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Judge Indira Talwani (D. Mass.) on Tuesday held that the United States Postal Service violated the court’s preliminary injunction by issuing a final rule implementing the mail-voting provision of President Trump’s executive order on federal elections. Judge Talwani imposed no remedy. (Memorandum and Order.) (WaPo.) (Axios.) The injunction was issued in a case brought by voting rights groups and is separate from the injunction stayed by the Supreme Court in Trump v. California, a suit brought by 23 states and the District of Columbia.
A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed most of a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation from imposing new conditions on grants already awarded to 31 local governments. Under HUD’s conditions, grantees could not use the funds to promote “gender ideology,” fund “elective abortions,” or facilitate “illegal immigration.” (Opinion.) (Reuters.)
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel on Tuesday issued an opinion stating that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment does not require restrictions on federal funds based on their intended religious use or the religious status of a recipient organization. The opinion went on to conclude that federal regulations that impose use-based religious restrictions on general federal funding programs presumptively violate the Free Exercise Clause. (Opinion.)
Bruce Swartz, Kit Beyer, John David Cobb, and Riler Holcombe argued that grand juries not only serve a defensive role in checking government prosecutions but can play “an important, yet often overlooked, affirmative role”: investigating government criminal misconduct or corruption. (Just Security.)
Tom Uren argued that the “U.S. government’s plan to enlist private-sector hackers to target cybercriminals is controversial, but it addresses a real problem and is surprisingly measured.” (Lawfare.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation: The government filed an application on August 13 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court injunction blocking further construction of the White House ballroom. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed its response on August 18. The government filed its reply on August 19. On August 21, the Chief Justice stayed the injunction “pending further order of The Chief Justice or of the Court.”