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Federal judge dismisses Trump documents case, says Jack Smith unlawfully appointed
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Approved, National, The Epoch Times

Federal judge dismisses Trump documents case, says Jack Smith unlawfully appointed

By Catherine Yang | The Epoch Times U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case on July 15, finding that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause. “The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” the order reads. The 93-page opinion and order was issued after days of oral arguments over the special counsel’s appointment and the statutory authority the Justice Department argued Attorney General Merrick Garland used to appoint Mr. Smith. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EPOCH TIMES
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1st Amendment claim of fired Douglas County school employee will be heard by jury
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

1st Amendment claim of fired Douglas County school employee will be heard by jury

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A jury will decide whether a Douglas County charter school fired an employee because of her protected online speech about vaccinations, a federal judge ruled last month. At the same time, U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak determined Jennifer Webb's repeated reports of alleged financial improprieties were not protected by the First Amendment. Consequently, jurors would not evaluate whether Aspen View Academy retaliated against her for raising concerns of embezzlement. Webb was the business manager for Aspen View, an elementary and middle school in Castle Rock, between 2017 and 2021. Her job generally entailed bookkeeping and financial oversight. Webb soon became concerned about financial malfeasance by the school's principal, Robert Barbe...
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Judge dismisses lawsuit by multiple school districts over Colorado’s universal pre-K rollout
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Judge dismisses lawsuit by multiple school districts over Colorado’s universal pre-K rollout

By Eric Young | Denver Gazette A Denver District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging damages stemming from last year's universal preschool rollout in Colorado.  District Judge Jon. J. Olafson ruled that the six public school districts and two advocacy groups who filed the lawsuit lacked the legal grounds for their case to continue.  The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit last August against Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and the Colorado Department of Education, alleging that the state disproportionately harmed low-income families and students with disabilities through its application process. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Court rules Teller County sheriff cannot hold illegals in jail under county’s agreement with ICE
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Approved, Local, The Colorado Sun

Court rules Teller County sheriff cannot hold illegals in jail under county’s agreement with ICE

By Olivia Prentzel | The Colorado Sun A Colorado sheriff’s practice of holding undocumented immigrants in jail through an agreement with federal immigration authorities violates state law, the Colorado Court of Appeals found Wednesday, reversing a district judge’s ruling. The decision is the latest turn in a yearslong battle between Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell and the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued him on behalf of five taxpayers arguing that Colorado law forbids the sheriff’s office from detaining people accuse of state crimes who are otherwise eligible for release and then turning them over to ICE officers. The case will return to lower court, the ACLU said Wednesday.  Through the county’s agreement with federal immigration authorities, cal...
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Supreme Court ducks ruling on whether AR-15s are protected by 2nd Amendment
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Approved, National, The Washington Times

Supreme Court ducks ruling on whether AR-15s are protected by 2nd Amendment

By Stephen Dinan | The Washington Times The Supreme Court said Tuesday it was declining, for now, to hear challenges against an Illinois ban on assault weapons — cases that have quickly turned into a major test of the legality of the popular AR-15 rifle. Justice Clarence Thomas indicated that his colleagues thought the cases weren’t yet ripe for the high court and needed more development before lower judges. But he said the issue will have to be dealt with as the justices continue to figure out the extent of the Second Amendment and to what, whom, where and when it applies. “We have never squarely addressed what types of weapons are ‘Arms’ protected by the Second Amendment,” Justice Thomas wrote in a statement about the refusal. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON TIM...
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Rudy Giuliani, once ‘America’s Mayor’ during 9/11, disbarred in New York, plans to appeal
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Approved, National, Politico

Rudy Giuliani, once ‘America’s Mayor’ during 9/11, disbarred in New York, plans to appeal

By KYLE CHENEY | Politico Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred in New York for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election. “The seriousness of [Giuliani’s] misconduct cannot be overstated,” a state appeals court wrote in a unanimous, unsigned opinion. Giuliani “flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign,” the court found. He “repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public … and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process,” the five-judge appellate panel said. READ THE FULL STORY AT POLITICO
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Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon taken into custody at federal prison
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Approved, National, The Daily Caller

Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon taken into custody at federal prison

By KATELYNN RICHARDSON | The Daily Caller Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon reported to prison Monday and is now officially in custody, according to The Associated Press. Bannon will serve a four-month sentence for his conviction on contempt of Congress charges for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. The Supreme Court declined on Friday to postpone his sentence while he appeals the conviction. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed Monday that he is now in custody, according to the AP. He began his sentence at Federal Correctional Institute Danbury just before noon, ABC News reported. “I am proud to go to prison,” Bannon said before entering the prison, according to ABC News. “If this is what it takes the stand up to tyranny, if this way it takes the stand up to the ...
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Supreme Court sides with Jan. 6 defendant against obstruction charge
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Approved, National, The Washington Times

Supreme Court sides with Jan. 6 defendant against obstruction charge

By Alex Swoyer and Stephen Dinan | The Washington Times The Supreme Court ruled Friday for a Jan. 6 defendant challenging an obstruction charge used by federal prosecutors to ding people who entered the U.S. Capitol that day in 2021. The 6-3 ruling wasn’t ideologically divided, with Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson switching wings of the court to join colleagues in their respective decisions. A majority of the court ruled that federal prosecutors couldn’t use an obstruction charge against a Jan. 6 defendant without showing the individual impeded or destroyed a document or evidence used in an official proceeding. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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Davis: The final days of this Supreme Court term
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Approved, Commentary, National

Davis: The final days of this Supreme Court term

By MIKE DAVIS | Substack, Guest Commentary The 2023-24 Supreme Court term already is a dynamic one. The justices, among other rulings, unanimously rejected a leftist effort to throw President Trump off of ballots based on the Insurrection Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Several blockbusters await announcement this week. The most crucial case is Trump v. United States. The Court is considering whether a former president has immunity from criminal prosecution for his official presidential acts. Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump after the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. One of the allegations is Trump contemplated firing his acting attorney general—clearly an official act. If presidents fear their successors will imprison them for their official acts, this...
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GOP resolution calls on SCOTUS to ‘intervene’ in Trump’s hush money case
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Approved, National, Politico

GOP resolution calls on SCOTUS to ‘intervene’ in Trump’s hush money case

By GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING | Politico Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution Friday urging the Supreme Court to “intervene” in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump before the 2024 election — a move that experts say is a political stunt that faces significant legal obstacles. Citing the “All Writs Act,” by which the court “may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law,” the resolution calls on SCOTUS to intervene in the case “with all deliberate speed and possible urgency.” The resolution argues for the court’s intervention on the basis that Americans need to make “informed decisions” in the upcoming election. It also echoes Trump’s oft-us...
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