All posts tagged: court

Appeals court asked to pause order halting Trump ballroom construction

Appeals court asked to pause order halting Trump ballroom construction

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump looks out at the White House Ballroom construction while arriving for a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Trump administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400 million ballroom creates a security risk for President Donald Trump as it asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling. In a motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.” “Time is of the essence!” the lawyers write, citing materials that will be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility. The ballroom construction also includes bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility, according to the filing. The ballroom is part of President Donald Trump’s plans to quickly remake Washington. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon …

After court battles, clergy visit ICE detainees in Illinois and Minnesota

After court battles, clergy visit ICE detainees in Illinois and Minnesota

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Shortly after the Rev. Paul Joseph Keller, two fellow Catholic priests and a nun were ushered into the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside Chicago on Thursday (April 2), a guard escorted five immigrant detainees to a space on the other side of a half-door. All were bound with shackles, Keller said. When he asked the guard, who was employed by a private company, if the shackles were necessary, the official apologized, explaining it was the result of being short-staffed. Keller and his colleagues then looked into the eyes of the detainees — some of which, he said, welled with tears — and did what they came to do: lead a brief, 15-minute Holy Thursday service, complete with prayers, Scripture readings and a reflection. As they concluded, one priest was allowed past the door, where he washed the immigrants’ feet, an ancient Christian ritual. Speaking to Religion News Service later that day, Keller said the experience of leading the service, which was repeated three times during their visit for a total of …

UK Police Arrest Fourth Suspect at Court Over Attack on Jewish Ambulances

UK Police Arrest Fourth Suspect at Court Over Attack on Jewish Ambulances

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) – British police arrested a ⁠fourth ⁠person in connection with an ⁠arson attack on Jewish community ambulances, with the detention happening at a ​London court where three males already charged in the case were appearing, prosecutors said on Saturday. Hamza Iqbal, 20, ‌Rehan Khan, 19, and a ‌17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of torching four ambulances belonging to ⁠the Jewish ⁠volunteer emergency service Hatzola on March 23 while they were parked near ​a synagogue in the Golders Green area of north London. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident at the time as a “deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack”.  FOUR PEOPLE CARRIED OUT THE ATTACK, CPS SAYS The SITE Intelligence website has ​said an Iran-aligned multinational militant collective called Islamic Movement of the People of the Right ⁠Hand had ⁠claimed responsibility for the ⁠incident. It said the ​group had been behind similar fires in Europe.  Counter-terrorism officers are heading the investigation in Britain, but ​as yet the incident ⁠is not being treated as terrorism. A prosecutor …

Golders Green: Three in court over arson attack on Jewish charity ambulances as additional arrest made | UK News

Golders Green: Three in court over arson attack on Jewish charity ambulances as additional arrest made | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

Two young men and a 17-year-old boy have been remanded in custody after appearing in court over an arson attack on Jewish volunteer ambulances in Golders Green. A further arrest in connection with the incident was made at the court, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Four ambulances from Hatzola, a volunteer-led ambulance service, were destroyed in the early hours of 23 March in north London. Hamza Iqbal, 20, and Rehan Khan, 19, both British nationals from Leyton, were on Friday charged with arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. A 17-year-old boy, a dual British and Pakistani national from Walthamstow, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also charged with the same offence. Image: Destroyed ambulances after being targeted in the early hours of 23 March. Pic: Cover Images/AP The group, who were all arrested on Wednesday at different locations in east London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. Prosecutor Emma Harraway told the court: “There is significant evidence that this was a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish …

US court orders resentencing for Colorado clerk involved in election scheme | Courts News

US court orders resentencing for Colorado clerk involved in election scheme | Courts News

Published by Sam Flores

Former clerk Tina Peters has become a cause celebre for the election denial movement and President Donald Trump. Published On 2 Apr 20262 Apr 2026 An appeals court in the state of Colorado has ordered the resentencing of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of involvement in an election meddling scheme in the United States. The court overturned Peters’s nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, but not her conviction for helping to tamper with voting machines after the 2020 presidential race. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Her case has become a cause celebre for President Donald Trump and the election denial movement, after it emerged that she was seeking evidence to support Trump’s false claim that his 2020 loss was due to massive fraud. In Thursday’s decision, the three-judge appeals panel ruled that a lower court had considered Peters’s personal beliefs when deciding upon a punishment, thereby rendering the sentence improper. “The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” …

Former Hin Leong oil tycoon OK Lim taken into custody at hospital to begin 13.5-year jail term

Former Hin Leong oil tycoon OK Lim taken into custody at hospital to begin 13.5-year jail term

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: Former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, 84, was taken into custody at Gleneagles Hospital on Thursday (Apr 2) to begin his jail term of 13-and-a-half years. Lim, better known as OK Lim, was supposed to surrender at the State Courts on Wednesday (Apr 1) to begin his jail term. It had been cut on appeal from 17-and-a-half years, with the High Court judge saying the sentence was “crushing” given his age and the likelihood he would not reoffend. Lim did not show up at the State Courts on Apr 1. Media reports stated that he had been hospitalised a few days before. CNA’s requests for comment from Lim’s son, Evan Lim, went unanswered. A spokesperson from the judiciary said that Lim’s counsel had submitted an application to defer the commencement of the sentence on Apr 1. The court gave an extension for bail until 3pm on Thursday. Lim was on bail of S$4 million (US$3.1 million), furnished by his wife. However, Lim did not show up at the State Courts on Thursday either. The …

Appeals court upholds block on HUD homelessness overhaul : NPR

Appeals court upholds block on HUD homelessness overhaul : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Tents are lined up on Skid Row Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption toggle caption Jae C. Hong/AP A federal appeals court late Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s push to impose new conditions on homelessness funding, saying implementing them “would be immediately destabilizing and disastrous.” The ruling upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction, the latest rebuke to a major shift that advocates warn would push 170,000 people in federally subsidized housing back into homelessness. That would include many who are disabled, elderly and veterans. The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to slash money for permanent housing and shift it to transitional programs that require sobriety, mental health treatment and other conditions. HUD Secretary Scott Turner has said this would nudge people toward self-sufficiency. The agency did not say whether it would appeal the ruling, but said in a statement that it “remains committed to reforming the misguided ‘Housing First’ approach that for years funded the self-serving homeless industrial complex, rewarded activists, and ignored solutions.” The change in …

Supreme Court birthright citizenship case focuses on birth tourism

Supreme Court birthright citizenship case focuses on birth tourism

Published by Sam Flores

D. John Sauer, then special assistant to the Louisiana attorney general listens during a hearing with the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Capitol Hill on July 20, 2023. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images A lawyer for the Trump administration during arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday leaned hard into his claim that so-called birth tourism is strong evidence that the U.S. policy of automatically giving citizenship to babies born in the country needs to end. The lawyer, Solicitor General D. John Sauer, said there are many companies, particularly ones that cater to Chinese and Russian elites, that offer to help them enter the U.S. so their children can be born there and gain citizenship. “The congressional report that we cite in our brief talks about certain hot spots, like Russian elites coming to Miami through these birth tourism companies,” Sauer told the high court’s justices as President Donald Trump looked on from the gallery. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that would …

“Stupid”: Trump huffs after Supreme Court questions birthright citizenship order

“Stupid”: Trump huffs after Supreme Court questions birthright citizenship order

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Just ten minutes before arguments were set to begin around the constitutionality of his executive order ending birthright citizenship, Trump entered the courtroom and took a front row seat. He sat for the entirety of the government’s argument, led by Solicitor General John Sauer. Soon after the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Celia Wang began her argument, Trump abruptly rose and left. The president shared his thoughts on the hearing in a brief Truth Social post. “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow “Birthright” Citizenship!” he wrote. (This claim is incorrect. The United States is one of 33 countries to provide birthright citizenship, and around 50 more have some form of the practice with stricter conditions.)  Trump’s presence at the court didn’t cow the justices, who seemed deeply skeptical of the government’s argument. Addressing Sauer, Chief Justice John Roberts pointed toward contemporary civil rights laws that took a broad view of citizenship. …