual democracy, weaponizing the gavel to achieve what they can’t at the ballot box.

We saw this cynical playbook run again in Minnesota, where progressive officials raced to court to block federal immigration enforcement. They pleaded their case and waited for a sympathetic judge to deliver the political victory they craved. Then, something incredible happened.

In a moment of brilliant clarity, a liberal judge stared down a politically motivated lawsuit from a radical Attorney General and chose to uphold the law.

Minnesota’s AG, Keith Ellison, tried to shut down “Operation Metro Surge,” a Trump administration initiative deploying federal agents to enforce existing immigration laws. These weren’t random patrols; they were targeting individuals already issued final orders for removal.

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Don Lemon walks free

Don Lemon walks free with no bond, no travel limits

Federal agents arrested Lemon Thursday night in Los Angeles. Authorities said Lemon stormed an evangelical church in St. Paul, Minn. U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue imposed no domestic travel restrictions, allowing Lemon to move freely within the United States, according to Daily Caller News Foundation West Coast Reporter Hailey Gomez, who was in the courtroom when the decision was announced.

Federal prosecutors sought to impose domestic and international travel restrictions on Lemon, including barring travel to New York and requiring him to surrender his passport, according to Gomez.

The Department of Justice argued the restrictions were necessary, but Lemon's attorney pushed back, citing a previously scheduled international trip as grounds to oppose the surrender of Lemon's passport.

The judge approved international travel, allowing Lemon to proceed with his annual trip to France, court officials said during the hearing. Lemon's defense attorney Marilyn Bednarsk said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and will fight the case, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Read more about it...

Abbe Lowell, who defended Hunter Biden, is representing Lemon generally and has publicly vowed to fight the charges, describing the case as an attack on the First Amendment.

Marilyn Bednarski, a Los Angeles-based attorney with McLane Bednarski & Litt, LLP, handled the initial court appearance in Los Angeles on Jan. 30, where she argued against strict travel restrictions and confirmed that Lemon plans to plead not guilty.

Jusge Patricia A. Donahue was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California by the district's judges. She was not appointed by the President, but rather sworn into office on May 4, 2020, following a selection process by the Court's Executive Committee and a majority vote of the District Judges.

ICE's operation in Minnesota can continue

Federal Judge Declines to Halt Trump Immigration Operation in Minnesota

A Minnesota federal judge on Saturday refused to block President Trump’s immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

The ruling allows ICE’s Operation Metro Surge to continue despite a lawsuit from state and local officials.

The court said the plaintiffs failed to meet the legal standard. Menendez ruled the request did not justify extraordinary relief.

The enforcement operation remains active.

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Judge rejects charges against Don Lemon

Richard Luthman says: "Don Lemon didn’t stumble into a news event. He embedded in it, scoped it, entered with it, argued for it, and monetized it.

That’s not journalism—that’s participation with a ring light. Federal civil-rights law doesn’t care what you call yourself; it cares what you did.

When you help plan an intrusion into religious worship, walk in with the mob, confront clergy, intimidate parishioners, and broadcast it for clicks, you’re no longer a witness. You’re evidence.

Cameras don’t confer immunity. They amplify liability. Lemon didn’t expose a crime. He filmed himself inside one."

The Judge rejected criminal charge against journalist Don Lemon over church protest.

Mayor Mamdani Faces Early Housing Policy Defeat

Federal judge halts NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's attempt to intervene in housing market

In a striking blow to New York City’s leadership, a federal bankruptcy judge has derailed Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s bold attempt to meddle in a massive housing deal.

On Thursday, Judge David Jones denied the mayor’s request to intervene in the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized properties owned by Pinnacle Group, a decision that could allow the transfer to Summit Properties USA as early as this week, despite widespread tenant worries about ongoing poor maintenance under either owner.

The issue has ignited fierce discussion about the role of city government in private property transactions, with opinions split on whether this move was a necessary stand for tenants or an overreach of authority, as Fox Business reports.

Mamdani’s team justified their legal push by claiming creditor status, pointing to over $12 million in unpaid fines owed by Pinnacle Group to the city, as a basis for halting or delaying the sale.

Yet, Judge Jones dismissed this argument outright, leaving the administration’s strategy in tatters and paving the way for a potential swift approval of the deal to Summit Properties USA.

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Judge Jones is a non-partisan federal bankruptcy judge.