Judge Halts DHS Voter Probe of Citizens in 9 States; Fifth Circuit Strikes Federal Switchblade Ban; Legora Raises $550M: Oct 22

Better Call Claude Briefing — Oct 22, 2026

A federal judge in Oakland has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to stop door-knocking investigations of likely U.S. citizens in its noncitizen-voting crackdown in nine states until Election Day. In New Orleans, the Fifth Circuit struck down the federal law restricting interstate sales and shipping of switchblade knives as a Second Amendment violation. On the legal-tech front, Legora raised $550 million at an $8.8 billion valuation, and LexisNexis Protégé is now live inside EvenUp for personal-injury lawyers. General news roundup only — not legal advice.

Judge halts DHS noncitizen-voting field operations that sweep in U.S. citizens

On Wednesday, October 21, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in Oakland granted a preliminary injunction barring DHS and its agents from conducting "elections-related field operations and field interviews" in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin that involve, or are likely to involve, people the government knows or should reasonably suspect are U.S. citizens. The case was brought by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, who challenged a "surge" launched by an August 31 internal DHS guidance directing Homeland Security Investigations agents to question people about their voter eligibility in those nine states. The order describes target lists built from roughly 48 million records from "independent sources" and 50 million voter-roll records, some from commercial data, and notes that agents were given about twelve minutes per person to rule someone out, which the judge said creates a "high likelihood of error." She found the program likely violates the Voting Rights Act's ban on intimidating or coercing people who help others vote, while stressing that investigating unlawful voting itself is not illegal. The injunction lasts until polls close on November 3 and is stayed until 5 p.m. Friday, October 23, so the government can appeal; DHS said it has "no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens." Why it matters: with less than two weeks to the midterms, the ruling limits federal agents' visits to citizens' homes over voting, and an appeal could come quickly.

Sources: AP News, CBS News, Courthouse News Service, Preliminary injunction order (via Democracy Docket)

Fifth Circuit strikes down federal switchblade restrictions under the Second Amendment

Also on October 21, a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel ruled in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Blanche (No. 25-10754) that Section 1242 of the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act, which restricts introducing, manufacturing, transporting, and distributing switchblades in interstate commerce, violates the Second Amendment. Writing for the panel of Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod and Judges Don Willett and Cory Wilson, Elrod applied the Supreme Court's Bruen test and held that switchblades are "Arms" covered by the amendment's plain text, putting the burden on the government to show a matching historical tradition. The court found the government's examples, mostly historical rules about carrying concealed weapons, did not justify broad limits on making and selling the knives, and it rejected the idea that the law survives because it does not ban possession outright. The panel reversed the dismissal of the Section 1242 claim but affirmed the dismissal of the facial challenge to Section 1243, which covers federal jurisdictions such as Indian country and U.S. territories, and sent the case back to the district court. Knife Rights notes the ruling has not yet been implemented and the Justice Department could seek further review. Why it matters: it is one of the clearest appellate rulings so far extending Bruen beyond firearms, and it could set up a split with other circuits on weapons regulations.

Sources: Bloomberg Law, Reason / Volokh Conspiracy, Knife Rights statement, Opinion (via Justia)

Legal tech: Legora raises $550 million, and Lexis Protégé goes live inside EvenUp

Legal AI company Legora announced on October 21 a $550 million Series E at an $8.8 billion post-money valuation, led by Atreides Management with new investors including Baron Capital, Capital Group, Fidelity, Glade Brook, and J.P. Morgan, plus existing backers such as Accel, Benchmark, and General Catalyst. According to Artificial Lawyer, the company says it went from $1 million to $100 million in annual recurring revenue in under 18 months, that in-house legal teams made up more than 40% of new customers last quarter, and that more than half of the AmLaw 50 are now customers in the U.S., its largest market. Separately, LawSites reported on October 22 that the LexisNexis Protégé integration with EvenUp, an AI platform for personal-injury lawyers, is now live. Running over the Model Context Protocol, it lets lawyers in EvenUp's Companion assistant ask a legal question and get an answer grounded in Lexis case law and statutes, with relevant case facts pulled automatically from the file and each statement linked to a supporting excerpt; it requires subscriptions to both products, and the reverse direction is still coming. Why it matters: big funding and research tools plugged directly into case files show how fast AI is moving into everyday legal work, and the citation-linked answers reflect growing pressure to make AI output checkable.

Sources: Artificial Lawyer: Legora raise, LawSites: Protégé in EvenUp

Not legal advice

This Briefing is a general news summary from Better Call Claude (bettercallclaude.org) and is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For help with your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.