🚨 A federal judge rejected former President Biden's bid to block the Justice Department from releasing redacted audio recordings and transcripts from Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation. Judge Friedrich ruled Biden is unlikely to succeed on the merits because the Privacy Act does not clearly bar disclosure, and DOJ reasonably concluded that the public interest in records relied upon by Hur outweighs Biden's diminished privacy interests after redactions.

🚨 Callais plaintiffs accuse Louisiana of dragging out the redistricting process and concealing the state’s true election deadline to keep an allegedly unconstitutional race-based congressional map in place for the 2026 elections. Plaintiffs argue that Louisiana’s leading proposed congressional map, SB121, preserves the race-based structure of the current majority-Black 2nd District, emulating the 2022 and 2011 maps.

🚨 A Florida judge declined to block the state’s new congressional map for the 2026 elections. Judge Joshua Hawkes says Florida courts cannot block the state’s new congressional map by temporarily reinstating the old 2022 map, because state leaders contend that map itself contains unconstitutional race-based districts.

🚨 A federal court has blocked Alabama from using its new congressional map, ordering the state to use a court-imposed map with 2 majority-black seats for the 2026 elections. The three-judge panel finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their Section 2 claims even after Callais.

It also finds that Alabama intentionally discriminated against black voters in violation of the 14th Amendment.

🚨 The Supreme Court has temporarily restored nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills, staying a 5th Circuit ruling pending appeal. Justice Thomas dissents, arguing that shipping mifepristone for abortion violates the federal Comstock Act. He says the manufacturers cannot claim irreparable harm from losing profits tied to what he described as a criminal enterprise.

🚨 A panel of judges is considering blocking Alabama's 2023 congressional map a second time after the Supreme Court vacated its first injunction last night.
Plaintiffs have already filed for a Temporary Restraining Order. The Court invites them to file motions for preliminary injunctions under Section 2 and the 14th Amendment, briefing the effect of Callais.

🚨 The U.S. Court of International Trade struck down President Trump’s 10% global tariff on imported goods, holding he exceeded his authority under Section 122 of the Trade Act. The majority said Congress only gave presidents limited emergency tariff powers under Section 122, aimed at specific international payments crises tied to the old Bretton Woods financial system.

The Trump administration unlawfully used that law to target modern trade deficits.

🧵 In today's Voting Rights Act ruling, the Supreme Court has fundamentally reshaped how courts apply Section 2 to voting maps, especially in relation to politics, making future Section 2 lawsuits extremely difficult to win.

The changes:

https://twitter.com/scotus_wire/status/2049492763939422386

1. For the first time ever, the Court holds that compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be a compelling interest to use race, but only when properly construed.

🚨 A federal judge has issued a writ of habeas corpus ordering the release of an asylum seeker and his 5 year old son, holding that ICE administrative warrants fail the 4th Amendment's probable cause requirement.

Read the 3-page ruling here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

This is honestly the most unhinged opinion of a federal judge that I've ever read. The scathing and antagonistic language is one thing, but he makes a sweeping holding that the 4th Amendment requires an independent judicial officer, not administrative warrants, with ZERO analysis.

🚨 A New York judge has STRUCK DOWN the State's congressional map under the NY Constitution.

Justice Pearlman orders the IRC to redraw NY-11 into a Black/Latino influence district by linking Staten Island and lower Manhattan, dismantling Republican Nicole Malliotakis's seat.

The new map must be in place by February 6th, 2026. The current NY-11 has existed since 1980.

Pearlman's test largely tracks the current framework used for Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as applied to redistricting.

🚨 A federal judge has STRUCK DOWN most of President Trump's Executive Order on election integrity.

The Court holds that the President exceeded his authority and violated separation of powers because election regulation rests with Congress and the states.

What the Court permanently enjoined:

§ 2(a): Requiring documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form.

§ 4(a): Conditioning federal election funding on compliance with EO-mandated requirements.

§ 4(b): Mandating changes to federal voting system certification standards and rescinding prior certifications.

§ 7(a) & § 7(b): Enforcing a same-day ballot receipt rule and conditioning funding on compliance.

🚨 The United States has accused the @dccc and @paulmitche11 of SEVERE misconduct in its lawsuit challenging California's new congressional map.

A 3 day hearing on the map is set to begin TODAY, and the US asks for a declaration that could win them the case.

DETAILS 🧵⬇️

Despite agreeing to a Dec. 3 hearing, CA tried to delay to January 20th, over a month after the date that it now admits it must have a map in place.

The court called this an "11th hour" move without a clear justification, but granted a delay to Dec. 15 to allow for DISCOVERY.