As 2026 has continued, Trump judges have helped advance even more rulings harming the rights of Americans across the country. More than 25 such decisions were issued in March-April concerning a wide range of subjects including:
- Voting rights
- Immigration
- Consumer rights and corporate accountability
- First Amendment
- Gun safety and law enforcement
- Trump administration misconduct
- Civil rights
- Environmental protection
In the meantime, the Senate has confirmed even more lifetime federal judges nominated by Trump.
Each case is summarized below, along with a link to the full People For the American Way blog entry on the decision and to the ruling itself. Such rulings demonstrate the importance to all of us of nominating and confirming fair-minded federal judges and the dangers posed by Trump-nominated judges.
VOTING RIGHTS (3)
- Trump Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett help complete “demolition” of Voting Rights Act
Louisiana redistricting plan that created a second majority-minority district to comply with the Voting Rights Act was held to be unconstitutional. - Trump Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett stop challenge to discriminatory Texas redistricting plan
A constitutional challenge to Texas’ redistricting plan as racially discriminatory was dismissed in a one-sentence order that threw out a detailed 160-page lower court opinion finding racial discrimination. - Trump Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett support Republican effort to delay New York redistricting.
Black and Latino voters challenged a map that diluted their vote.
IMMIGRATION (6)
- Third Circuit Trump Judge Peter Phipps refuses proper review of immigrant’s torture claims
Immigrant mom with two children said that she would be tortured and subject to gang violence if she was returned to El Salvador - Eleventh Circuit Trump Judge Andrew Brasher casts deciding vote to keep Alligator Alcatraz open
Several environmental groups and an Indian tribe sought to stop the detention of immigrants at, and additional construction of, Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility in the Florida Everglades. - Ninth Circuit Trump judge Daniel Bress casts deciding vote to deny asylum relief in two cases
Two immigrant families fearing possible torture or other mistreatment were denied relief from deportation to Venezuela and Honduras. - Ninth Circuit Trump judge Daniel Bress denies relief to immigrant from possible torture.
Mexican immigrant provided highly probative evidence that he would likely face torture by one or more violent groups in Mexico that had demanded that he join them. - Seventh Circuit Trump judges Michael Brennan and Michael Scudder prevent lower court finding of abusive immigration enforcement tactics from being used against the government in the future
Findings of Illinois District Court judge about harmful tactics authorities used against immigration protesters wiped out by decision to vacate the lower court injunction and dismiss the case - Eighth Circuit Trump judge Steven Strasz backs Trump mandatory detention of immigrants
Mexican immigrant who had been in the U.S. for 20 was not allowed a bond hearing and determined to be subject to indefinite detention pending his removal proceeding.
CONSUMER RIGHTS AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY (4)
- Sixth Circuit Trump Judge Eric Murphy stops consumer class action against car insurance company
A car accident victim tried to bring a class action against her insurance company for systematically undervaluing the amount that should be paid when a car is totaled. - Fourth Circuit Trump judges Julius Richardson and Allison Rushing invalidate state program calling for widespread discounts by drug companies
Drug companies challenged a West Virginia law requiring more widespread discounts by drug companies than under federal law - Seventh Circuit Trump judges Robert Kirsch and Michael Scudder refuse to make insurance company pay for needed home health care
An elderly woman sued a long-term care insurance company for refusing to cover the cost of home health care that her doctor said was necessary after surgery. - Seventh Circuit Trump judge Thomas Kirsch reverses damages award to consumer for company cancelling credit card
A credit card company challenged an award of punitive damages and attorneys’ fees for cancelling a consumer’s credit card.
FIRST AMENDMENT (4)
- Fifth Circuit Trump judges Kyle Duncan, Don Willett, James Ho, Kurt Engelhardt, Andrew Oldham and Cory Wilson allow states to force Ten Commandments on public school children
A group of parents challenged a Texas law forcing public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom - Eighth Circuit Trump judges Ralph Erickson and Jonathan Kobes allow state to ban books and limit LGBTQ-related teaching in schools
Book publishers and LGBTQ+ groups challenged an Iowa law that requires removal of books in school libraries that depict or describe any “sex act” and bars teaching related to gender identity or sexual orientation to students below grade 7. - Fifth Circuit Trump judge Andrew Oldham continues to target free speech of protest organizers
Police officer attempts to hold a Black Lives Matter protest organizer personally responsible for his being hit by a rock an act of violence against a police officer carried out by an unknown person at the protest. - Fifth Circuit Trump judge Andrew Oldham assails precedent protecting freedom of the press
In defamation case involving Sports Illustrated article highlighting evidence that former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant had been involved in a conspiracy to misuse state welfare funds, judge Oldham condemned long-standing Supreme Court precedent requiring proof that allegedly false statements about public figures be made with “actual malice”
GUN SAFETY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (4)
- Fifth Circuit Trump judges Trump judges Kyle Duncan, Kurt Engelhardt, James Ho, and Andrew Oldham support constitutional right to possess machine guns
Jamaion Wilson, who shot someone with a gun that was modified to fire like a machine gun, claimed he had a Second Amendment right to own a machine gun. - Sixth Circuit. Trump judges Eric Murphy and Joan Larsen hold prison officials immune from damages for failure to treat painful conditions
For several years, hundreds of women suffered from an “unbearable” skin ailment in which live mites “burrowed into their skin,” causing painful and itchy red bumps and lesions on their “wrists, armpits, fingers, waists, and genitals.” The women “begged” for medical attention, filing “hundreds” of grievances. Yet for the first two years of the outbreak, the officials “effectively did nothing” to combat it. - Eighth Circuit Trump judge Steven Grasz affirms dismissal of case against police for harming Floyd demonstrator
During demonstrations shortly after the George Floyd killing a police officer fired a 40mm projectile that hit a protester in the back of the head as she was leaving, causing, she contends, continued suffering from “headaches, emotional strain, and memory loss.” - Eighth Circuit Trump judges Ralph Erickson and David Stras reverse conviction for possession of a machine gun
The police chief of a small Iowa town challenged his conviction for possession of a machine gun while off duty in his private capacity for use in his private business.
MISCONDUCT BY TRUMP OFFICIALS (2)
- DC Circuit Trump judges Neomi Rao and Justin Walker block contempt proceedings against Trump officials
The Trump Administration sought to stop contempt proceedings by Chief Judge James Boasberg against Trump officials involved in the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador last year despite contrary court orders. - Fourth Circuit Trump judge Marvin Quattlebaum stops Musk deposition in USAID case
Elon Musk and the Trump Administration sought to stop any depositions of Musk and others about the Administration’s foreign aid cuts and dismantling of USAID.
CIVIL RIGHTS (3)
- Fourth Circuit Trump judge Allison Rushing dismisses challenge to state and local administration of Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act
Two parents and an advocacy organization challenged the procedures used by a state and school district in implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), claiming that the accommodations and additional assistance approved for individual disabled children are inadequate. - Ninth Circuit Trump judge Lawrence VanDyke draws widespread criticism for vulgar dissent
In a case involving discrimination based on gender identity, VanDyke wrote a dissent that conservative columnist David French called “a court opinion as a 4chan post … that brings thunderous applause from the angry right but communicates nothing but scorn and contempt for the opposition.” - Trump justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett cast deciding votes to stop state law protecting privacy rights of transgender teens
A number of parents and teachers challenged a California law that protects students’ privacy by keeping private gender transitioning efforts by students if they wish and by requiring teachers to cooperate in such efforts.
ENVIRONMENT (2)
- Ninth Circuit Trump judge Daniel Bress allows land swap with damaging results
Environmentalists and Indian tribes challenged a land swap under which a copper mining company would obtain and mine specified Arizona land, causing damage to the environment and sacred Indian land. - Ninth Circuit Trump judge Patrick Bumatay casts deciding vote to dismiss lawsuit against state agencies causing pollution
The owner of a California landfill sued several state agencies for allegedly generating hazardous waste harming property, in violation of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
