Tag: lawsuits

‘Louisiana Lockup’ Detention Center Is Punishing Immigrants for the Same Crime Twice, New Lawsuit Says

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit on Monday, accusing Louisiana’s new immigration detention center, “Louisiana Lockup,” and the Trump administration of indefinitely locking up immigrant detainees in the facility and punishing immigrants for the same crime twice, in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause.

The Louisiana facility opened on September 3, using the blueprint forged by Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz. After Republican Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency in July to expedite repairs to a section of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana—a maximum-security prison notorious for violent and inhumane conditions—the state partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to add 416 immigrant detainee beds. 

“This facility is designed to hold the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” and is meant “to consolidate the most violent offenders into a single deportation and holding facility,” Landry said during a press conference on opening day. “Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the country,” he continued, “with 18,000 acres bordered by the Mississippi River, swamps filled with alligators, and forests filled with bears.”

“If you don’t think that they belong somewhere like this,” Landry said, referring to the incoming immigrant detainees, “you got a problem.” 

But in the case of Oscar Amaya, a 34-year-old man who is currently detained at “Louisiana Lockup,” there may very well be a problem. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, argues that Amaya’s continued detention violates the Double Jeopardy Clause and is designed to punish him—again—for a prior conviction. 

Although immigration detention is a civil penalty, double jeopardy applies if the civil sanctions are applied punitively. As the complaint, reviewed by Reason, points out, the punitive nature of imprisonment in a place like Angola is no secret. Rather, both Landry and Trump administration officials seem to relish in the facility’s violent past. “This is not just a typical [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ICE detention facility that you will see elsewhere in the country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proclaimed during the facility’s opening. “This is a facility that’s notorious.…Angola Prison is legendary.”

Amaya fled Honduran gang life in 2005 and worked in the United States “without incident” until 2016, according to the complaint. That year, he was arrested and later “convicted of attempted aggravated assault, possession of a weapon (knife) for unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon (knife).” Amaya was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, but was released after two years with good time credits. 

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Lawsuit: The Dead Still Live On Michigan’s Dirty Voter Rolls

n elections integrity watchdog is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on leftist-led Michigan’s dirty voter rolls, apparently filled with tens of thousands of dead registrants. 

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) has filed a petition seeking review of the landmark Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Jocelyn Benson, which challenges the Wolverine State’s refusal to clean up its voter rolls — a requirement under the National Voter Registration Act. 

‘Reasonable Effort’

PILF argues that the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in its ruling last year affirming a lower court opinion that found the Secretary of State’s office has made “reasonable efforts” to properly remove the names of deceased individuals from Michigan’s voter rolls. The case aims to clarify what a “reasonable effort” in the face of evidence that Michigan’s limited list-maintenance program’s design “virtually guarantees that thousands of deceased voters remain on the rolls.”

“Michigan’s refusal to act on overwhelming evidence of deceased registrants violates federal law,” said Kaylan Phillips, PILF’s legal counsel for the case. “The NVRA requires states to make efforts that keep the rolls accurate.”

PILF’s analysis of Michigan’s voter list identified more than 27,000 likely deceased individuals registered to vote. Some of those former citizens of the living have been dead for decades, according to the complaint. Of the suspect registrants, nearly 4,000 have been dead for at least 20 years, PILF found. Throughout the legal challenges, the foundation sent Michigan’s far-left secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, obituaries and gravestones of many of the deceased registrants. 

One individual registered to vote was apparently born in 1823 — some 14 years before Michigan became a state. The person was registered to vote in 2008. It’s either an invalid registration or state elections officials have some trouble entering basic data, the foundation’s investigation mused. 

The Foundation said its findings were consistent with state audits showing similar problems, but Benson has “repeatedly declined to investigate or release records explaining how the state maintains its voter rolls.”

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Kentucky AG sues Roblox after Charlie Kirk ‘assassination simulators’ found on platform

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging the company failed to protect minors from sexual predators and explicit material, including violent simulations depicting the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Filed on Monday, the suit accuses the California gaming platform of operating as a “playground for pedophiles” by neglecting to implement any meaningful age verification, moderation, or parental safeguards. Roblox, which reports more than 111 million active monthly users, is used by roughly two-thirds of American children aged 9 to 12.

According to the complaint, predators frequently create fake accounts posing as children to contact and groom minors. “Roblox is designed to allow predators easy access to children,” prosecutors wrote, alleging that the company’s inaction has resulted in “harassment, kidnapping, trafficking, violence, and sexual assault.”

The lawsuit also highlights the appearance of “Charlie Kirk assassination simulators” following the Turning Point USA founder’s assassination at Utah Valley University last month. Prosecutors said the user-created games allowed children “as young as five” to view animated depictions of the September 10 shooting.

At a press conference, Coleman called on Roblox to implement stronger parental controls, improved content filters, and more stringent verification procedures. Kentucky mother of three Courtney Norris joined him, saying she had once considered Roblox a safe option for her children. “I came to realize, later than I would like to admit, that it actually is the ‘Wild West’ of the internet, targeted at children,” she said, according to the New York Post.

Kentucky’s legal action follows similar cases in Louisiana, Iowa, and North Carolina, where parents allege their children were exploited through the platform. In one instance, a 13-year-old girl was reportedly trafficked across several states and raped after meeting a predator on Roblox.

In a statement, Roblox said it maintains “rigorous safety measures” including artificial intelligence monitoring, 24/7 moderation, and age-estimation technology. “No system is perfect, and our work on safety is never done,” the company said.

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Des Moines school district sues firm behind hiring of illegal alien superintendent

Iowa’s largest public school district is suing the firm that helped it hire an illegal immigrant — Ian Roberts, who is now in Department of Justice custody — for negligence and breach of contract.

One-Fourth Consulting, which operates under its brand JG Consulting, was sued in the Iowa District Court for Polk County last week by the Des Moines Independent Community School District (DMICSD) for its role in hiring Roberts. 

Roberts was hired to be the superintendent of the district in May 2023 at a salary of $270,000.

Last month, Roberts was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was subsequently charged with possession of illegal weapons after a loaded handgun was found in his car following his arrest.

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TDF secures legal victory for Amish client in Quarantine Act challenge

The Democracy Fund has achieved another significant win in its ongoing efforts to defend members of the Amish community facing convictions under the Quarantine Act. The convictions arose from tickets received by the Amish upon crossing the border during the COVID-19 pandemic: Crown prosecutors alleged that the Amish failed to provide information required by the ArriveCan app.

On September 25, 2025, the Niagara Provincial Court issued a suspended sentence with no fine ($0) for an Amish client whose conviction was previously overturned and reopened by TDF lawyers. The outcome ensures that a member of the Amish community is spared undue hardship caused by financial penalties and credit problems.

As previously announced, TDF filed reopening applications in Niagara Provincial Court on behalf of two Amish clients. The court granted the application for one client, overturning their conviction and scheduling a new trial, while denying the second application.

The clients, originally from an Ontario Amish community and now residing in the United States following marriage, were charged with non-compliance with COVID-19 regulations and failure to complete the ArriveCan app. These requirements posed significant challenges for the Amish, whose religious beliefs prohibit the use of modern technology. Many of TDF’s Amish clients face substantial fines and property liens, threatening their farms and traditional way of life. TDF remains unwavering in its commitment to safeguarding their homes and livelihoods.

TDF Senior Litigation Counsel, Adam Blake-Gallipeau, stated: “Obviously, the Amish have limited access to modern technology and live a Biblically-based lifestyle: this outcome upholds their religious freedoms. We’re pleased with the result since it ensures that our client is no longer threatened with the destruction of his credit rating and financial penalties.”

TDF proudly represents over 30 Amish clients across Ontario, advocating tirelessly for fair treatment under the law for these peaceful communities.

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‘Be still’: State trooper punched disabled man he knew was suffering a seizure, dragged him across concrete, lawsuit says

A man has sued a North Carolina state trooper for allegedly punching and dragging him across concrete after suffering an epileptic seizure that apparently caused him to crash his car.

Thomas Simmons, who says he suffers from epilepsy, is accusing Sgt. Ashley Smith with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol of disability-based discrimination, using excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and even falsely indicating he was driving impaired.

Simmons was 44 years old when, on May 25, 2024, he was driving a car on Highway 33 in Greenville as part of his job delivering items to customers for Walmart. According to the lawsuit, he began having an epileptic seizure, lost consciousness and control, sideswiped another car and crashed into a utility pole.

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A witness called 911, and Smith responded to the scene. When he got there, a witness told the officer that the driver, Simmons, “appeared to be having a seizure,” per the lawsuit. Greenville police officers also responded to the crash site.

Smith is said to have made statements “indicating he understood” Simmons was suffering from a seizure, such as, “Notify Greenville PD, I believe somebody advised that the subject’s possibly having a seizure.” When a bystander told Smith, “He’s seizing,” after Smith stepped out of his vehicle, the trooper replied with the same words, “He’s seizing,” per the lawsuit.

Furthermore, according to Simmons, Smith requested the man’s hospital records the next month. In his report, Smith wrote that when he found Simmons, he “was slumped over and appeared to be suffering from what I originally thought was a seizure or medical condition based on what witnesses on scene were telling me and what I was observing from him.”

Smith approached Simmons’ car and saw him “convulsing inside his vehicle,” leading him to break the front passenger-side window and attempt to make contact with the man. “Hey brother, you alright? S—t. Hey man, be still, brother. Be still,” he reportedly said.

However, when Smith backed away — despite not noticing any drugs in the vehicle — he told onlookers, “Looks like a drug problem. Y’all step on back,” per the lawsuit, which stated Simmons was incapacitated, moaning and crying unintelligibly.

“Hey man, what’s your name, brother?” Smith reportedly asked, again attempting to communicate with Simmons. He managed to get the door open, prompting Simmons to “woozily” rise to his feet. Smith apparently did not like that.

“Don’t get out,” he allegedly said. “Hey, I’m gonna hurt you, man.” The trooper is said to have repeated this threat as Simmons “did not respond” to his commands, and after the second time, Smith “delivered a forceful, closed fist strike directly to Plaintiff’s face,” the lawsuit states.

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YouTube Bows to Trump in Censorship Lawsuit, Will Pay Millions to Avoid Court

And then there were none.

YouTube, a Google subsidiary, became the last of three tech titans to settle a lawsuit brought forth by President Donald Trump, according to a blistering report from The Wall Street Journal.

The video sharing platform agreed to pay a hefty $24.5 million to settle lawsuits brought forth by Trump in 2021.

At the time, the president’s YouTube account had been banned following the Jan. 6 incursion at the U.S. Capitol.

YouTube claimed that they had gone to those extraordinary lengths to remove Trump’s channel to nix potential videos that may incite violence.

(The channel was reinstated in March 2023.)

The YouTube settlement is the second-biggest of the lawsuits brought against various tech titans by Trump — and that appears to be intentional.

The biggest settlement Trump had was with Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, which was for $25 million.

“Google executives were eager to keep their settlement smaller than the one paid by rival Meta, according to people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

While $24.5 million does come in lower than the $25 million Meta paid, it’s more than double what X, formerly Twitter, paid Trump for a similar lawsuit, as the now-Elon Musk owned platform paid $10 million.

Interestingly, while Trump will “keep” most of this settlement money — $22 million — none of it will actually be going to him.

The Wall Street Journal noted that the money will be immediately rerouted to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, tasked with building a grand ballroom near the White House.

The other $2.5 million will be dispersed among various other plaintiffs. There is no mention of attorney fees.

This decision comes months after YouTube was apparently having “productive conversations” with the Trump administration in June, per The Hill.

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GUESS WHO’S NOT ABOVE THE LAW? MI SOS Benson In The Hot Seat After DOJ Sues Her For Blocking Access to Michigan’s Dirty Voter Rolls

On Thursday, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the filing of federal lawsuits against six states — California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania for failure to produce their statewide voter registration lists upon request. The lawsuit against Benson was filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, charging that she is violating federal law by stonewalling investigators and demanding that she be compelled to turn over the records.

Michigan residents have watched Secretary of State Benson mock efforts by state lawmakers and threaten citizens who ask for transparency in elections since 2020, all in an effort to shield her dirty rolls from scrutiny.

The statement from the DOJ reminds Americans about the importance of well-maintained voter rolls: “Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court.”

“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”

Yesterday, in response to the lawsuit against her, the defiant Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, mocked the DOJ’s demand for transparency, saying, “It’s important for every Michigander to understand what’s at stake here – the U.S. Justice Department is trying to get us to turn over the private, personal information of more than 8 million state residents. That includes people’s driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information.” Benson called it an”  illegal and unconstitutional power grab,” adding, “I told them they can’t have it.”

Perhaps someone should inform Jocelyn Benson that the government has access to the Social Security numbers of all American citizens. It’s not the American citizens who are legally registered to vote in Michigan that the DOJ is concerned about; it’s the ILLEGAL aliens and fake voters created during her 7 years in office that the DOJ is interested in reviewing.

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States Sue HHS Over Order to Remove ‘Gender Identity’ in K-12 Sex Education

A coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration to keep materials they say “recognize and affirm gender identity” in their federally funded K-12 sex education programs.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Oregon, is co-led by the attorneys general of Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington.

At issue is an order from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that prohibits what it calls “gender ideology” in lessons supported by two federal grants: the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) program. Both are used to teach teenagers about preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Citing President Donald Trump’s order that no federal dollar should go into indoctrinating children in “radical, anti-American ideologies,” the HHS in August demanded that 46 states and territories remove references to gender identity from teaching materials or risk penalties, including the suspension or termination of funding. The deadline for them to comply with the conditions is Oct. 27.

“Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas,” Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary for HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, said at that time. “The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”

The suing coalition argued that the order violated Congress’s spending power, and that terminating the funding through these programs will result in a loss of at least $35 million and will “harm the very populations Congress intended to help.” The coalition members also argued that compliance would conflict with their own laws and policies requiring “inclusive” sex education curricula.

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Department of Justice Sues 6 States Over Voter Registration Lists

The Department of Justice is suing six states for allegedly failing to provide the federal government with their voter registration lists, the Justice Department announced on Sept. 25.

The states are California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

States are required by federal law to provide the attorney general with voter registration records upon request, the Justice Department said.

President Donald Trump’s March 25 executive order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” directed officials to “identify unqualified voters registered in the States.”

In the complaint, the federal government said the six states had expressed concerns about privacy protections for voters and refused to cooperate with requests for the information, including each voter’s full name, date of birth, address, state driver’s license number, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.

The cases have been filed separately in federal district courts in each of the six states.

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