Jeff Flake wants details of Trump’s call for border wall

Sen. Jeff Flake said Thursday he won't be able to say whether he'd vote to fund President Donald Trump's wall along the US-Mexico border until he knows whether the president wants to build a single brick-and-mortar structure or instead erect a combination of fencing and other barriers. The president threatened earlier this week at a rally in Phoenix to shut down the federal government unless the gridlocked Congress agrees to build a border wall.

Hollywood studios win ruling over VidAngel family-friendly filters

REUTERS: A federal appeals court has sided with Hollywood studios by refusing to let VidAngel stream family-friendly versions of their movies that filter out profane language, sex and nudity, violence, and alcohol and drug use. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday let stand a preliminary injunction against the Provo, Utah-based start-up, and in favour of Walt Disney Co and its LucasFilm unit, 20th Century Fox Film Inc and Warner Bros Entertainment .

US court rejects appeal from praying football coach

A Washington state high school football coach took advantage of his position when he prayed on the field after games, and he's not entitled to immediately get his job back, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals unanimously held that Bremerton High coach Joe Kennedy's prayers did not constitute protected free speech because he was acting as a public employee, not a private citizen, when he conducted them.

More restrictions announced for toxic pesticide

California moved a step closer Friday to banning a widely used agricultural pesticide linked to birth defects, openly departing from the Trump administration's decision to walk back an Obama-era effort to ban the chemical. Growers and other users will be asked to increase the buffer zone between fields where they spray the pesticide and inhabited areas such as homes and schools, the state Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday.

Trump administration defends travel ban in US Supreme Court brief

President Donald Trump's administration reiterated arguments defending its temporary travel ban in a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, repeatedly citing the executive's broad powers to exclude foreigners from the United States. International travelers arrive on the day that U.S. President Donald Trump's limited travel ban, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, goes into effect, at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 29, 2017.

Man back in immigration custody after claim of 2013 rape

A Mexican man who says he was raped in 2013 while detained by U.S. immigration officials will likely be in custody again for at least three months while a court decides whether he should be deported. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the immediate deportation of 44-year-old Audemio Orozco-Ramirez, who was arrested in Billings, Montana, on Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Deportation blocked for man who settled jailhouse rape claim

In this October 2013 photo, Audemio Orozco-Ramirez speaks during an interview in Helena, Mont., about a sexual assault he says he experienced at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder, Mont. U.S. immigration authorities arrested Orozco-Ramirez on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, and plan to deport him to Mexico just months after he settled claims that he was raped in a Montana jail while previously awaiting deportation proceedings, the man's attorney said.

Man who settled jailhouse rape claims appeals deportation

In this October 2013 photo, Audemio Orozco-Ramirez speaks during an interview in Helena, Mont., about a sexual assault he says he experienced at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder, Mont. U.S. immigration authorities arrested Orozco-Ramirez on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, and plan to deport him to Mexico just months after he settled claims that he was raped in a Montana jail while previously awaiting deportation proceedings, the man's attorney said.

9th Circuit rejects argument that ‘No Added Sugar’ means ‘healthy’

The relationship between "added sugar" and adverse health outcomes has been a subject of debate. When the FDA proposed adding a line for "added sugar" to the nutrition labels on packaged food , some argued that the label could send a message that naturally occurring sugar meant "healthy" and "added sugar" meant unhealthy .

Start of Baca’s federal prison sentence is delayed

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca received a reprieve from prison July 24, with his attorney asking an appellate court to allow the ex-lawman to remain free while he appeals his conviction for conspiring to derail an FBI probe into corruption in the jail system. Baca, 75, had been scheduled to surrender July 25 to begin serving his three-year prison term.

Appeals court backs wildlife activist in free speech case

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a wildlife activist who said his free speech rights were violated when a sheriff's deputy barred him from watching livestock agents herd wild bison into Yellowstone National Park. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday there was no legitimate reason to prevent activist Anthony Reed from observing the bison from a nearby gravel road in May 2012.

Tip-Pooling Restrictions Slated To Be Rescinded, Labor Department Announces

The U.S. Department of Labor plans to propose a full rescission of the controversial tip-pooling restrictions impacting employers who pay tipped employees the full minimum wage directly sometime in August, according to a regulatory agenda published recently . This news should come as a welcome relief to employers in the hospitality industry, especially those operating in the 9th Circuit which includes the states of California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska where a divisive 2016 appellate court decision has operated the last several years to handcuff a substantial number of businesses.

Court allows Trump travel ban enforcement, but says it must allow broader exemptions

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce its refugee ban for now, but said it must allow broader exemptions to the president's travel ban for family members, including grandparents. The justices in a short order refused the administration's request that it stay a lower court's decision that said the Trump administration had too severely interpreted the court's decision last month about exempting those with close family relationships.

Gorsuch can’t escape travel ban at San Francisco meeting

President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court couldn't escape discussion of the president's travel ban - and even the president - during an appearance Monday at a judicial conference, where a student essay winner compared the ban to Japanese internment and the producer of the musical "Hamilton" said the cast was scared following Trump's election victory. Gorsuch was a late fill-in at the 9th Circuit conference for fellow Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy and took over what was supposed to be Kennedy's role of welcoming new U.S. citizens.

The Latest: Gorsuch encourages tolerance among new citizens

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch encouraged a group of newly naturalized U.S. citizens to tolerate different points of view and respect people with whom they disagree. Gorsuch welcomed the new citizens on Monday following a naturalization ceremony at the 9th Circuit Court's judicial conference in San Francisco.

US Appeals Court Upholds Nondisclosure Rules for Surveillance Orders

A U.S. federal appeals court on Monday upheld nondisclosure rules that allow the FBI to secretly issue surveillance orders for customer data to communications firms, a ruling that dealt a blow to privacy advocates. A unanimous three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco sided with a lower court ruling in finding that rules permitting the FBI to send national security letters under gag orders are appropriate and do not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution's free speech protections.

States join fight over EPA chief’s decision not to ban pesticide …

Several states are seeking to join a legal challenge to a Trump administration decision to keep a widely used pesticide on the market despite studies showing it can harm children's brains. Led by New York, the coalition filed a motion Wednesday to intervene in a legal fight over the continued spraying of chlorpyrifos on food.

US does not need warrant to subpoena Oregon drug data

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency does not need a court order to subpoena a prescription drug database kept by the state of Oregon, but the ruling did not specify whether those subpoenas would violate constitutional protections. The ruling reverses a 2014 judge's ruling finding that the agency must obtain warrants to access the database, which Oregon uses to help healthcare providers identify abuse.

Appeals court clears way for review of immigrant vetting

While the most controversial provisions of the President's revised ban blocking travel to the US remain tied up in the courts, a federal appeals court formally cleared the way late Monday for different portions of the executive order to move forward. The Trump administration can now conduct internal reviews of other countries' vetting procedures for visa applicants while the broader case is on review in the US Supreme Court.