* Government shutdown comes for bar exams. [ ABA Journal] * Kash Patel fires FBI's aviation director after media caught Kash Patel using taxpayer-funded FBI jets to go on dates. [ Bloomberg Law News] * Judges rule that the White House can't selectively shut down statutory obligations to target his political enemies. [ Law360] * ChatGPT has supposedly stopped giving legal advice, but... [ Artificial Lawyer]
Queensland's controversial ban on puberty blockers and other hormone therapies is unlawful because of a failure to properly consult health executives on a decision affected by political interference, a court has heard. The supreme court in Brisbane on Wednesday heard the ban should be overturned as part of a legal challenge launched by the mother of a transgender child. The mother cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The law Trump has cited to activate National Guard troops is not the Insurrection Act - though he has openly contemplated it - but rather an emergency statute titled Section 12406. (Not every statute gets a memorably ominous moniker.) That law permits the president to deploy the Guard, even over the objection of a state governor, in cases of rebellion or foreign invasion, or when "the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."
has banned the president's deployment of National Guard units to Portland on the grounds that the president's claim that Portland is a "burning hellhole" besieged by violent anarchists is "untethered to facts."
Ansari, who issued legal proceedings on Wednesday against the home secretary and the chief constable of north Wales police, was stopped by officers at the port of Holyhead on 6 August as he returned from a family holiday in Ireland with his wife and four children. Ansari is challenging the decisions to detain and question him, seize his work mobile phone and retain and seek to examine a copy of the phone.
The Guardians of Whitewebbs group has successfully crowdfunded 26,000 to seek a judicial review of Enfield council's granting of planning permission for the Spurs academy, which will include all-weather pitches, floodlights and a turf academy built on 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park. Enfield council's planning committee approved the proposals in February, despite local protests, on greenbelt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees.
"The challenges the State faces today in the delivery of housing and infrastructure are being compounded by the utilisation of our laws in certain circumstances to delay, obfuscate and undermine the efficient delivery of vital projects which would benefit our communities and the common good as a whole," he warned. "In particular, the utilisation of judicial reviews to prevent the delivery of vital accommodation, transport or environmental projects because of technical breaches of statutory rules or procedure is abhorrent to the common good.
"I have an uneasy feeling about hangers-on with all this money on the table," Alsup said, per Bloomberg. Alsup noted the settlement was "nowhere close to complete" and required further clarification on vital aspects, including how claims would be filed, how class members would be notified, and which works were covered. Without these, Alsup argued, the deal could unfairly disadvantage authors and lead to future litigation.
In March, Trump installed Matthew Giordano, an experienced prosecutor and campaign donor, as US Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Three weeks later, he shoved Giordano aside, mumbling that he was honoring him with an appointment as ambassador to Namibia. Instead Trump installed his personal lawyer Alina Habba, a loyalist with zero prosecutorial experience. Trump nominated Habba for a full term, but the Senate never took up her appointment - and indeed she appears never to have even bothered to fill out the paperwork.
ICE's inability to verify claims made by a deported migrant highlights flaws in both their processing and decision-making regarding deportations, raising questions about their procedures.
On the foundation's decision to seek a judicial review, lead counsel Phil Bradley-Schmieg stated: "We are taking action now to protect Wikipedia's volunteer users, as well as the global accessibility and integrity of free knowledge."
Strunsky highlighted that the investigative report's reliance on uncorroborated claims from anonymous sources severely undermines its credibility and objectivity, raising concerns about its findings.
