Category «Courts»

Llano County settles librarian’s wrongful termination suit over book removals

Austin American Statesman – “Former librarian Suzette Baker will receive $225,000 in a settlement of her wrongful termination lawsuit against Llano County… [She] accused them of firing her in 2022 because she refused to pull library materials that a group of conservative activists had deemed inappropriate for children.” The settlement marks the end to a …

Subjects: Censorship, Courts, Free Speech, Legal Research, Libraries

How we could survive in a post‑collapse world

How we could survive in a post‑collapse world, Stephanie Rost. Discover Global Society. Received: 13 November 2024 / Accepted: 24 March 2025. “The potential for societal collapse has become a pressing concern as the impacts of climate change intensify, threatening global stability. This paper explores the multifaceted risks of collapse, emphasizing the interconnected environmental, economic, …

Subjects: Climate Change, Courts, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Financial System, Knowledge Management

Killing A Mockingbird – Lawyers Are Holding The Flashlight While Trump Buries The Carcass

Marc Murphy from Murphy’s Law: “…an attorney can never help their client commit a crime. Most of an attorney’s work is after-the-fact, and, even then, a lawyer cannot promote perjury or use their clients’ lies in trial if they know them to be false. And, while a lawyer “may discuss the legal consequences of a …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

John Roberts created a monster. It’s about to eat him.

Public Notice: The Supreme Court faces an existential dilemma of its own creation. “John Roberts and his fellow Republican Supreme Court justices not only paved the way for Donald Trump to retake the White House, but encouraged him to seize dictatorial powers upon his return. Now, the Trump Court’s rightwing ideologues appear poised to green …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

How to Save a Democracy

Foreign Affairs [unpaywalled] “Americans can learn from opponents of authoritarianism elsewhere. The first few weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency have accelerated a process of democratic erosion in the United States. In just two months, the president and his allies have issued executive orders of dubious constitutionality, violated the civil protections of federal workers, impinged …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump signs order seeking to overhaul US elections, including requiring proof of citizenship

Do you have, readily available, a valid copy of your birth certificate, indicating the first and last name by which you currently identify and conduct all other business and commerce related activities? If not, be prepared as this is yet another in a litany of rapid fire orders that Trump has issued to subvert our …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks

Follow up to Perkins Coie Drags Trump Administration Clear To Hell In New Lawsuit and Top Law Firm Capitulated to Trump Demands – via the Washington Post [no paywall]: “The president issued a new order Tuesday sanctioning yet another law firm, Jenner & Block. The result overall has been called an extraordinary threat to the constitutional rights …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Emails Reveal Top IRS Lawyer Warned Trump Firings Were a “Fraud” on the Courts

ProPublica: “On Feb. 20, nearly 7,000 probationary employees at the Internal Revenue Service began receiving an unsigned letter telling them that they had been fired for poor performance. Trump administration lawyers insist that the IRS and other federal agencies have acted within their authority when they ordered waves of mass terminations since Trump took office. …

Subjects: Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Donald Trump, Revenge Junkie

Mother Jones, David Corn: “Now that he’s back in the White House—after his humiliating 2020 defeat—Trump has embarked on a revenge-a-thon that goes beyond what we might have expected even from a vengeance junkie. He has removed security protection from past aides who pissed him off—including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, Cybercrime, Defense, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Housing, Internet, Legal Research

Federal Worker Layoffs Climb Toward 250,000 as Deadline Looms

Bloomberg Law: “The Trump administration’s push to drastically shrink the federal government shifts to a new gear Thursday, when agencies face a deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs and budget cuts. With them, the list of government job cuts that for weeks had been measured in the tens of thousands — and included retirements, …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Defense, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

Monitor Tracking Civic Space Adds US to Watchlist

Trump administration puts US civic freedoms under severe threat – CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist: “The United States of America (USA) has been added to our Watchlist as the country faces increasing undue restrictions on civic freedoms under President Donald Trump’s second term. Gross abuses of executive power raise serious concerns over the freedoms of peaceful assembly, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research