Courts

A man who threatened a federal judge presiding over prosecution of a Trump national security adviser was sentenced in Washington, D.C. Monday to 18 months in prison. Frank J. Caporusso, a 53-year-old electronic parts salesman, had pleaded guilty to threatening... Read More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pandemic restrictions on Florida-based cruise ships will remain in place after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a previous ruling that sided with a Florida lawsuit challenging the regulations. The one-paragraph decision by a three-judge... Read More

President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, by executive order in 2012, a federal judge ruled Friday. But U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, presiding in the federal court in Houston, stopped short... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Legal experts who testified to Congress Monday gave qualified support to President Joe Biden’s plan to make the federal judiciary more diversified. They said a judiciary that looks like the rest of America’s population was more likely to... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee approved bills Thursday to put video cameras in federal courts in a move that ups the chances more of the proceedings will reach household televisions soon. If the proposed legislation wins as expected in a... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge dismissed most claims filed by activists and civil liberties groups who accused the Trump administration of violating the civil rights of protesters who were forcefully removed by police before then-President Donald Trump walked to... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A new Department of Justice audit found the U.S. Marshals Service is too understaffed and poorly equipped to adequately protect the nation’s judges. The report was partly a response to the killing last year of a New Jersey... Read More

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration's suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water was blocked Tuesday by a federal judge in Louisiana who ordered that plans continue for lease sales that were delayed for... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday in what could be a move for her toward the Supreme Court. Jackson, 50, was nominated to... Read More

A judge on Tuesday ordered a Leesburg, Va., elementary teacher reinstated in his job after he was suspended for refusing to address transgender and nonbinary students according to their gender preferences. Physical education teacher Byron “Tanner” Cross refused to address... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson is asking for Supreme Court review of a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using the company's talc products. The case features an array of high-profile... Read More

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden’s first slate of judicial nominees is a marked departure from the mostly white and mostly male picks of the Trump years. In all, Biden named 11 individuals he’d like to see on the bench, 10... Read More

WASHINGTON -- As Congress struggled Friday to find the fine line between protecting crime victims and suspects in pre-trial proceedings, federal prosecutors were trying to recover from an embarrassing blunder. In both cases, the federal government seeks to eliminate stumbling... Read More

The Kansas Senate has confirmed two women to serve on the state's court of appeals, including the first woman of color to serve in that position. In doing so, the Senate took steps to assure itself neither woman would be... Read More

A ruling by Britain's top court last week that said Royal Dutch Shell oil company could be liable in English courts for pollution by its subsidiary in Nigeria, is likely to expand the company’s potential liability abroad. The court’s decision... Read More

When Gwen Boyd-Willis was released from a Georgia women’s prison after a four-month sentence for fraudulently using an ATM card left in a machine, she faced new barriers to gaining employment and becoming a productive member of society. Candid with... Read More

CHICAGO — Even five decades later, former federal prosecutor Dick Schultz has a pretty good idea of when the legendary Chicago 7 trial started to go off the rails: during the testimony of the very first witness. That day in September 1969, U.S. District Judge Julius Hoffman halted... Read More

WASHINGTON — The federal courts want Congress to spend $524 million and pass legislation to bolster safety measures for judges at home and at the courthouse, including legislation to make it a crime for anyone to refuse a request to... Read More

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to detail the number of mail-sorting machines and blue collection boxes that it slated for removal and provide other information about its recent changes to delivery in the... Read More

BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge in Idaho has issued a temporary injunction to keep the state from implementing a controversial law banning transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports while a legal challenge moves forward. The ruling... Read More

Only men can be drafted into the U.S. military, a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled last week. The ruling was based on a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group National Coalition for Men and two men who alleged... Read More

WASHINGTON - A District of Columbia judge’s ruling this week is the latest court judgment that absolves insurers from obligations to cover the losses of businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. A group of restaurants sued their insurer after the company... Read More

DETROIT — A federal appellate panel Tuesday upheld its June ruling that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and former state treasurer Andy Dillon could not be shielded from certain depositions in civil litigation related to the Flint water crisis. A... Read More

WASHINGTON - Judges and lawmakers at a congressional hearing Thursday left little doubt that Internet video and teleconferencing will become permanent parts of court proceedings soon. They described the emergency procedures instituted to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as an... Read More

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court in Washington sided with the way the Trump administration expanded its fast-track deportation process last year to a broader swath of immigrants who enter the country illegally, including those found anywhere in the U.S.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 51-42 to confirm Justin Walker, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky for less than one year but a protege of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for a seat... Read More

WASHINGTON - A plea bargain with federal prosecutors is allowing four activists to avoid jail time after they occupied the Venezuelan Embassy in April and May. The four were part of a group that stayed in the embassy in Washington,... Read More

It’s tough getting people to report for jury duty in normal times. It’s even harder during a pandemic. The kidnapping and rape trial of Kenneth Weathersby Jr. opened Feb. 24 in Vallejo, Calif., but three weeks later two jurors refused... Read More

As the world’s courthouses prepare to reopen, many are installing plexiglass “sneeze barriers” and instituting face-mask requirements for litigants and court staff. But one especially vexing problem remains: how to bring back the jury and where to put them. Consider... Read More

MIAMI — The fate of billions of dollars squirreled away in the bank accounts, luxury properties and exotic cars of convicted Venezuelan officials and their business cronies has become entangled in a colossal legal battle in Miami federal court. On... Read More