Jacqueline Thomsen

Bondi Overrode Weaponization Team in Dismissing Vaccine Case Attorney General Pam Bondi’s abrupt order to drop charges against the Utah plastic surgeon accused of selling false Covid vaccination cards came months after Bondi’s weaponization working group cleare...

News: AG Pam Bondi's order to dismiss charges against Utah plastic surgeon accused of selling fake Covid vaccine cards ran counter to an earlier decision from her weaponization working group. In April, the group rebuffed an appeal from doctor's lawyer: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Paul Clement to Defend Maryland Judges From DOJ Lawsuit US district judges in Maryland have hired top conservative litigator Paul Clement to defend them from a Justice Department lawsuit, according to court filings.

New: Star conservative lawyer Paul Clement has moved to defend Maryland's federal trial judges from a Justice Department lawsuit, the latest instance of him facing off with the Trump administration in court news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Hundreds of US Judges Received Over 400 Threats Since October There have been more than 400 threats to federal judges since October, surpassing the number of threats to judges in all of fiscal 2022 with over three months still left in this fiscal year.

There have been more than 400 threats to federal judges since October, surpassing the number of threats to judges in all of fiscal 2022 with over three months still left in this fiscal year.

Judd Stone Departs Texas Judicial Vetting Panel After Lawsuit Former Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone is off a committee of prominent lawyers charged with screening candidates for federal judgeships following a lawsuit that accuses him of sexual harassment, ac...

News: Former Texas solicitor general Judd Stone resigned from the committee that vets candidates for federal judgeships and US attorney roles in Texas after a lawsuit this week accused him of sexual harassment. with Ryan Autullo for @bloomberglaw.com news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Chief Judge Questions Judicial Boycotts in Tossing Complaint A federal appeals court chief judge dismissed a misconduct complaint against a district judge who will no longer hire law clerks from Columbia University, but said “widespread judicial boycotting” cou...

Another complaint rejected over federal judges not hiring clerks from Columbia -- but a circuit judge said there might an issue when judges "begin using their power as government officials to pressure private institutions to conform to the judges’ preferences" news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Maryland Federal Court Halts Quick Removals of Detained Migrants The Maryland federal district court adopted a new order that blocks the immediate removal of any detained foreign citizen who has filed a habeas petition.

New: Maryland's federal trial court adopted a standing order blocking the immediate removal of detained foreign citizens who file habeas petitions giving judges time to weigh those cases. It's the same court where Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case is being heard. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

ICYMI, we reported yesterday on those who have interviewed to be federal judges in the Western District of Texas bsky.app/profile/jacq...

Dozen Candidates Interview for Southern Texas Federal Judgeships A dozen attorneys and judges have interviewed for open seats in the Houston and McAllen, Texas federal district courts, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Scoop: A dozen people have interviewed to be federal judges in the Southern District of Texas. A former chief counsel for Cruz, state and magistrate judges, and current and ex-fed prosecutors are on the list, per sources familiar news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Newest Texas High Court Member Seeks Austin Federal Judgeship Justice James Sullivan, the newest member of the Supreme Court of Texas, has applied and interviewed to become a US district court judge in Austin, according to multiple people familiar with the matte...

News: Lawyers are lining up for the open federal judgeships in Texas. Folks interviewed include a new SCOTX member, a former Cruz counsel, a Paxton whistleblower and current magistrate judges. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Newest Texas High Court Member Seeks Austin Federal Judgeship Justice James Sullivan, the newest member of the Supreme Court of Texas, has applied and interviewed to become a US district court judge in Austin, according to multiple people familiar with the matte...

News: Lawyers are lining up for the open federal judgeships in Texas. Folks interviewed include a new SCOTX member, a former Cruz counsel, a Paxton whistleblower and current magistrate judges. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Shopping for the Judge You Want Honed to Perfection in Texas Conservative groups have ensured that their challenges to Biden administration policies get in front of like-minded judges by claiming an address in Fort Worth or Amarillo, recruiting plaintiffs who l...

The Trump appointee is one of two active judges who hear most cases filed in Fort Worth. The other judge is Reed O'Connor, a well-known conservative. Their court is in the Northern District of Texas, scrutinized over conservative "judge shopping" news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Texas Judge Pittman Wants Proof Lawsuits Belong in His Courtroom A Texas federal judge is now asking parties to prove that their cases belong in his courtroom after a high-profile back-and-forth with the Fifth Circuit over whether a national lawsuit should be heard...

News: Judge Mark Pittman now wants attorneys to prove their lawsuits belong in his Fort Worth federal court if there's no obvious ties to the division. Comes after an appeals court twice rejected his order transferring a national lawsuit out of his court news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

YouTube video by United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Dissent video in 23-55805 Duncan v. Bonta

Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMC7...

Judge VanDyke Displays Guns in Chambers in Unusual Video Dissent Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke submitted a video of him going over the parts of several hanguns in his chambers, as part of his dissent over a California gun law.

Judge Lawrence VanDyke said his colleagues on the Ninth Circuit don't understand how guns work. His solution? An unusual video dissent, filmed in his chambers, in which he went over the parts of several handguns.

Judge James Ho Targets 'Bias' at Law Firms Amid Trump Attacks Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho said many of the US’s largest law firms are suffering from “institutional bias,” amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on firms that he views as enemies.

Fifth Circuit Judge Jim Ho said many of the US’s largest law firms are suffering from “institutional bias,” amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on firms that he views as enemies. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US Judges Speak Out Against Republican Impeachment Push (1) A federal judge overseeing judicial security issues said he’s concerned about recent articles of impeachment filed against judges who have ruled against the Trump administration’s early actions.

Federal judges raised concerns about recent impeachment push against judges who've ruled against Trump.

Impeachment shouldn't be a "short circuiting" of normal appeals process, Judge Richard Sullivan told reporters. w/ @jacqthomsen.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US Said to Drop Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Migrant Child Shelter The Justice Department plans to drop a Biden-era lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by employees of a company that houses thousands of unaccompanied migrant children and has received billions of dollars in...

Scoop w/ @justinfwise.bsky.social: Trump's DOJ plans to dismiss a Biden-era civil suit over sexual abuse of migrant children.

“The United States is turning its back on children who are being abused in our country,” said a former civil rights division official. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Courts Soften Stance Against Law Clerks Seeking Political Work The federal judiciary is walking back an ethics opinion that told judges to prevent their law clerks from seeking jobs with political groups while still working for the court, instead leaving that dec...

New: The federal judiciary is walking back ethics opinions that said law clerks shouldn't apply to political jobs during their clerkships, now saying it's up to individual judges. Courts say changes were made in response to feedback. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump Administration Eyes Courthouses for Potential Sale Federal courthouses in Los Angeles and Memphis are among the federal buildings that the Trump administration has identified for “disposal.”

New w/ @jacqthomsen.bsky.social: About 20 federal courthouses are on GSA’s list of non-core properties that could be sold, as part of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting efforts. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judiciary Tells Judges, Staff to Ignore Email to Explain Work The federal judiciary told staffers not to respond to a Trump administration email asking them to account for their work last week.

The federal judiciary told staffers not to respond to a Trump administration email asking them to account for their work last week, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @jacqthomsen.bsky.social report

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Top DC Prosecutor Calls to Protect DOGE Workers, Judges The top prosecutor for the US attorney’s office in Washington plans to crack down on those who threaten federal judges and workers with Elon Musk’s government efficiency unit.

In an officewide email Wednesday morning, obtained by Bloomberg Law, interim US Attorney Ed Martin previewed his plan to “hold accountable those who threaten workers," including federal judges and DOGE staff, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judges Face New Test: How to Get Trump Officials to Comply With Their Orders Federal judges have repeatedly found Trump administration officials are simply not complying with court orders they've issued, but officials have rarely faced consequences for their defiance.

This isn’t a new issue either – back in *2020* I wrote about federal judges navigating how to get Trump officials to comply with their rulings www.law.com/nationallawj...

Trump Allies Start Bullying Judges After Adverse Rulings (1) Top allies of President Donald Trump are attacking federal judges online, as many of the new administration’s policies have been initially blocked in court.

Trump’s allies have spent the last few days going after federal judges after a court ruling against Elon Musk’s DOGE. Some experts are concerned about the rule of law if compliance is up in the air, and a judge now says the admin hasn’t followed his ruling news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

FCC Defends Most of Demographic Data Ask After Trump DEI Action A Federal Communications Commission attorney told an appeals court that the agency is still largely defending an order on collecting demographic data about broadcasters’ employees, after President Don...

The FCC told a wary Fifth Circuit today that it was still largely defending a requirement that broadcasters report their employees' demographic data, despite Trump's actions against DEI and after DOJ said it wasn't standing by its prior filing in the case news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump DOJ Leader Said to Order Prosecutors Transferred to Border The Trump Justice Department’s top political appointee told all 93 US attorneys he’s recruiting their line prosecutors for border enforcement against what he framed as an invasion of immigrants crossi...

Late breaking news: US attorneys got on a call with Trump DOJ No. 2 Emil Bove expecting to be fired. Instead they were told to deploy their prosecutors to the border to combat an invasion he likened to a terrorist attack. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Fifth Circuit Finds Young Adult Gun Sale Ban Unconstitutional A US appeals court panel ruled that federal provisions against the sale of handguns to adults aged 18 to 20 are unconstitutional.

The Fifth Circuit said today that federal provisions against selling handguns to adults under the age of 21 are unconstitutional. It's the latest court ruling against gun restrictions based on age, but other recent cases have dealt with state bans news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Acting DC US Attorney Calls Jan. 6 Case Review Leak 'Insulting' The interim top US prosecutor for the District of Columbia said those who don’t cooperate with an inquiry into certain Jan. 6 prosecutions will be viewed as “insubordinate,” an email obtained by Bloom...

The US attorney in DC sent critical email to staff over leaks from the office after he announced probes on J6 prosecutions, per leaked email seen by @suzannemonyak.bsky.social. "Again, personally insulting and professionally unacceptable," Ed Martin wrote. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Cruz Staffer Tapped for US Attorney in Texas' Southern District Nicholas Ganjei, chief counsel to US Senator Ted Cruz (R), will be named interim US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, people familiar with the decision told Bloomberg Law on Tuesday.

News: Trump has tapped Nick Ganjei, Ted Cruz's chief counsel, to serve as interim US attorney for the Southern District of Texas. He'll be prosecuting immigration cases in a district that includes a broad swath of the US-Mexico border. w/ Ryan Autullo news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/c...

Sole Judge to Hear All Cases in Three North Texas Divisions (1) One federal district judge will now hear cases filed in three divisions of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, according to a new case assignment order.

The Northern District of Texas has 3 new single judge divisions as Judge Wes Hendrix is now the only one assigned cases in Lubbock, Abilene and San Angelo. The Trump nom has pushed back against claims of judge shopping, as Obama also tapped him for a judgeship news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The federal judiciary won’t act on a pair of separate requests to refer members of the US Supreme Court to the attorney general for potential violations of federal ethics law, according to letters released Thursday @jacqthomsen.bsky.social reports.
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