Stephen Dinan

Is IQ of 72 too low to dodge death penalty? Supreme Court wrestles with cutoff

The Supreme Court struggled Wednesday to determine when someone is too mentally disabled to be executed for crimes, with the justices pondering when IQ tests or more subjective yardsticks are sufficient methods to determine intellectual ability.

December 10, 2025

Judge orders Trump to stop using California’s National Guard

A federal judge accused President Trump on Wednesday of using National Guard troops to create a "national police force" and ordered him to relinquish control of the California troops he's commandeered.

December 10, 2025

Appeals court rules in favor of Pentagon’s limits on transgender troops

A federal appeals court gave a boost Tuesday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's limits on transgender troops, saying that a lower court that tried to block him didn't show enough deference to his decision-making.

December 9, 2025

Supreme Court grapples with limits on campaign spending by political party committees

Supreme Court justices grappled Tuesday with whether to topple another domino in campaign finance restrictions -- this one a limit on political party committees' ability to coordinate with individual candidates on how to spend money.

December 9, 2025

Senate report details 22 Americans caught in crosshairs of Trump’s mass deportation sweep

A report from Senate Democrats accuses Homeland Security of sweeping Americans up in its push to deport illegal immigrants, including some detained for more than a day, seemingly in defiance of Supreme Court guidance this year.

December 9, 2025

ACLU sues to force release of legal justification for Trump’s attacks on alleged drug boats

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the administration on Tuesday to force disclosure of the Justice Department opinion that provides the legal backing for President Trump to carry out attacks on vessels he says are carrying drugs toward the U.S.

December 9, 2025

Judge allows release of secret Epstein docs from Maxwell case

A federal judge on Tuesday approved the Justice Department's request to release files relating to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that were kept under seal as part of the case against his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

December 9, 2025

Boasberg calls DOJ whistleblower to testify as he considers contempt charge against Trump officials

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg demanded the Justice Department send one of its key lawyers to testify in person about why the government made three deportation flights to El Salvador in March despite what the judge thought were clear orders to ground the planes.

December 8, 2025

DOJ says Loudoun school transgender policy violated Christian students’ rights

The Trump administration sued Loudoun County public schools on Monday, accusing the Virginia system of forcing its concept of "gender identity" on students without considering their religious beliefs.

December 8, 2025

Supreme Court delivers win to religious vaccine resisters

The Supreme Court on Monday erased a lower court ruling that had upheld New York's strict school vaccine rules that don't allow religious exemptions, telling the judges to reexamine the case with an eye toward parental rights.

December 8, 2025

Georgia state lawmaker charged with stealing pandemic unemployment money

A state representative in Georgia was arrested Monday on charges of stealing pandemic unemployment benefits from the government and making false statements to cover for it.

December 8, 2025

Supreme Court poised to grant Trump broader firing powers over independent agencies

The Supreme Court signaled Monday a readiness to upend a 90-year-old precedent and give presidents expansive powers to fire top officers at independent agencies.

December 8, 2025

Chief Justice Roberts blocks ruling that threatened Trump personnel moves

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has put a hold on a lower court ruling that had suggested judges could step in to hear cases where the normal machinery of the executive branch wasn't working.

December 7, 2025

DOJ dares Judge Boasberg to hold Trump officials in contempt

The Justice Department told Judge James Boasberg it has provided the information it is willing and able to share about the controversial deportation flights to El Salvador in March and said if that's not good enough, then he should move ahead with the criminal contempt proceedings he has been threatening.

December 6, 2025

Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump’s birthright citizenship case

The Supreme Court said it will hear a case involving President Trump's attempt to rewrite the rules on birthright citizenship, adding a monumental battle over immigration and constitutional rights to its docket.

December 5, 2025

Judge approves release of Epstein grand jury documents from Florida

A federal judge said Friday that the Justice Department can unseal and release transcripts from the original criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, citing a new law that overcomes the usual secrecy surrounding grand juries.

December 5, 2025

Trump can fire labor, federal personnel board members, appeals court rules

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that presidents do have the power to fire members of so-called independent agencies if those panels wield substantial executive authority, in a decision that confirms some of President Trump's high-profile firings.

December 5, 2025

DOJ asks Supreme Court to intervene in immigration judge gag order case

The administration rushed to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the justices to set aside a lower appeals court ruling that gave anti-Trump litigants a new avenue to challenge the president's personnel moves.

December 5, 2025

‘Ticking time bomb’: How dangers lurked in Afghan evacuee population

Tucked inside the tens of thousands of Afghans airlifted out of Kabul in 2021 were some ticking time bombs. Suddenly, they are starting to explode.

December 5, 2025

Judge blocks Trump firings at State Department, says spending bill prohibits cuts right now

A federal judge put a stop to the State Department's plans to fire some employees, ruling late Thursday that the new stopgap spending law passed by Congress to end the shutdown last month prohibits any reductions in force.

December 4, 2025