Wednesday, November 11, 2026 America First. Truth First. America Always.
AFNSAmerica First News Syndicate

AFNS Desk

Courts & Legal

Major state and federal court decisions, explained.

Courts & LegalStay granted pending a certiorari petition; not a final ruling on the merits; Justice Jackson would have denied

Supreme Court Stays Injunction, Allowing Big Bend Border-Wall Work to Resume

In an unsigned Nov. 9 opinion in Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, the Supreme Court stayed a Western District of Texas injunction that had halted border-barrier construction in the Big Bend sector. The Court said the government is exceedingly likely to prevail on jurisdiction and that there is no such thing as a constitutional major-questions claim. Justice Jackson would have denied the stay. The challengers' environmental and historic-preservation arguments are summarized below. Litigation continues.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalMotion to dismiss the defamation claim denied; unfair-trade claim dismissed; case is not decided on the merits

Florida Judge Lets Trump's Defamation Claim Against the BBC Proceed, Dismisses Unfair-Trade Count

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz of the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday denied the BBC's motion to dismiss President Trump's defamation claim over a Panorama documentary that spliced two clips, taken about 55 minutes apart, from his Jan. 6, 2021, speech. The ruling is not a decision on the merits. Kuntz dismissed a Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act claim, finding the documentary is not commercial speech, and ordered the BBC to answer the defamation count by Dec. 1.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalPublished Ninth Circuit opinion in Dickinson v. Trump, No. 26-1609, filed Nov. 10; preliminary injunction and provisional class certification vacated

Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction Limiting Crowd-Control Force at Portland ICE Facility

A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday vacated a preliminary injunction that had restricted federal officers' use of tear gas, pepper balls, and other non-lethal munitions at the South Portland ICE facility, and it decertified a provisional protester class. Judge Kenneth K. Lee, joined by Judge Eric C. Tung, wrote that agents may use non-lethal force to disperse a crowd and need not wait for an imminent threat of physical harm, and that the record did not show First Amendment retaliation. Judge Ana de Alba concurred in part and dissented in part, saying she would have kept a ban on firing munitions at the head, neck, or torso.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalNov. 10 panel opinion, as reported by Politico and Bloomberg Law; case remains partly sealed; opinion PDF was not retrieved from the court's public site

Fourth Circuit Holds DOJ's Demand for Journalists' LinkedIn Records in a Leak Probe Too Broad

A Fourth Circuit panel, in an opinion by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, held that sealed orders requiring LinkedIn to give the Justice Department 18 months of journalists' metadata in a national-security leak investigation were too broad and must be narrowed, Politico and Bloomberg Law report. Wilkinson wrote that the search would "deal a damaging blow to First Amendment freedoms," Politico reported. The ruling does not bar a narrower demand. The government's interest in investigating leaks is noted below.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalMemorandum opinion in United States v. Albence, No. 25-1453-RGA, Nov. 10; motions to dismiss granted; production motion dismissed as moot

Judge Andrews Rejects Justice Department Bid for Delaware's Unredacted Voter Rolls

Senior Judge Richard G. Andrews of the District of Delaware on Tuesday dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking Delaware's complete electronic voter registration list, including partial Social Security numbers, holding that Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not authorize the demand. Andrews agreed with the Sixth Circuit that state-created voter files are not records that 'came into' an election official's possession under the statute. Democracy Docket and CBS News count the ruling as the department's 28th straight loss in this series of cases. The department has appealed most of the similar dismissals.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalD.C. Circuit opinion and judgment filed Nov. 10 in No. 25-5314, affirming the district court's Aug. 28, 2025, order; mandate withheld

D.C. Circuit Holds USAGM Officials Lacked Authority to Fire VOA Director Without Advisory Board Approval

A D.C. Circuit panel, in an opinion by Judge Nina Pillard joined by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Florence Pan, affirmed an August 2025 injunction holding that U.S. Agency for Global Media officials, including Kari Lake, could not fire Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz without International Broadcasting Advisory Board approval. The court upheld the board statute under Article II. The administration argued the law is unconstitutional and that the dispute belongs at the Merit Systems Protection Board. It may seek rehearing en banc or Supreme Court review. The clerk withheld the mandate.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalCase closed Tuesday after the department's Nov. 6 notice of voluntary dismissal; Friday hearing canceled

Judge Carter Closes Justice Department's California Mail-Ballot Suit, Writing 'The Right to Vote Is Sacred'

U.S. District Judge David Carter on Tuesday formally closed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to force California to set aside mail ballots from up to 20,000 alleged noncitizens, CBS News reports. In a one-paragraph order, Carter wrote that the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election and create confusion and uncertainty for voters and election workers alike. The right to vote is sacred. So, too, is trust in our democracy." The department had voluntarily dismissed the case after losing at the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court. The noncitizen claims were the department's allegations and were never found proven.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalSB 1027 voided in full on Nov. 10; pre-2025 petition rules apply to future petitions; a separate SB 518 case is still pending

Oklahoma Supreme Court, 5-4, Strikes Down 2025 Law Restricting Initiative Petitions

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday voided Senate Bill 1027 (2025) in its entirety, in a 5-4 opinion by Justice Noma Gurich. The law capped how many signatures could come from the state's two largest counties and added limits on out-of-state donors and circulators. Because the court found the invalid provisions could not be separated from the rest, the petition rules that existed before SB 1027 are back in force. Justice Dana Kuehn dissented. A separate challenge to 2024 signature-verification legislation remains pending.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalPublished Ninth Circuit opinion in Holland-Thielen v. SpaceX, No. 25-4811, filed Nov. 10; district court's denial of arbitration affirmed

Divided Ninth Circuit Holds SpaceX Can't Force Fired Engineers' Harassment Suit Into Arbitration

A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed a Los Angeles federal judge's refusal to send a lawsuit by eight former SpaceX engineers into arbitration, holding that the 2021 Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies when a complaint asserts conduct amounting to sexual harassment. Judge Michelle T. Friedland, joined by Judge Danielle J. Forrest, wrote that Congress did not import the federal pleading standard into the statute. Judge Eric C. Tung dissented. The engineers' claims are unproven allegations; SpaceX has denied them and argued the law does not apply. The ruling does not decide the merits.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalOrder entered Nov. 9 as to plaintiff states; no DHS comment on this order found; no source in the record says DHS will appeal this ruling

Judge McElroy Rules DHS Violated Injunction by Attaching Immigration Conditions to FY2026 Grants

U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy of Rhode Island ruled Nov. 9 that DHS violated her October 2025 permanent injunction by attaching immigration-related conditions to FY2026 public-safety and emergency-preparedness grants. She barred enforcement of those conditions against the plaintiff states and ordered award letters reissued without them. The order applies to the roughly 20 plaintiff states and their subdivisions, not nationwide. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who co-led the coalition, is quoted below.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & Legal14-day TRO granted Nov. 5; hearing Nov. 18

Judge Whitehead Issues 14-Day TRO Barring DOJ From Compelling Washington to Set Aside Ballots

U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead on Nov. 5 partly granted a 14-day temporary restraining order in OneAmerica Votes v. DOJ, barring DOJ, DHS, AG Todd Blanche and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin from demanding that Washington set aside about 400 suspected noncitizens ballots or threatening election officials who count them, Courthouse News reports. The government may ask a state to set ballots aside but may not compel one to do so. Hearing set for Nov. 18.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalOpinion: State v. Crawford, No. 24-102

West Virginia High Court Bars Surrogate Lab Testimony, Narrows Felony Firearm Use

In State v. Crawford, No. 24-102, the West Virginia Supreme Court held that a lab report cannot be introduced through a reviewer who neither performed nor observed the test, ordering a new trial on two drug counts, and that felony-firearm use requires active employment rather than inert storage, turning that count into an acquittal that cannot be retried. Other gun convictions stand. Opinion via Justia; WV News reported Nov. 5.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalConfirmed by Jersey Vindicator, Oregon DOJ and WRNJ; program scope varies by report

Judge Permanently Blocks Immigration Conditions on Public-Safety Grants for Suing States

Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island permanently barred the Justice Department from enforcing immigration-cooperation conditions on certain public-safety grants for the 22 states and D.C. that sued, Jersey Vindicator and state attorneys general report.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalConfirmed by Gothamist

NY Appeals Court Strikes Down Nassau County Transgender Athlete Ban

A New York appeals court on Wednesday reversed a lower-court ruling and struck down Nassau County's law barring women's and girls' teams that include transgender athletes from county-owned sports facilities, holding that a local law cannot conflict with state antidiscrimination protections, Gothamist reports.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalProcedural denial confirmed by court order via Justia

Fifth Circuit 8-9 Denies Initial En Banc Hearing in Machine-Gun Ban Challenge

The full Fifth Circuit voted 8 to 9 against hearing Temple Gun Club v. Blanche immediately en banc. The order is a procedural denial of fast-track full-court review of a Commerce Clause challenge to 18 U.S.C. 922(o); it is not a ruling on the merits. The appeal goes to a three-judge panel (Justia, court PDF).

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalInjunction granted in California case; TRO denied in separate case

Judge Boasberg Bars DOJ and DHS From Demanding California Set Aside Ballots

Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the Trump administration likely violated the Constitution by pressing California officials to set aside ballots based on federal lists of suspected noncitizens, and barred DOJ and DHS from making further demands like that. The Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit had only refused to order California to comply. This ruling goes further and directly limits what federal officials can demand.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalRehearing granted; panel ruling vacated

Full Fifth Circuit Will Rehear Challenge to Texas SCOPE Act, Vacating Panel Ruling That Blocked Key Parts

The Fifth Circuit voted Oct. 28 to rehear en banc the tech industry's challenge to Texas's SCOPE Act (HB 18), a law on minors' online safety. The order vacates a July 2026 panel opinion that had blocked key parts of the law, giving Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton another chance to enforce it in full.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalTemporary restraining order; not a final ruling

Judge Temporarily Halts $20 Million DHS Ad Campaign Featuring Trump, Finding DNC Likely to Succeed

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan granted the Democratic National Committee a temporary restraining order freezing a $20 million allocation the White House budget office moved into a DHS ad campaign featuring President Trump. The court found the DNC "likely" to succeed. It is a TRO, not a final ruling; a hearing is set for Nov. 2.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalRuling; order on hold for appeal

Judge Rules LA's Top Federal Prosecutor Bill Essayli Is Serving Unlawfully

A federal judge ruled that First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli is unlawfully serving as the "de facto" U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and barred him from two prosecutions. The order is on hold for five business days so DOJ can seek a stay, and the indictments were not dismissed. Essayli says the Supreme Court will decide the question.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalRevived; claims not yet decided

Appeals Court Revives Religious Bias Claim by Administrator Fired After Objecting to "The Laramie Project"

The Tenth Circuit revived a former Colorado high school administrator's religious discrimination lawsuit against the Douglas County School District. He was fired after objecting to a school production of "The Laramie Project" and offering a "Christian perspective." The panel found a genuine factual dispute and sent the case back. The order is unpublished and not binding precedent.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalRulings

Court Roundup: Louisiana's Coastal Suit Stalls, Lilly Wins Ad Fight, Purdue Victims Denied Restitution

Four more rulings from Monday: the Supreme Court's emergency docket handed Louisiana a setback in its coastal-damage case against Devon Energy, a federal judge let Eli Lilly keep running its obesity-drug ads, and two federal appeals courts ruled against an immigrant-rights activist and against opioid victims seeking restitution from Purdue Pharma.

· AFNS Research Desk

Courts & LegalDenied 2-1; merits not decided

Appeals Court Refuses DOJ Bid to Freeze 20,000 California Mail Ballots a Week Before Midterms

A divided 9th Circuit panel denied the Justice Department's emergency request to set aside about 20,000 disputed California mail ballots. The 2-1 unsigned ruling called the request premature because District Judge David Carter hasn't ruled yet, and said the "claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one."

· AFNS Research Desk