The Latest


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We can't let this be the new normal.
Confirmed Judges Confirmed Fears tracks the damaging impacts of Trump-appointed judges around the country, and chronicles the decisions that hurt all of us.
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Striking down trans rights guidance
State of Texas v EEOC
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was nominated by Donald Trump to the district court for the Northern District of Texas, issued a ruling that struck down nationwide Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance protecting transgender workers from employment discrimination.
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Upholding library book ban
Little v. Llano County
An en banc Fifth Circuit court overruled precedent and ruled that Americans do not have a right to sue when public libraries engage in political censorship. The 10-7 decision was made possible by the court’s six Trump judges, who all voted with the majority.
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EEOC rule on abortion accommodation
State of Louisiana v EEOC
Judge David Joseph, nominated by Donald Trump to the federal district court for the Western District of Louisiana, struck down an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule mandating that employers accommodate employee healthcare related to abortions.
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Letting Trump fire independent board members
Trump v Wilcox
Trump Justices Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh cast deciding votes in a 6-3 shadow docket ruling that reversed the DC Circuit and allowed Donald Trump, at least for now, to fire without cause officials at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB.)
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Federal worker union rights
National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) v Trump
Judge Justin Walker, nominated by Donald Trump to the DC Circuit, cast the deciding vote in a 2-1 order that reversed a lower court and allowed implementation of a Trump executive order to begin that deprives most federal workers of their union rights. Walker joined conservative George HW Bush nominee Karen LeCraft Henderson in the majority.
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Trump attack on Radio Free Europe
RFE/RL Inc v Lake
Judges Naomi Rao and Greg Katsas, both nominated by Donald Trump to the DC Circuit, joined a 2-1 decision that stayed a conservative lower court ruling that had kept funds flowing to Radio Free Europe and other government-sponsored media that the Trump Administration has tried to abolish.
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Weakening Voting Rights Act
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v Howe
Judge Jonathan Kobes, who was nominated by Donald Trump to the Eighth Circuit court of appeals, cast the deciding vote in a 2-1 decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by ruling that private individuals cannot sue under 42 U.S.C. 1983 to enforce violations of Section 2 of VRA.
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Approving AEA deportation
A.S.R. v. Trump
Judge Stephanie Haines, who was nominated by Donald Trump to the federal district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, became the only federal judge in the country to explicitly authorize the Administration to use the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador or elsewhere under a March proclamation by Trump. Haines’ ruling contradicts holdings by several other district judges who have rejected such requests, and the issue is likely to continue to be litigated, perhaps including in the Supreme Court.
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Decimation of Voice of America
Widakuswara v Lake
Judges Neomi Rao and Greg Katsas, each nominated by Donald Trump to the DC Circuit, joined in a 2-1 ruling that approved a major cut, to “the minimum level of operations required by statute,” to Voice of America (VOA) and other broadcast networks authorized by Congress. Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was nominated by President Obama, strongly dissented.
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Trump company liability in passenger death
Estate of Laura Ratley
Joel Carson, nominated by Donald Trump to the Tenth Circuit court of appeals, wrote a 2-1 decision affirming a lower court ruling that as a matter of law, a truck company and its driver were not liable for an accident that caused the death of two passengers and injury to a driver and another passenger.
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Ho joins MAGA attacks on Boasberg
in re Gary Westcott
Fifth Circuit Trump Judge James Ho joined Donald Trump’s attack on a lower court judge who the president and his collaborators have targeted for impeachment. In March, Washington DC district court Judge James Boasberg temporarily halted Trump’s program of kidnapping targeted immigrants and sending them to what is essentially a concentration camp in El Salvador without giving them a chance to have their case heard by a judge.
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Title IX sex discrimination
Demarcus v University of South Alabama
Judge Kevin Newsom, nominated by Donald Trump to the federal court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, wrote a 2-1 decision joined by Trump Judge Andrew Brasher that affirmed the dismissal of Title IX claims brought by students against a college volleyball coach.
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Denying asylum request
Thankaras v Attorney General
Stephanos Bibas, nominated by Donald Trump to the Third Circuit court of appeals, was the deciding vote in a 2-1 ruling that denied asylum to a Sri Lankan immigrant who was beaten and interrogated by police in his home country.
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Immigration enforcement in churches
Mennonite Church USA v DHS
Judge Dabney Friedrich, nominated by Trump to the district court in the District of Columbia, rejected a motion by more than two dozen religious groups and allowed immigration enforcement under the Trump Administration to go forward in churches and other houses of worship. The groups are suing on behalf of millions of Americans to challenge the Trump policy.
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Limiting consumer privacy law
Salazar v. Paramount Global
John Nalbandian, nominated by Donald Trump to the Sixth Circuit court of appeals, wrote a 2-1 decision that limited the scope of a federal consumer privacy protection statute in favor of big business.
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Cancelling teacher training grants
Department of Education v California
Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brent Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by Donald Trump, cast deciding votes in a 5-4 ruling that allowed the Trump Administration to terminate $65 million in teacher training grants as the litigation continues.
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Favoring insurers over injured consumer
McGranahan v Geico Indemnity Co.
Judge Mark Bennett, nominated by Donald Trump to the federal court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit, cast the deciding vote in a 2-1 decision that upheld the rejection of a settlement demand from a consumer who had been badly injured by a driver insured by an insurance company.
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Trump firing independent fed board members
Harris v Bessent
Judge Justin Walker, nominated by Donald Trump to the federal court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, cast the deciding vote in a 2-1 ruling that stayed lower courts and approved for now Trump’s summary firing of independent federal board members who decide cases on employees’ rights.
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Challenge regarding firearms law
Duncan v Bonta
Judge Lawrence Van Dyke, nominated by Donald Trump to the federal court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit, issued a video dissent that six of his colleagues wrote was “wildly improper” from a decision upholding a California law banning high-capacity gun magazines.
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State can't count ballots received after election
Republican National Committee v. Wetzel
Five Trump judges on the Fifth Circuit made possible a decision blocking states from counting certain absentee ballots even though they were mailed on or before Election Day.
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Removing state court case to federal court
Maryland v 3M Company
Trump judge Allison Rushing cast the deciding vote to reverse lower courts that had returned environmental lawsuits against corporations filed by Maryland and South Carolina to state court. Rushing joined a 2-1 decision by Judge Steven Agee, who was appointed by President George W Bush, to which Obama nominee Judge Henry Floyd dissented.
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