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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Harmed immigrants' rights
Ishimwe v. Barr
Trump Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson would have upheld the government's denial of petition for asylum and relief under the Convention Against Torture treaty, a denial that was criticized by a majority that included George W. Bush-appointed Judge N. Randy Smith.
Judges
Month decided
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Allowed unfairly long sentence
U.S. v. Two Crow
Trump Eighth Circuit Judge Steven Grasz cast the deciding vote that allowed a lower court to sentence a man to prison for a longer period than Congress authorized for the federal crime he committed, raising serious constitutional concerns.
Judges
Month decided
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Upheld abortion gag rule
Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. Azar
Trump Fourth Circuit Judges Richardson and Rushing ruled that despite a district court's preliminary injunction striking it down, the Trump administration's dangerous domestic gag rule that forbids federally-funded health clinics from discussing abortion with their patients can go into effect in Baltimore while the injunction is appealed.
Judges
Month decided
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Race discrimination claim
Hassen v. Ruston Louisiana Hospital Company
Trump Fifth Circuit Judge Don Willett wrote a ruling that affirmed a lower court's dismissal without trial of a woman's claim that a hospital refused to hire her because she is Black, despite evidence that the hospital's explanation for not hiring her was false.
Judges
Month decided
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Rejected claim against police by protesters
Hartman v. Thompson
Trump Sixth Circuit Judge John K. Bush cast the deciding vote to affirm a lower court ruling that dismissed without trial a group of protesters' claims that their free speech rights were violated and they were improperly arrested when they attempted to protest the discriminatory policies of the Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB).
Judges
Month decided
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Harmed fair housed rights
Inclusive Communities Project v. Lincoln Property Co.
Trump Fifth Circuit Judges Ho, Willett, Duncan, Engelhardt, and Oldham cast the majority of the nine votes that denied rehearing of a previous split decision by Engelhardt that significantly undermined the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA).
Judges
Month decided
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Use of force claim
McCottrell v. White
Trump Seventh Circuit Judge Barrett dissents from ruling by George H. W. Bush appointee to reverse summary judgment against prisoners regarding the excessive use of force by firing buckshot over heads of prisoners in dining hall.
Judges
Month decided
Court
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Child slave labor
Doe v. Nestle
Trump Ninth Circuit Judge Mark Bennett wrote a dissent from a rehearing denial, arguing that Nestle and another large U.S. corporation could not be sued for aiding and abetting the use of child slave labor to produce cocoa in Africa.
Judges
Month decided
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Allowed second prosecution after acquittal
Langley v. Prince
Trump Fifth Circuit Judges Duncan, Engelhardt, Ho, Oldham, and Willett joined an opinion that reversed a panel decision and ruled that double jeopardy did not bar a second prosecution of someone for specific intent to murder, despite an acquittal six years earlier.
Judges
Month decided
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Census restrictions
Department of Commerce v. New York
Trump Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch make majority to say Commerce had authority and evidence to include citizenship question on census, but dissent with Thomas and Alito from ruling that Commerce was dishonest and case must be remanded.
Judges
Month decided
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Weakened debt collection protection
Casillas v. Madison Avenue Associates
Trump Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett wrote an opinion ruling that Paula Casillas did not have standing to enforce a clear violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
Judges
Month decided
Court
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Enabled partisan gerrymandering
Rucho v. Common Cause
Trump Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was the fifth vote to deny specific challenges of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering; he was also the fifth vote to keep the door open to future challenges.
Judges
Month decided
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School could fire teacher for disability
Biel v. St. James School
Trump Ninth Circuit Judges Bade, Bennett, Collins, and Nelson dissented from a decision not to have a larger panel of the full court rehear a decision that allowed a teacher to pursue a claim that a religious school improperly fired her because she had breast cancer.
Judges
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Changed precedent in land cases
Knick v. Township of Scott
Trump Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh joined a decision that overruled a 35-year-old precedent and said that local governments must pay in advance when they take property via eminent domain or face immediate federal lawsuits.
Judges
Month decided
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Harmed immigrant
W.M.V.C. v. Barr
Trump Fifth Circuit Judge Don Willett cast the deciding vote in denying an asylee's right to be compensated for legal fees she had incurred solely because the federal government had pursued an obviously meritless claim against her.
Judges
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Violated free of speech
Butler v. Board of County Commissioners
Trump Tenth Circuit Judges Eid and Carson voted with the majority against rehearing a decision raising a freedom of speech violation against a government employer who demoted an employee for testifying as a private citizen in a child custody matter.
Judges
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Censored public access cable
Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck
Trump Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch ruled that two producers could be banned from Manhattan cable TV public access channels because they produced a film criticizing the company that runs the channels.
Judges
Month decided
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Limit recovery by Holocaust survivors
Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany
Trump D.C. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas issued a solo dissent from the full court's decision not to reconsider a ruling that upheld Holocaust survivors' ability to sue a German agency to recover property seized by the Nazis.
Judges
Month decided
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Limit police immunity
Williams v. City of Georgetown
Trump Sixth Circuit Judge John Nalbandian cast the deciding vote to uphold the dismissal of a woman's claim that police improperly abandoned her brother late at night, even though they knew he was impaired, leading to his death several hours later.
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