A federal appeals court on Thursday agreed to reconsider a ruling by three of its judges that struck down part of Mississippi's state constitution that strips the right to vote from thousands of convicts after they complete their sentences. The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hold a so-called en banc rehearing of the case before all 16 of its active judges automatically voids, for now, last month's 2-1 panel ruling finding the provision was a "cruel and unusual punishment" that disproportionately affected Black people. "We look forward to re-briefing the issues and arguing before the full Fifth Circuit in January," Jonathan Youngwood, a lawyer for plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit said in an email.
(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Monday gave the Biden administration until Nov. 8 to hold an expanded sale of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, the latest development in a legal fight over federal protection of an endangered species of whale. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request by the U.S. Interior Department to stay part of an order issued by a federal judge in Louisiana, which had given the government until the end of this month to hold an auction that includes 6 million acres (2.4 million hectares) more than it had planned to offer. The Interior Department had told the appeals court it disagreed with U.S. District Judge James Cain's ruling, but only asked the court give its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management more time to hold the sale.
A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed Texas' floating barrier on a section of the Rio Grande to stay in place for now, a day after a judge called the buoys a threat to the safety of migrants and relations between the U.S. and Mexico. The order by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals puts on hold a ruling that would have required Texas to move the wrecking-ball sized buoys on the river by next week. The barrier is near the Texas border city of Eagle Pass, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has authorized a series of aggressive measures in the name of discouraging migrants from crossing into the U.S.
A U.S. appeals court on Friday canceled a license granted by a federal agency to a company to build a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in western Texas, which the Republican-led state has argued would be dangerous to build in one of the nation's largest oil basins. A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacked the authority under federal law to issue permits for private, temporary nuclear waste storage sites. The license, which was issued in 2021 to project developer Interim Storage Partners LLC, was challenged by Texas as well as west Texas oil and gas interests that opposed the facility.