Courts Matter Weekly Wrap Up – November 21, 2025

Here is the latest Courts Matter Weekly Wrap Up for November 21, 2025:

Judicial courts matter and so does the court of public opinion! We saw evidence of that with the nearly unanimous congressional action directing the release of the Epstein files. In the end, even the president acknowledged that continued recalcitrance was a losing game and signed the legislation. We can only hope that the survivors — those who came forward and those who were unable to — will now get justice.

Meanwhile the president has taken to Truth Social to announce new nominees to the federal bench. They are: Justin Olson to the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana whom the president lauded for “fighting tirelessly to keep men out of women’s sports;” Brian Lea to the District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; and Judge Megan Benton to the District Court for the Western District of Missouri (even though there is no vacancy or announced vacancy on that district — curious!). It is worth noting that President Trump’s nominees seem to follow a pattern, called out by Demand Justice in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal. When the Senate returns from recess, they will vote on cloture for David Bragdon and Lindsey Ann Freeman to the District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. David Bragdon is ardently anti-abortion among his other extreme views.

The Supreme Court continues to fill out their docket, taking two new cases this week. Noem v. Al Otro Lado centers on the issue of where immigrants seeking asylum can apply. And, Watson v. Republican National Committee tests a Mississippi election law that counts mail-in ballots as long as they are received within five days after Election Day.

The lower courts have very full dockets, including cases challenging attacks on democracy and the Trump administration’s policies and actions. Clearly the Department of Justice is following closely. They have ordered federal prosecutors to provide examples of ‘unusual judicial system obstacles’ encountered during civil or criminal proceedings in immigration or ‘“antifa” cases, among others. Here are some highlights from lower court cases this week:

By a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel on the District Court for the Southern District of Texas blocked the newly redrawn congressional map from going into effect for the 2026 midterm elections. The opinion was written by Trump-nominated Judge Jeffrey Brown and joined by Judge David Guaderrama (an Obama nominee). The judges found “substantial evidence” that the Texas map was racially gerrymandered. Reagan-nominee Judge Jerry Smith opposed the decision. The Texas governor immediately appealed to the US Supreme Court.

Judge Orlando Garcia, who was nominated to the District Court for the Western District of Texas by Clinton, ordered some school districts to take down the Ten Commandments displays which were mandated by a Texas law enacted earlier this year. His ruling applies to 14 school districts. Although the displays are donated and not purchased with school funds, the judge said that it was impossible to prevent “unwelcome religious displays” without removing the Ten Commandments.

Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama-nominated judge on the District Court for the District of Columbia, had warned the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that they had not made a credible case for why they reneged on their contract with National Public Radio (NPR) and was preparing for a December 1 trial. Likely in response, CPB said they would go ahead with the $36 million, multi-year contract. This ended the court case which was the result of CPB caving to pressure by President Trump who objected to NPR’s news coverage.

Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden nominee to the District Court for the District of Columbia, put a temporary block on the administration deploying more than 2000 National Guard troops in the District of Columbia. Her ruling is paused for three weeks to allow time to remove the troops and for the administration to appeal the decision. This is one of a number of court decisions blocking or limiting President Trump’s ability to take control of state National Guards. The Ninth Circuit has allowed the federalization of the Oregon National Guard to continue, reversing a ruling by Judge Karin Immergut, while they consider the merits of the case.

► Senate Judiciary Committee

On Wednesday, the committee held a hearing, questioning Nicholas Ganjei to the District Court for the Southern District of Texas, David Clay Fowlkes to the District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and Aaron Peterson to the District Court for the District of Alaska. Nicholas Ganjei, who has a long history of affiliation with far-right groups, was asked about sharing a social media post that equated ICE snatching people off the street with catching Pokemon creatures. He basically evaded the question. On November 20, the committee held a mark-up, voting out Louisiana Supreme Court Justice William Crain to the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on a party-line vote despite his boast that he was the ‘most conservative candidate’ in the race for the state Supreme Court. Alexander Van Hook got support from four Democrats for the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Also at the mark-up, two extreme nominees to the District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi: Robert Chamberlin and James Maxwell who are both currently on the Mississippi Supreme Court were approved on party-line votes. Their mark-up was blocked for many weeks by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) because of a dispute unrelated to their nominations.

► ICYMI

(Democracy Docket) GOP senators ask DC Circuit to suspend Judge Boasberg

(PBS) Judge scolds DOJ for ‘disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps’ in Comey

(NYTimes) 60 attorneys on the year of chaos inside Trump’s Justice Department

(NPR) Justice Dept official told prosecutors that US should ‘just sink’ drug boats

(Slate) Why it matters that Trump’s DOJ got caught by a judge blatantly lying—again!