Tag: judges

Same Trump-Appointed DC Judge Who Saved Jim Acosta Just ORDERED the White House to Hand Hard Passes Back to Fake News CNN, MS NOW, and Politico

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Trump administration to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, ruling that President Donald Trump’s ban on the outlets was likely unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee from 2017 and the same judge who forced the White House to give CNN’s Jim Acosta his pass back in 2018, signed a Temporary Restraining Order in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The outlets only had to post a laughable $1 bond.

The order directs administration officials, excluding President Trump personally, and those acting with them to return and reinstate the affected passes. The order covers credentials revoked on or about September 18.

The Gateway Pundit reported on Wednesday that Judge Kelly appeared skeptical during a hearing on Trump’s media ban.

A lawyer for the outlets accused the Trump Administration of banning the news organizations “completely out of the blue” and urged the judge to immediately restore their access.

“I think it is fair to say that process … wasn’t followed here, talking about predeprivation process,” Judge Kelly said, according to CNBC.

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Toronto Judge Acquits Man Who Attacked and Choked 7-Year-Old Girl While Shouting About Allah, Naked, Because He Was in a ‘Cannabis Psychosis’

An Ontario judge has acquitted a Toronto man who threw a seven-year-old girl to the ground, punched her, and choked her in her family’s driveway after he argued the attack was involuntary because he was in a cannabis-induced psychosis.

The man, Ahmed Baig, did not dispute that he attacked her.

Justice Mara Greene found him not guilty of assault causing bodily harm and assault by choking because he was so high at the time.

The attack happened August 2, 2023, in North York.

Greene wrote that Baig left his house wearing only a towel after vaping cannabis at home for anxiety. The towel fell off as he chased the child in the driveway.

“On August 2, 2023, Mr. Baig exited his residence wearing only a towel. He ran into the street, and as he did so, his towel fell off. Now fully naked, Mr. Baig chased a family who lived across the street. He ran into the driveway and picked up a seven-year-old girl. He threw her to the ground, punched her and strangled her. He then abruptly left the driveway, and a short time later was arrested by police. At the time of arrest, he wore only a t-shirt.”

The attack was captured on video.

The girl’s mother told the court he said both “I will kill you” and “I won’t kill you,” according to a report from the Toronto Star.

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DHS Lawyer Says Minnesota Judges Coordinated To Block Immigration Enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) top lawyer accused a federal judge of working with other judges to block immigration law enforcement after the jurist said that the Trump administration’s Minnesota enforcement surge created “a grave threat to the rule of law.”

The accusations followed a New York Times article published on Sept. 17 featuring a joint interview with seven Minnesota judges.

It is unusual for federal judges to sit for wide-ranging media interviews dealing with their rulings and what impact they have had. The high-profile enforcement surge in the Twin Cities ran from December 2025 to the middle of February 2026.

On Jan. 28, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz issued an order saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had failed to comply with nearly a hundred court orders. Schiltz, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2006 after being nominated by President George W. Bush, previously clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“ICE is not a law unto itself,” the judge said in a written order. “ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this Court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated.”

During the surge, DHS moved detainees out of Minnesota almost as quickly as attorneys could get into court. DHS General Counsel James Percival said Minnesota judges sat ready to issue emergency orders to keep those cases from leaving the judicial district. Schiltz said the court was responding to the government’s failure to obey its orders.

Judge Nancy Brasel said judges “are allowed to speak out about judicial independence” and “should, in order to keep it.” Judge Eric Tostrud said Schiltz was “the perfect person to lead us” during the surge, calling him “independent, brilliant, courageous. And not faint of heart.” Judge John Tunheim said the government “wasn’t arresting, in my view, people who were dangerous criminals on the street.”

Percival said on X on Sept. 17 that Schiltz’s comments that appeared that day in The New York Times show “profound bias against DHS and the current [administration] and he admits to extreme misconduct.” Percival said that Schiltz admitted to “essentially conspiring with his judicial colleagues to thwart DHS’s immigration enforcement in Minnesota.”

Percival said the next day on X that the article described “judges sitting by their phones ready to issue [temporary restraining orders] ASAP,” during the surge even though “there was no emergency.” The restraining orders were issued “to prevent judges from outside [Minnesota] from hearing the cases,” he said.

The judge said in the interview that his Jan. 28 order was prompted by concern that the federal government’s failure to obey court orders had clogged court dockets, exacerbated tensions in the protest-riven metropolis, and jeopardized the constitutional order. He said he believed most of the noncompliance arose from incompetence and understaffing, rather than conscious decisions to defy the court.

Several federal district judges, appointed by presidents from both parties, also spoke with the newspaper.

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The Court Lets Trump Keep Third-Country Deportations, but Adds a Big Condition

Six months ago, we checked in on President Donald Trump’s fight over third-country deportations after the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave his administration breathing room while the case continued.

Trump won that round.

Friday, the judges finally ruled on the substance, and the answer is more complicated.

Related: Trump Scores Court Win as Biden-Appointed Judge’s Deportation Block Stalls

The First Circuit ruled that the government may continue removing illegal aliens to third countries, meaning countries other than their own, but DHS can’t simply put someone on a plane without meaningful notice and an opportunity to raise a fear of persecution or torture.

From Bloomberg Law:

DHS issued the guidance permitting the removals in early 2025 as part of a broader immigration enforcement push and arranged deals with third countries to accept deportees who aren’t their citizens.

“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” Judge Seth Aframe wrote for the unanimous panel.

The dispute matters because third-party removals have become an important tool for Trump‘s immigration enforcement program. Some countries refuse to take their own nationals back. In other cases, the administration has reached agreements allowing migrants to be sent elsewhere.

More than 25,000 people have been sent to at least 29 third countries under the policy.

The legal problem begins when the destination was never part of the migrant’s original removal proceeding.

Federal law prohibits sending someone to a country where he is likely to be tortured. Existing regulations also provide procedures for people raising fear-based claims. The First Circuit concluded that DHS’s streamlined policy didn’t provide enough opportunity to use those protections.

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5th Circuit: Federal Ban on Interstate Handgun Sales Violates 2A

On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the federal ban on interstate handgun sales violates the Second Amendment.

CQ Almanac noted that the ban on interstate handgun sales was put in place via the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The ban was then fleshed out and expanded in the Gun Control Act of 1968 which was signed into law by Democrat President Lyndon Johnson.

The Fifth Circuit surmised: “The government’s theory of the Ban’s historical justification centers on its contention that ‘when it enacted the Omnibus Crime Control Act and the Gun Control Act of 1968 [which contains all of the provisions comprising the Ban], Congress sought to address concerns about public safety and that individuals deemed dangerous might evade state laws designed to ensure only law-abiding citizens could acquire firearms by purchasing them outside the jurisdiction.’”

But the government’s theory did not survive the Bruen (2022) test.

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Undeniable Judge Boasberg Communist Connections Finally Surface – Hosted Communist Propaganda Org’s Events 9 Times, 6 as FISA Judge

The federal judge who has become the face of opposition to President Donald Trump has long-running ties to an exchange program with the United States’ most powerful global rival.

Judge James Boasberg, chief justice for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, has been a thorn in the Trump administration’s side since the president returned to the White House in 2025.

But years before that, he was playing host to an organization with ties to the Chinese Communist Party even while serving on a court privy to some of the United States’ most sensitive information, according to documents publicized by a conservative journalist Thursday.

Natalie Winters is an investigative journalist and executive editor of “War Room,” the podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, who served briefly as chief strategist in Trump’s first-term White House.

In a Substack piece published Thursday, she detailed Boasberg’s ties to the China-United States Exchange Foundation.

The name sounds anodyne, but its activities are suspicious enough that the foundation was the subject of a November 2025 letter to Columbia University from the chairman of the House Select Committee on China, asking Columbia to end its ties with the group because it is part of a Chinese government system known as “United Front” — a propaganda effort committed to advancing the causes of the Chinese Communist Party.

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Justice Watch: Justice Gethin Edward gives house arrest to driver who killed 12-year-old girl

An Ontario judge sentenced a man convicted of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm to two years of house arrest after he killed a 12-year-old girl and left her mother requiring around-the-clock care.

Justice Gethin Edward rejected the Crown’s request for a four-year penitentiary sentence for 31-year-old Darris James Wilson.

Wilson was driving approximately 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone when his Dodge Ram crossed the centre line and struck a Mitsubishi head-on near Oakland, Ont., in February 2022. Investigators found no evidence that Wilson braked before the collision.

The crash killed Sierra Beverly, who was being driven to a sleepover, and caused her mother, Naomi Beverly, multiple fractures and an acquired brain injury. Beverly now requires 24-hour supervision.

Police found open and unopened beer cans around Wilson’s seat, although responding officers said they observed no signs of impairment.

Edward acknowledged more than a dozen victim impact statements describing the family’s grief but placed significant weight on Wilson’s Indigenous background and the effects of colonialism on his connection to Six Nations culture.

The judge heard from a sentencing circle of Wilson’s relatives and supporters and credited his efforts to reconnect with traditional practices following the crash.

Edward said sending Wilson to prison would once again allow the state to take away the culture that had been “systematically” taken from his family by the Canadian government.

“I’m left with this simple refrain: ‘If not now, when. If not this case, what case?’” Edward said. “Now, and this case.”

Wilson will serve two years of house arrest at a Brant County residence while wearing a GPS ankle monitor. He may leave for work, school, church and medical appointments. He is prohibited from driving, consuming alcohol or using non-prescription drugs.

Sierra’s parents called the sentence deeply disappointing and said it felt inadequate after four-and-a-half years of waiting for justice.

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Justice Watch: Justice Indra Maharaj scolds Crown for allowing too many victim statements after nine-year-old’s killing

An Alberta judge criticized prosecutors for permitting too many relatives and family friends to address the court after a carjacker high on meth killed a nine-year-old Calgary girl, according to a story first reported by the National Post.

Justice Indra Maharaj made the remarks while sentencing Duane Nepoose to 10 years in prison for the Boxing Day 2024 death of Victoria Desjardins.

Nepoose had violently stolen a Dodge Caravan and was fleeing police when he drove through a red light at approximately 170 km/h. The resulting collision killed Victoria and seriously injured her mother, sister and another woman.

He pleaded guilty to robbery, fleeing police, dangerous driving causing death and three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Twenty-two victim impact statements were submitted, with 18 presented to the court. Maharaj described their number, scope and content as “unusual.”

The judge said statements from Victoria’s immediate family and other direct victims were useful but questioned submissions from aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends. Some portions were disregarded because they described the hospital scene or memorialized the child.

Maharaj also admonished the Crown for allowing three of Victoria’s young cousins to present individual statements about losing her. She suggested their experiences could have been condensed into a single community impact statement delivered by an adult.

“While I accept that these young relatives were genuinely affected, their statements largely addressed the broader family and community impact of the death,” Maharaj wrote.

The judge similarly said a heartfelt statement from Victoria’s babysitter “tended toward a memorial” and could have been included in a collective family statement.

Under the Criminal Code, victim impact statements may describe the physical, emotional and financial consequences of a crime. Courts may exclude irrelevant, inflammatory or prejudicial material, but the law does not require extended families to consolidate their grief into a single statement.

Victoria was remembered as an outgoing and creative girl who loved nature and the outdoors.

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Trump-Appointed D.C. Judge Blocks President Trump’s USPS Mail-In Ballot Safeguards After Democrat Lawsuit — Claims Postal Service “Lacked Authority”

A Trump-appointed federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Sunday blocked the U.S. Postal Service’s new mail-in ballot rule, the one designed to stop untracked, unverified absentee ballots from flooding the midterms, after Democrat committees, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, LULAC, and the NAACP sued to kill it.

As reported right here on The Gateway Pundit back in May, Judge Nichols originally smashed the Democrats’ desperate, multi-headed lawsuits, brought by Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and left-wing activist groups, ruling they had absolutely zero standing to challenge President Trump’s March 31 Executive Order.

We celebrated this as a massive win for basic ballot security. Now, with the election breathing down our necks, Nichols has completely reversed course and sided with the very same activists he previously dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols granted preliminary injunctions against the Postal Service’s Final Rule on “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections.”

He ruled that key parts of the rule were ultra vires: Congress never gave USPS the power to force states to enroll mail voters in a federal portal, build state-specific absentee lists, and refuse outbound ballots that don’t match the list.

According to the court’s memorandum opinion, the rule created a Federal Ballot Mail Portal, required state and local election officials to submit voter and ballot information to USPS, established state-specific participation lists, and allowed the Postal Service to reject outbound federal ballot mail that failed to meet the new requirements.

Judge Nichols wrote that the Postal Reorganization Act authorizes USPS to collect, handle, transport, and deliver mail.

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Democrat-Appointed California Judge Charged With Sexually Assaulting Courthouse Staff and Cooking Up a Fake Motorcycle Alibi

A Democrat-appointed California judge sat on the Fresno County Superior Court for more than two decades.

Federal prosecutors now say that while he still wore the robe, he led a judicial assistant into a courthouse stairwell and sexually assaulted her, then lied to the FBI and tried to doctor records to cover a second incident involving another court employee found passed out in his chambers.

Adolfo M. Corona was put on the Fresno County Superior Court in 2003 by Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. A judicial profile listed his political affiliation as Democrat. He stayed on the bench until May 1, 2024.

According to ABC30 Fresno, no plea deal has been offered. A trial confirmation hearing is expected in July 2027, with a jury trial tentatively scheduled for August.

According to the news outlet:

Adolfo Corona faces five felony counts, including three counts of making false statements and a count of altering documents. The most serious count is deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily Injury and including a non-consensual sexual act.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean set the tentative trial date for 11 months from now, on Aug. 10. The attorneys in the case estimated the trial could last a month, including the time it takes to select a jury.

[…]

Corcoran and prosecutor Cody Chapple told the judge they had spoken informally about a plea deal. Chapple said his offer was “dead on arrival.”

He told the judge that prosecutors had turned over about 8,600 pages of evidence to Corona’s attorney.

If convicted, Corona could be sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexual assault and 20 years each for the obstruction charges.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement, a federal grand jury indicted Corona on five counts in August 2025.

Prosecutors allege that on March 14, 2024, while Corona was still serving as a judge,he lured a judicial assistant into a courthouse stairwell, where he sexually assaulted her.

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