LJC In The News
Lawsuit Filed Against NC School Board for ‘Illegal Alien’ Suspension Controversy
(The Carolina Journal)—Following national outrage and attention from high-profile voices like Elon Musk, a lawsuit has been filed against the Davidson County Board of Education for violating a student’s rights to free speech, education, and due process. Sophomore Christian McGhee was suspended for using the word ‘illegal alien’ in class...
MS Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Private Schools, Allows Federal Funds for Infrastructure
(Mississippi Clarion Ledger)—Closing a recent case in which public school advocates went up against private schools, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled in the favor of private schools, allowing them the use of one-time federal pandemic relief funds. In the 2022 legislative session, Tate Reeves signed two bills approving the...
Iowa Farmland Owner Sues USDA over ‘Swampbuster’ Abuse, Restrictions
(Michigan Farm News)—Jim Conlan, an Iowa farmland owner and attorney by trade, filed a lawsuit April 16 against USDA for its attempt to restrict farming activities on land he owns in Iowa under the “Swampbuster” provisions of the 1985 Food Security Act. Represented at no charge by the Pacific Legal...
Lawsuit Challenges Federal ‘Swampbuster’ Law that Protects Wetlands
(Iowa Capital Dispatch)—An Iowa company is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the federal government’s so-called “swampbuster law” that requires farmers to either leave wetlands untouched or forfeit certain federal benefits. The lawsuit was filed this week by CTM Holdings in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...
Opinion: Public Defenders Shouldn’t Be Forced to Support a Union’s Anti-Israeli Speech
(National Review)—No one should be forced to pay money to an organization that advocates for points of view that they find deeply offensive. For example, a Jewish person shouldn’t be forced to pay for an organization that advocates ideas that he or she considers antisemitic. That’s the situation that Arnold...
Farmers Challenge ‘Swampbuster’ Law for Locking up Their Land
(E & E News | Politico)—Conservative lawyers are asking a federal court to strike down a wetlands conservation law that they say unconstitutionally blocks farmers from using their property without compensating them for their loss. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...
Opinion: The Federal Government Is Taking Advantage of Farmers Via One Law, and We’re Suing to End It
(Daily Caller)—When the government takes your land to build a road, highway or create a park, you get paid. That’s because while the government has the power of eminent domain—that is, the power to take private property for public use—the Fifth Amendment requires that it compensate you for any land...
Iowa Farmer Challenging Constitutionality of ‘Swampbuster’ Provision
(Center Square)—An Iowa man is challenging a decades-old provision that designates a portion of his land as “wetlands” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and prevents its use. The nonprofits Liberty Justice Center and the Pacific Legal Foundation are filing a lawsuit on behalf of Iowa farmer Jim Conlan, owner...
Opinion: A Campaign Against School Choice Prompts Criminal Charges
(Wall Street Journal)—Texas Republican voters sent a clear Super Tuesday message to opponents of education freedom within their party. Ten incumbents who are against school choice were either defeated or forced into runoffs in their primary elections. The results are a clear example of ballot-box accountability for career politicians who...
Jewish Attorneys Sue Union over Dues after Pro-Palestine Stance
(Law360)—A public defenders union violated the First Amendment by forcing two Jewish attorneys who oppose its pro-Palestine rhetoric to continue paying dues, the New York City-based attorneys claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, naming the city and their employer as defendants as well. Arnold Levine and Allen Popper said...
Jewish Legal Aid Lawyers Sue NYC Union over Criticism of Israel
(Reuters)—Two Jewish legal aid lawyers who represent indigent defendants in New York City filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming that being forced to pay dues to their union after it accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing and genocide” in Gaza violates their constitutional rights. Their lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, against...
NYC Public Defenders Sue over Paying Union Critical of Israel
(Bloomberg Law)—A pair of Jewish public defenders in New York City sued to stop paying money to their union because it made statements related to the Israeli-Hamas war that they consider antisemitic. The public defenders’ lawsuit filed Thursday argues for a novel extension of the US Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling...
Criminal Indictments Filed Against Denton ISD Administrators
(Center Square)—Criminal charges have been filed against two Denton Independent School District administrators after the ISD was sued by the Texas Attorney General’s Office in February for allegedly committing “illegal electioneering” using taxpayer money. Denton ISD was the first of seven ISDs sued by the Texas attorney general. On Feb....
Grand Jury Indicts Two Texas School Principals Accused of Electioneering
(Epoch Times)—Two Texas elementary school principals have been criminally charged following allegations of electioneering before the Republican primary elections last month. Jesus Lujan, 33, and Lindsay Lujan, 36, a married couple who are principals at Borman and Alexander Elementary Schools in Denton Independent School District, were indicted separately by a...
Tennessee Court Advisory Board Will Look at Alternate Juror Dismissal Timing
(The Center Square)—The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure listened to a proposal to keep alternate jurors on even after deliberations begin in a criminal case during its Friday public meeting. Circuit Court Judge Russ Parkes said the proposal came so cases did not have to be...