Cristian Farías

Last week, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, based in Denver, Colorado, took the extraordinary step of initiating disciplinary actions against an immigration lawyer for… being a terrible immigration lawyer. In the legal world, what the panel did is called a benchslap. Writing for the court —which also […]

Yesterday, a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, heard arguments from 25 states and the federal government on whether to block President Obama’s executive order on immigration. Here’s what you need to know about Texas v. United States, the name the case has been assigned: 1) This is only the beginning of the lawsuit The case […]

It’s all Dante’s fault. Were it not for his son, Bill de Blasio would probably not have won New York City’s Democratic primary, let alone the mayoralty. And the mess that boiled over last week between the mayor and the NYPD would’ve never happened. Dante —or rather, the political ad featuring him— was a hit […]

Late Tuesday evening, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed a lawsuit filed by Joe Arpaio, the controversial Arizona sheriff who was challenging the legality of President Obama’s executive action on immigration. In a 33-page ruling issued a day after the court heard arguments from the parties, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell tossed the suit […]

According to reports from The Associated Press, The Huffington Post, and the National Law Journal, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., heard arguments from the lawyer representing Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio in his challenge to President Obama’s executive action on immigration. By all accounts, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell seemed unimpressed. Howell was hearing arguments […]

The short of it: On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab, an appointee of George W. Bush, declared President’s Obama’s executive action on immigration unconstitutional. As in struck down. Illegal. Void. Invalid. No good. The long of it: The decision is procedurally strange at best, and indefensible at worst. Meaning that it’s highly likely an […]

In a short order, the U.S. Supreme Court today denied Arizona’s last-ditch request to block issuance of driver’s licenses to undocumented students granted deportation relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This lawsuit has been moving through the courts for years. Shortly after DACA was announced in 2012, the administration of outgoing Gov. […]

Thanks to Saturday Night Live, now everyone is up on New York City’s new marijuana policy. If you missed it, here’s the clip. And legally, it was correct: From now on, merely possessing less than 25 grams of weed in public won’t get you arrested. But it will get you a summons, and you’ll have […]