The federal District Court in Illinois (April M. Perry) has issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the deployment of National Guard troops from Texas in Chicago.  The Court has said that it is likely the state of Illinois and the City of Chicago will prevail on their claims that the action would violate the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution and the Posse Comitatus Act.

A taxpayer contesting the imposition of a civil fraud penalty for an improper claim of a charitable contribution deduction for a conservation easement has no right to a jury trial on the issue, the Tax Court has held.  The Seventh Amendment of the Constitution requiring a jury trial in suits “at common law” does not apply to the sovereign and Congress has not otherwise consented to trial by jury in tax appeals of the nature before the Court, it said.

The federal District Court in New Hampshire (Landya McCafferty) has preliminarily enjoined a pair of anti-DEI laws passed by the state legislature.

The first law prohibits political entities, including school districts, from implementing, promoting or otherwise engaging in any DEI-related initiatives, programs, training, or policies or expending state funds for DEI-related activities, including implicit bias training, DEI assessments, critical race theory or race-based hiring, promotion or contracting preferences.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals (Opinion by Chief Judge David J. Barron) has affirmed a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement and implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order seeking to limit birthright citizenship.  The Order would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. if their fathers are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and their mothers are in the country either unlawfully or temporarily.  The District Court in Massachusetts had previously issued preliminary injunctions in two separate suits.

In a case starting during the IRS “scandal” for allegedly holding up applications for conservative 501(c)(4) social welfare status for a variety of groups in 2011, the federal District Court for the District of Columbia has held that IRS rulings on what constitutes intervention in political campaigns are void for vagueness.  It has remanded the case for the parties to reargue their positions on the standards for deciding the case.

A federal District Court in Maryland (Lydia Kay Griggsby) has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the National Institutes of Health and other governmental agencies from terminating and suspending research programs dealing with LGBTQI+ issues.  It has found that the plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on their claims that the actions, taken pursuant to President Trump’s first day Executive Orders to eliminate programs dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion or “gender ideology,” are illegal. The Court found that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their

Real estate owned and operated by for-profit limited liability companies for the provision of a licensed childcare program is exempt from real estate tax, the Minnesota Tax Court has held.  Nonprofit ownership or operation is not required for exemption of “seminaries of learning” under state law, it said.