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FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Edith jones | History Defined

A Circuit Split Gives SCOTUS an Opportunity To Overturn a Federal Law That Makes Home Distilling a Felony

The 6th Circuit upheld that 158-year-old law, while the 5th Circuit concluded it could not be justified as a revenue measure.

Reason

Sixth Circuit Upholds Federal Law Banning Home Alcohol Distilleries, Creating a Circuit Split

The decision is at odds with a recent ruling by the Fifth Circuit.

Reason

‘La Gordiloca’ Lost at the Supreme Court but Won in Laredo

The citizen-journalist and social media provocateur's case against local officials was thrown out in a decision that horrified First Amendment advocates. But, at home, observers say arresting her proved more trouble for the government than it was worth.

Texas Observer

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Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Federal Law Banning Home Alcohol Distilleries

The ruling holds the law exceeds Congress' authority under the tax power and the Necessary and Proper Clause. But it does not consider the Commerce Clause.

Reason

Arresting a Reporter for Asking Questions Was a 'Blatant First Amendment Violation,' Sonia Sotomayor Says

The justice dissented from the Supreme Court's denial of a petition from a Texas journalist who was charged with felonies for practicing journalism.

Reason

Fifth Circuit Comments on District Judge's Discussion of Using AI in Judicial Decisionmaking

From La Union del Pueblo Entero v. Abbott, decided today by Judge Edith Jones, joined by Judge Kurt Engelhardt and… The post Fifth Circuit Comments on District Judge's Discussion of Using AI in Judicial Decisionmaking appeared first on Reason.com.

Reason

Rules of the Robe

A sharp-eyed retiree uncovered evidence of judicial misconduct by the chief judge of Houston’s busy bankruptcy court. The unusual story highlights how other complaints against judges go ignored.

Texas Observer

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Why a Trump-Appointed Judge Is Torching His Own Court’s Qualified Immunity Logic—and the Government Abuse It Enables

Judge James C. Ho recently described a troubling phenomenon on the 5th Circuit and the government abuse it enables.

Reason

On Remand, the 5th Circuit Again Blocks a Lawsuit by a Texas Reporter Arrested for Newsgathering

Even if Laredo cops punished Priscilla Villarreal for constitutionally protected speech, the appeals court says, they would be protected by qualified immunity.

Reason

The 5th Circuit Says the Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to Young Adults Is Unconstitutional

The government failed to persuade the appeals court that 18-to-20-year-olds are not part of "the people" or that the age restriction is consistent with the "historical tradition of firearm regulation."

Reason

The Maga legal networks that could topple Planned Parenthood and gut women’s healthcare

Revealed: outcome of coming election may determine staying power of hard-right activist Leonard Leo’s crusade to reshape US courts

The Guardian - US

Citizen Journalist Barred From Press Conference Can Sue Texas Sheriff for Violating His Rights, Judge Rules

The decision is a reminder that independent reporters are still protected by the same First Amendment as journalists in legacy media.

Reason

A Texas Reporter Was Arrested for Asking Questions. The State Says That's No Big Deal.

Opposing Priscilla Villarreal's petition for Supreme Court review, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton portrays basic journalism as "incitement."

Reason

Appeals court: Separate, distinct minority groups can't join together to claim vote dilution

A divided federal appeals court has ruled that separate, distinct minority groups cannot join together in coalitions to claim their votes are diluted in redistricting cases under the federal Voting Rights Act

The Independent UK

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Reason

En Banc Fifth Circuit Upholds Mississippi Felon Disenfranchisement

The full court rejects an Eighth Amendment challenge to a provision in the Mississippi Constitution.

Reason

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Mississippi's Jim Crow–Era Felon Voting Ban

"In short, 'cruel and unusual' is not the same as 'harmful and unfair,'" the court wrote.

Reason

These Strange Bedfellows Want SCOTUS To Remind the 5th Circuit That Journalism Is Not a Crime

An ideologically diverse mix of individuals and organizations supports a Texas journalist who was arrested for asking questions.

Reason

This Journalist Was Arrested, Strip-Searched, and Jailed for Filming Police. Will He Get Justice?

Justin Pulliam's arrest and lawsuit once again demand we ask if "real" journalists are entitled to a different set of rights.

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Reason

Journalism Is Not a Crime, Even When It Offends the Government

Julian Assange and Priscilla Villarreal were both arrested for publishing information that government officials wanted to conceal.

Top News

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Biden Student Debt Relief Plan

5th U.S. Circuit Court deems Biden's student debt relief plan unlawful, sparking legal debate.

Reason

The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.

Reason

She Was Arrested for Her Journalism. A Federal Court Says She Can't Sue.

Priscilla Villarreal, also known as "Lagordiloca," has sparked a debate about free speech and who, exactly, is a journalist.

Texas Observer

The Judges Who Ruled Against La Gordiloca Are Criminalizing Watchdog Journalism

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a lawsuit by Laredo’s most famous citizen journalist, Priscilla Villarreal, aka La Gordiloca.

Reason

No Liability for Supposed Medical Journal Article Misrepresentation About How to Treat Lyme Disease

From the Fifth Circuit's decision Thursday in Torrey v. Infectious Diseases Soc'y of Am., written by Judge Kyle Duncan, joined by Judges Carl Stewart and Edith Jones; seems quite right to me: A professional society specializing in the study and treatment of infectious diseases published guidelines in a peer-reviewed medical…

The Independent UK

Appeals court blocks hearings on drawing a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana

A federal judge's plan to hold hearings next week to draw up congressional boundary lines that would give Louisiana a second majority-Black district has been blocked by an appeals court

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