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Posts tagged ‘judge’

Judge Scraps Biden’s Title IX Rules, Reversing LGBTQ+ Regulations


Thursday, 09 January 2025 04:23 PM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/us/transgender-title-ix-women/2025/01/09/id/1194490/

The Biden administration’s Title IX rules expanding regulations for LGBTQ+ students have been struck down nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they overstepped the president’s authority. In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was “fatally” tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges by Republican states. President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to end the rules “on day one” and made anti-transgender themes a centerpiece of his campaign.

The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a “victory for the protection of girls’ privacy in locker rooms and showers, and for the freedom to speak biologically accurate pronouns.”

The Education Department did not immediately comment on the decision.

The Biden administration ignited controversy when it finalized the new rules last year. The regulation expanded Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education, to also prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. It also expanded the definition of harassment to include a broader range of misconduct.

Civil rights advocates hailed it as a victory, saying it gave LGBTQ+ students new recourse against discrimination. But it drew outrage from conservatives who said it could be used to protect transgender athletes in girls’ sports.

The rule didn’t explicitly address athletics and mostly detailed how schools and colleges were required to respond to cases of discrimination and sexual assault. A separate proposal dealing with transgender athletes in sports was put on the backburner and later revoked after it became a focal point of Trump’s campaign. In his decision, Reeves found the Education Department overstepped its authority by expanding the scope of Title IX.

There’s nothing in the 1972 law suggesting that it should cover any more than it has since Congress created it, Reeves wrote. He called it an “attempt to bypass the legislative process and completely transform Title IX.”

The judge also found that it violated free speech rights by requiring teachers to use pronouns aligning with a student’s gender identity.

“The First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner,” Reeves wrote.

Rather than carve out certain aspects of the rule, Reeves decided it was best to toss the regulation in its entirety and revert to a previous interpretation of Title IX. He said his decision will “simply ‘cause a return to the status quo’ that existed for more than 50 years prior to its effective date.”

Among the biggest critics of the rule was Betsy DeVos, former education secretary during Trump’s first term. On the social media site X, she wrote that the “radical, unfair, illegal, and absurd Biden Title IX rewrite is GONE.”

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Ga. Judge: ‘Possible’ Evidence May Disqualify Willis


By Mark Swanson    |   Monday, 12 February 2024 03:46 PM EST

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/georgia-judge-hearing/2024/02/12/id/1153275/

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Monday that it’s “possible” the evidence that surfaced against District Attorney Fani Willis could disqualify her from the prosecuting the election interference case against Donald Trump and the remaining co-defendants. At issue is whether Willis’ admitted relationship with top prosecutor Nathan Wade “resulted in a financial benefit” to Willis by hiring him, McAfee said.

“What remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit, again if there even was one,” McAfee said regarding his decision to move forward with a hearing.

“Because I think it’s possible that the facts alleged by the defendant [Mike Roman] could result in disqualification [for Fani Willis]. I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations,” the judge said.

Willis had asked McAfee to quash the subpoenas against her, Wade, and employees in the DA’s office and cancel Thursday’s hearing. McAfee rejected that.

The attorney for Roman filed a motion weeks ago for Willis to be disqualified over the relationship, which Willis finally admitted to on Feb. 2. The situation took a turn Friday when Roman’s attorney said Wade’s former law partner will “refute” claims Willis and Wade made that their relationship started after the prosecutor was appointed to lead the case against the former president.

“(Terrance) Bradley has non-privileged, personal knowledge that the romantic relationship between Wade and Willis began prior to Willis being sworn as the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia in January 2021,” wrote Ashleigh Merchant, Roman’s lawyer.

Friday’s filing asserts their relationship began in 2019. Wade’s firm has been paid more than $653,000 since being hired by Willis in November 2021.

Records show that Wade purchased plane tickets for he and Willis to Aruba in October 2022 and San Francisco in April 2023. Roman alleges Wade spent more than $16,000 on cruises and trips in his filing, which accuses Willis of honest services fraud.

Mark Swanson 

Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.

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Trump Rages Against ‘Operative’ N.Y. Judge


By Mark Swanson    |   Monday, 02 October 2023 03:38 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/trump-judge-new-york/2023/10/02/id/1136675/

Former President Donald Trump ripped into the judge presiding over his $250 million civil case on Monday, saying the judge is “an operative” who should be disbarred.

Appearing on the steps of the courthouse during a lunch break after the morning session on the first day of the trial, Trump chided Judge Arthur Engoron.

“This is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office,” Trump said. “This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election, and it’s a disgrace.”

Trump also directed his ire toward New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the fraud trial against him, saying she should be focused on violent crime.

James is a “disgrace to our country. Take a look at Jack Smith. Take a look at these people,” Trump said, also tearing into Smith, the special counsel in two of Trump’s criminal trials. Smith has no part in this civil trial.

“We’re going to be here for months with a judge that already made up his mind. It’s ridiculous,” Trump said. “They waste their time with this, with banks that were very happy that got all their money back. They weren’t defrauded. I’ve been defrauded.”

Trump was referring to Engoron’s summary ruling last week, when the judge sided with James that Trump had committed fraud.

In Monday morning’s opening statements, the attorney general ‘s office accused Trump and his adult sons of deceiving banks, insurers, and others by habitually misstating his wealth in financial statements.

“No matter how powerful you are, and no matter how much money you think you have, no one is above the law,” James said on her way into the courthouse.

Engoron will also decide on six claims in the lawsuit brought by James, who is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York. It’s a nonjury trial because, as Engoron pointed out, Trump’s legal team failed to check a box that it preferred a jury trial.

Trump also took aim at a clerk in Engoron’s courtroom.

“This guy’s getting away with murder. And his clerk should not be allowed to be in his ear with every single question. You should take a look at her. She hates Trump even more than he does,” Trump said.

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Hunter Biden Delaware Plea Deal Collapses


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Friday, 11 August 2023 01:22 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/hunter-biden-doj-judge/2023/08/11/id/1130469/

A potential plea deal between Hunter Biden and the Justice Department collapsed Friday after attorneys for both sides failed to finalize an agreement.

“Hunter Biden’s plea deal has collapsed. Talks with gov’t at an impasse,” Vox.com’s Andrew Prokop tweeted Friday with a screen grab of a court filing.

“DOJ filing: ‘Following additional negotiations after the hearing held on July 26, 2023, the parties are at an impasse and are not in agreement on either a plea agreement or a diversion agreement.'”

The court document adds: “Therefore, the Government believes the Court’s briefing order should be vacated.”

Prokop later tweeted: “DOJ says they are moving to dismiss the Delaware case against Hunter so they can file tax charges against him in CA or DC.”

Delaware U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected a proposed plea deal on July 26 when she questioned aspects of the agreement for Biden to plead guilty to tax charges and avoid a gun charge. The judge told Hunter Biden’s lawyers and prosecutors that they could persuade her to approve the deal as it was previously negotiated, or to alter it to a form she can accept. She said she did not want to “rubber stamp” a plea deal.

President Joe Biden’s son then pleaded not guilty to charges of failing to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000, prosecutors allege.

The document shared by Prokop said DOJ officials requested Biden’s plea position on Wednesday and Friday. After his attorneys requested more time, until Monday, prosecutors declined.

Noreika released the proposed plea deal last week to satisfy a request from an NBC News reporter. Large portions of the plea deal were read in court on July 26.

On July 28, Noreika ordered attorneys Friday to raise issues with her chambers, not the court clerk. The order came two days after an employee at a law firm representing Biden allegedly misrepresented her identity to the clerk’s office during a phone call.

Reuters contributed to this story.

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Judge Delays First Hearing in Trump Documents Case


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Tuesday, 11 July 2023 03:27 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/judge-delays-donald-trump/2023/07/11/id/1126717/

The first hearing in former President Donald Trump’s criminal case involving classified documents has been pushed to July 18. A court order Monday established the new date after a dispute in which special counsel Jack Smith implied that Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta were seeking an “unnecessary” delay by moving the date back from this coming Friday, the Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday. Nauta had submitted a request to delay the hearing due to his main attorney, Stanley Woodward, having prior obligations this week at a bench trial in Washington, D.C.

Earlier Tuesday, the Examiner reported that Trump wants the classified documents trial postponed until after the 2024 general election. Trump, currently the leading contender to win the Republican presidential nomination, and his aide, Nauta, are scheduled to go on trial in December.

The first hearing before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon may not be conducted in public due to the sensitivity surrounding the classified materials, the Examiner reported. It will likely be the first of many proceedings before the actual trial begins.

Smith disputed Nauta’s request to delay the first hearing. The special counsel wanted to know why Florida-based lawyer Sasha Dadan couldn’t handle the hearing instead of Woodward.

“An indefinite continuance is unnecessary, will inject additional delay in this case, and is contrary to the public interest,” Smith’s team wrote in its filing, the Examiner reported.

Nauta said he had “little notice” that prosecutors would bring charges in the Southern District of Florida, where he would be required to have an attorney licensed in the state.

The Examiner said the co-defendant also raised concerns about his defense team’s lack of security clearances. Nauta wrote that it was not reasonable to expect Dadan to assume a lead role on Friday.

A later filing on Monday showed that the defense team and the special counsel team agreed that July 18 would be the date of the first hearing.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges in connection to the classified documents case, including 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act.

Nauta pleaded not guilty to charges he helped the former president hide top secret documents that Trump took when he left the White House in 2021, Reuters reported.

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Judge Denies Biden Request to Delay Social Media Order


By Charlie McCarthy    |   Monday, 10 July 2023 02:20 PM EDT

Read more at https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/judge-social-media-communications/2023/07/10/id/1126585/

A federal judge in Louisiana denied a request by the Biden administration to delay an order he imposed last week banning federal officials from communicating with social media companies, Bloomberg reported.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty on Monday refused to pause his July 4 nationwide injunction blocking multiple government agencies and administration officials from meeting with or contacting social media companies for the purpose of “encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”

WHY WOULD THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, AND THEIR PUPPET MASTERS, WANT THE COURT TO STAY THIS ORDER? Only nefarious motivations want a stay. Is it just me, or are they no longer concerned about being blatant with their cheating?

Doughty, nominated to the federal bench by then-President Donald Trump, also denied the government’s alternative request for a seven-day pause while it petitions the appeals court to step in.

The Justice Department is expected to ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene, Bloomberg reported. DOJ had insisted that Doughty’s order was broad and unclear in defining what kind of communication with tech companies is no longer allowed.

The judge responded by saying the government isn’t entitled to a delay in enforcing his order since they were likely to lose on the merits of the case, Bloomberg reported. Doughty added that DOJ failed to identify specific examples of government activity that would be hurt in the meantime.

“[The injunction] it is not as broad as it appears,” Doughty wrote in the order. “It only prohibits something the Defendants have no legal right to do — contacting social media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner, the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms. It also contains numerous exceptions.”

Doughty last week ruled the government likely violated the First Amendment in its efforts to persuade tech companies to take steps to limit the spread of misinformation and fake accounts, especially during the pandemic. The Biden administration wants the ban put on hold while it challenges the judge’s 155-page opinion.

Doughty’s order bars many agencies and their employees from “urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing” social media companies to remove or restrict content covered by the First Amendment’s free speech protections. The judge included exceptions for communications about criminal activity, national security threats, election integrity issues, and other “permissible public government speech,” Bloomberg reported.

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Judge Says Voters Have No Say in How Their Tax Dollars Are Spent


waving flag disclaimerAuthored By Lynn Jolly February 24, 2017

shutterstock_locked tax dollars

The ruling of one liberal federal judge proves that America is no longer a republic and doubtful if it is even a democracy. What’s the difference?

A republic is what our Founding Fathers sacrificed so much to establish. It’s a government where the people elect leaders to do the will of the majority of the people.

A democracy is best described as a government where the people elect leaders to rule over them, regardless of the willmob-rule-democracy of the people. So many people erroneously think America was a democracy but it was NEVER intended to be that way. Also notice that many communist or socialist countries use the term ‘democratic’ in their name – i.e. Democratic Republic of the Congo. Republic in this name just refers to a bordered nation and Democratic refers to the socialist government running it. When East Germany still existed, it was formally known as the German Democratic Republic and like the Congo, Republic only referred to the geographic borders and Democratic referred to the socialist-communist government.

Our Founding Fathers intended for the people to hold most of the power and influence and of the three branches of the federal government, the judiciary was to be the least powerful. However, lately, the judiciary has become the most powerful and influential branch of the federal government. They override the will of the people, the will of Congress and the orders of the President.

Such is the case of U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks, in Austin, Texas.

The majority of Texas voters elected Republicans to the state House and Senate with the mandate to defund Planned Parenthood. Currently, the Texas Senate has 20 republicans to only 11 Democrats and the House is 95 Republicans to only 55 Democrats. Greg Abbott, a staunchly conservative Christian Republican holds the governor’s office after faithfully serving as the state’s Attorney General for 13 years. Since 1987, Texas has only had 1 Democratic governor in Ann Richards who only lasted 4 years. She was followed in 1995 by George W. Bush who was then followed by Rick Perry, who was then followed by Greg Abbott.

Following the will of the people, the Texas legislature voted in 2015 to defund Planned Parenthood, since the voters said they didn’t want their tax dollars going to the abortion giant, regardless of what other services they claim to provide. After the bill to defund Planned Parenthood was signed into law by Gov. Abbott, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit, claiming the new law was unconstitutional.

In his agenda driven ruling, Judge Sparks, once thought to be a conservative who was appointed by President George W. Bush, overturned the law in favor of Planned Parenthood. Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council commented about the ruling handed down by Judge Sparks:

“It may be your money, but that doesn’t mean you can decide how it’s spent!” That was the message from U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks to Texans who overwhelmingly voted to strip Planned Parenthood of its hefty Medicaid haul. In a 42-page opinion that read like it was written by Cecile Richards herself, Sparks took unusual offense to the law, insisting that the effort was all based on ‘a secretly recorded video, fake names, a grand jury indictment, [and] congressional investigations’ that sounded more like a ‘best-selling novel’ than a legitimate case’.”more-leftist-propaganda

“‘Yet, rather than a villain plotting to take over the world, the subject of this case is the State of Texas’s efforts to expel a group of health care providers from a social health care program for families and individuals with limited resources.’ Insisting that yanking funding for the scandal-plagued group would somehow cause ‘irreparable harm,’ Sparks seemed more concerned with his personal agenda than the facts. If the judge had bothered looking beyond his own bias, he would have realized that low-cost, publicly-funded health centers (where these dollars would be redirected) outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to one nationwide, care for 23 million Americans, and even provide more health services than the group he’s so desperate to defend. In fact, those community health centers serve 21.1 million individuals per year, nearly eight times more individuals than are served by Planned Parenthood centers.”

When one judge becomes President, Congress, Governor, state legislature and ruler of the people, it’s a clear sign that America is no longer the republic created and established by the Founding Fathers. It also sends out a signal that the majority of the American people no long have a say in their government or how the government spends their hard-earned tax dollars.

judical-tyranny explanation

Ohio Judge Declines — Citing ‘Christian Beliefs’ — to Marry Same-Sex Couple


waving flagBy Melanie Hunter | July 9, 2015

Kimmy Denny and her partner, Barb Lawrence of Palm Harbor, Fla., wait outside a court hearing on gay marriage in Miami in July. (AP Photo)
th-5
Judge C. Allen McConnell

A Toledo Municipal Court judge who refused to marry a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs said Wednesday that he will seek an advisory opinion from the Ohio Supreme Court on whether he can “opt out of the rotation” for performing marriages.

“On Monday, July 6, I declined to marry a non-traditional couple during my duties assignment. The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years. I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best,” Judge C. Allen McConnell, a Democrat, said in a statement, according to Toledo News Now.

“The court has implemented a process whereby same-sex marriages will be accommodated. I will continue to perform traditional marriages during my duties assignment. I am also seeking advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of Ohio at this time as to whether or not I can opt out of the rotation. Upon receipt of the advisory opinion from Supreme Court, I will abide by its decision,” McConnell added.

Carolyn Wilson said on Monday a bailiff called her and her partner into the hall and told them that McConnell did not perform “these types of marriages,” and although she did not speak to the judge himself, she assumed McConnell meant same-sex marriages, The Blade reported. After returning to the clerk’s office with the sheriff’s deputy who works in the court, Wilson and her partner were told they could try to find another judge or get a refund. After McConnell chose not to marry Wilson and her partner, Judge William M. Connelly, Jr., a Republican, eventually married the couple instead.

Connelly said he did so because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized gay marriage. “My reading of it says we are to perform same-sex marriages,” Connelly said.

Nick Komives, executive director for Equality Toledo, said the couple “didn’t deserve to be humiliated” or “inconvenienced.”Offical Seal
“That’s just wrong, and we won’t tolerate it. It is his duty to perform this ceremony, and if he’s not willing to perform his duties, he needs to step down,” The Blade quoted Komives as saying. “I don’t think this is a very complicated issue. This court, the Toledo Municipal Court, requires the Judge on duty to perform marriages,” Equality Toledo Board member and attorney Rob Salem said in a statement. “Judge McConnell took an oath of office when he became judge to uphold the laws of this land. He vowed also to apply those laws as equally and fairly without any regard to his own personal biases and prejudices,” he said. According to Salem, because McConnell is a public official, he doesn’t have the same discretion that religious clergy do. McConnell’s job is “to serve all people, not just the people that he likes,” Salem said.

More Evidence

McConnell’s decision “calls into question whether or not he’s going to treat LGBT litigants in his courtroom fairly going forward. That’s a really an important issue for me; I think that has to be resolved as well. In the meantime, I hope he changes his mind and does the right thing,” Salem added.

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