All posts tagged "Judges"

The fallout from President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has created serious concerns among judges, who issued an urgent plea to lawmakers Tuesday over crumbling courthouses, according to a new report.

Falling ceilings, contaminated water and malfunctioning elevators are among the problems facing federal judges and courts, Politico reported Tuesday. A top federal courts official has asked for courts to have the right to build or manage their own facilities. Courthouses are currently operated under the General Services Administration.

“Federal courthouses are in crisis. Without immediate action, the problems will continue to worsen,” Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, wrote in a letter to Congress. “Action is needed now to reverse a downward spiral of critical-system failures, long-term underfunding of repairs, security risks, and climbing costs.”...

While a judicial coalition applauded a federal appeals court decision this week to dismiss a complaint against a judge who stopped the Trump administration deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, the group is continuing to sound the alarm on threats to and attacks on judges they say the president is fueling.

Paul Kiesel, founder of Speak Up for Justice, a nonpartisan group advocating for judicial independence and protection, told Raw Story attacks from President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice, such as those directed at Judge James Boasberg in the District of Columbia, can have life-and-death consequences.

Just last month in Indiana, a superior court judge and his wife were shot at their home, allegedly in an attempt to derail a domestic abuse case involving a motorcycle club member....

Government watchdogs and legal experts warned that Republicans’ call for the impeachment of two federal judges at a Senate judiciary committee hearing this week upends historical norms and sets a dangerous tone of intimidation.

Led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Wednesday’s hearing, Impeachment: Holding Rogue Judges Accountable, was a nearly three-hour partisan battle on the merits of impeaching James “Jeb” Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia, and Deborah Boardman, district judge for the U.S. Court of the District of Maryland.

Only 15 federal judges have ever been impeached by the House of Representatives, and only eight removed by the Senate....

A judge appointed by Ronald Reagan has fumed at the decision to reject the GOP's proposed redistricting of Texas.

In a 2-1 ruling, the three-judge panel said the new congressional maps drawn earlier this year must be set aside. The proposed map, should it have been passed into law, would have opened up five new Republican-friendly House seats. The redistricting was voted against by Judge Jeffrey Brown and Judge David Guaderrama, two judges recommended to the bench by Donald Trump, according to CBS.

But the third judge on the panel, the Reagan-appointed Judge Jerry Smith, has denounced the decision in a 104-page document that told readers to "fasten your seatbelts". Judge Smith called the ruling and subsequent decision-making of his fellow judges "outrageous". ...

A legal ally of Donald Trump said that his advisory group is "keeping a list."

Former GOP staffer Mike Davis has made headlines for his social media comments in the past, and was rumored to be on Trump's list for attorney general. He has also threatened to make Senate Republicans' lives "hell" if they work against Trump.

On Saturday, Davis turned his attention to his fellow lawyers....

Currently, there are only a few dozen vacancies to be filled across the entire federal judiciary. But there are reportedly scores of federal judges who may soon leave their posts depending on the outcome of the November election.

NBC News reported that out of the 890 Article III federal judgeships — which includes U.S. district and circuit court judges serving lifelong terms as well as the nine Supreme Court judges — there are just 43 open positions throughout the country. This means the next president will have the fewest judicial vacancies of any incoming administration in decades.

But the number of vacancies in the federal judiciary may jump much higher depending on which party wins the White House and the U.S. Senate next month. According to Thomas Jipping, who is a senior legal fellow at the far-right Heritage Foundation (the organization behind Project 2025), there is a "dynamic process" to judges weighing retirement, and that many may announce their decision after the inauguration of the next president on January 20, 2025....