pelespirit

The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it far more difficult for foreigners to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts alleging serious violations of international law. In an opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the justices ruled that a 1789 law, the Alien Tort Statute, on which plaintiffs have relied to bring such cases, only allows lawsuits based on the very small group of claims that Congress likely had in mind when it passed the law. The court also ruled that the Torture Victim Protection Act, a 1991 law that allows suits against individuals who subject others to torture while acting on behalf of a foreign government, does not allow lawsuits for aiding and abetting torture.

Barrett acknowledged “that ATS and TVPA cases frequently involve heinous and inhumane acts” for which “[t]he political branches or other international actors may well provide redress. But,” she wrote, “we decline to distort the statutory text or the Constitution’s allocation of powers to enlist U.S. courts in that project.”

After a three week jury trial, the nine activists were all found guilty of a slew of criminal charges in March, stemming from a Fourth of July protest at an immigrant detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, south of Fort Worth.

The demonstrators arrived late at night with a plan to set off fireworks as part of a noise demonstration to show solidarity with those detained inside. A few of the protesters spontaneously broke off from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van and broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.

Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, and Elizabeth Soto were sentenced to 50 years in prison. Maricela Rueda, another demonstrator, was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Benjamin Song, who fired the gun at the police officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison. The other protesters were continuing to be sentenced Tuesday morning.

Since the charges in the case, the government has brought a number of similar prosecutions against activists. Earlier this month, prosecutors filed criminal conspiracy charges against 15 activists in Minneapolis who allegedly interfered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in performing their duties. A federal jury in Spokane, Washington, found three protesters guilty of conspiracy for participating in a 2025 protest at an ICE facility. A similar case in Chicago against protesters fell apart after it was revealed there was misconduct before grand jurors.

After the conservative activist was shot, Ruhtenberg wrote things like "live by the sword, die by the sword" and "you reap what you sow" and that she disagreed with Kirk's views about the Second Amendment. Ruhtenberg also said that "whoever shot [Kirk] should go to prison."

State public defender Jeff Wright testified during the appeals proceedings that Ruhtenberg was fired because her posts were perceived as condoning violence.

Ruhtenberg then sued the state and Wright in federal court for First Amendment retaliation. In May, they settled and Ruhtenberg was awarded $125,000 in damages.

The Iowa public defender's office and Wright did not respond to a request for comment.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of millions of Americans’ private information — including Social Security numbers and citizenship status — saying the administration has fed knowingly inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls.

“The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote in a 75-page ruling. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”

A U.S. judge found ​that the Trump administration unlawfully demanded information from several Minnesota officials at the height of its immigration crackdown in the state ‌earlier this year, ruling that the Justice Department had abused the investigative process.

The ruling by Minnesota-based U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed subpoenas to the office of the state's Democratic Governor Tim Walz and five other local and state offices, according to an order made public on Monday.

It effectively halts a probe by President Donald Trump's Justice Department into whether ​Democratic officials had impeded immigration enforcement in their public resistance to the deployment of thousands of agents to conduct deportation roundups.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s principal focus in recent weeks has been lining up support on Capitol Hill ahead of his upcoming Senate confirmation hearings, with a specific focus on winning over GOP skeptics. But Donald Trump’s controversial former defense attorney has more troubles than lining up 51 votes.

As this week got underway, Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy and a group of 101 former federal and state judges filed a complaint against Blanche with the New York State Bar, which included a formal request for an ethics investigation.

The 73-page complaint specifically focused on three areas of alleged misconduct:

• Blanche’s role in orchestrating the creation of a $1.776 billion compensation fund, widely panned as a “slush fund,” and an IRS audit shield for the president and his family.
• Blanche’s role in “abusing the investigative and prosecutorial powers” of the Justice Department to target the president’s perceived political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey.
• Blanche supervising the DOJ’s “flawed response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, including the disclosure of thousands of records containing sensitive victim information.”

https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-delays-release-us-voting-machine-study-midterms-near-2026-06-19/

White House officials have for months delayed the release of a U.S. government report that outlines what it describes as significant vulnerabilities in the ​nation's voting machines ahead of the November midterms, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, concludes that voting ‌machines could be further safeguarded by, for example, updating their software, the sources said. It does not say the vulnerabilities have led to votes flipping, but examines security gaps in how the machines are used during U.S. elections.

Some White House officials have argued the report could undermine voter confidence, particularly among Republicans. Others have said they do not believe the report goes far enough in supporting President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, the three sources said. Some Democrats said privately they ​worried Gabbard’s probe into voting machines would be used by the administration to push states to use paper ballots.

Siding with SpaceX and the General Land Office, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that environmental groups did not have a right to sue to preserve public access to a beach that has been closed during rocket launches.

The unanimous ruling said a trial judge properly dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the groups could not refile it with changes.

The dispute began in 2021 when then environmental group SaveRGV sued the Texas General Land Office, Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and Cameron County, arguing Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 — the only access road — had been improperly closed for SpaceX launches.

SaveRGV said the closures violate the Texas Constitution, which was amended in 2009 to guarantee public access to, and use of, state beaches. The amendment was approved with support from 77% of Texans.

“You make threats; we take action,” Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote on social media in apparent reference to Trump.

“The Strait of Hormuz is neither your personal casino nor the backyard of modern-day pirates; these are Iranian sovereign waters, and the ultimate decision rests with the noble people of Iran and its brave armed forces.”

Article on the rerouted funds:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just found nearly a billion dollars — $934 million to be exact — hidden deep in the Pentagon couch cushions. That money was supposed to fund Sentinel, a $77.7 billion modernization project for America’s aging nuclear missile system. Instead, it’s being rerouted to a classified project.

https://thehill.com/opinion/lindseys-lens/5423497-hegseth-rerouting-pentagon-funds-to-refurbish-qatari-jet-into-air-force-one/