Diversify this

Along with his remarked-upon shortfalls in diplomacy, nuance, finesse, rationality and often good manners, our 45th president has also been docked for his diversity shortfall. This means he is surrounded by too many persons of pallor and of masculinity, in other words, by white males.

Judge suspended for photoshopped campaign ad of rival drinking with Obama

A West Virginia local judge elected last year is being suspended for two years for a photoshopped campaign advertisement-published on his Facebook page and elsewhere-that depicted his opponent drinking beer with then-President Barack Obama. Nicholas County Circuit Judge Stephen Callaghan's suspension is without pay, and it includes a $15,000 fine.

Sorry, National Review: “Religious Freedom” Bills Do Permit Bigotry

National Review writer Alexandra Desanctis on Wednesday published a piece purporting to explain how recent conservative efforts to defend "religious freedom" aren't really about discriminating against LGBT Americans. Since she used a Salon piece written a day earlier by a former colleague of mine, Nico Lang, to illustrate how liberals are "maliciously mischaracteriz[ing] FADA and other religious-freedom protections," it seems only fair to issue a point-by-point response to the specious claims made in the National Review.

Court: Cops can’t ask for driver’s license unless suspicion

The Iowa Supreme Court has made it significantly more difficult for police to continue to ask questions or even ask for a driver's license during routine traffic stops if there is no reasonable suspicion a crime has been committed. In a ruling Friday, the majority of a divided 4-3 court overturned a 30-year-old Iowa legal precedent that said officers at least could ask drivers to produce their license during routine stops.

10 for Today: Friday, Feb. 10

The legal fight over President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations could shift to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald Trump's choice for health secretary, Rep. Tom Price, is the latest of a handful of Cabinet nominees to squeeze through to confirmation by a bitterly-divided, partisan U.S. Senate.

Trump finds the limits of executive power

Three federal judges unanimously refused to restore the White House's controversial travel ban, laying down the most significant marker yet that Trump's vision of an administration rooted in the muscular use of executive power - similar to that he enjoyed as a business leader - will not go unchallenged. In a stinging rebuke, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration's argument that the judiciary lacked the authority to block the travel ban as "contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy."

How Trumpa s Criticism of Judiciary Could Complicate SCOTUS Confirmation

President Trump's comments about the federal judge who blocked his immigration executive order have raised concerns among members of Congress and could complicate the pending confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In a tweet over the weekend, Trump referred to Judge James L. Robart of the Western District of Washington as a "so-called judge" after Robart issued a nationwide temporary restraining order on Friday stopping the implementation of the executive order, which barred immigrant and nonimmigrant visa holders from seven countries from entering the U.S., indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program and temporarily stopped all refugee admissions to the United States.