Concerns about a banned gymnastics coach arrested amid allegations he abused girls he coached surfaced years before police or sports authorities took action. The Associated Press has learned that a former boss of Sean Gardner brought concerns in 2018 about ֱgroomingֱ behavior to the agency overseeing U.S. gymnastics. Girls he coached and their parents told AP they sounded alarms about Gardner's inappropriate behavior to coaches at the renowned academy where he worked after that. The parents spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their daughters. Gym's owner Liang ֱChowֱ Qiao kept Gardner on and promoted him. Not until 2022 was Gardner banned from gymnastics. Shortly after, Qiao and others at the gym were sanctioned for failing to report sexual misconduct reports against Gardner.
A judge has ordered a new trial for three former Memphis police officers who were convicted of federal charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. The order comes after defense lawyers argued that another judge who presided over their trial was biased against the men. U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman issued the order for a new trial for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith. The three were found guilty in October 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering in the January 2023 beating death of Nichols after he fled a traffic stop.
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has come to encapsulate much of President Donald Trumpֱs hard-line immigration agenda, say he wants to seek asylum in the United States. His lawyers told that to a federal judge Wednesday. The 30-year-old Salvadoran national was detained Monday in Baltimore by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. Administration officials have said heֱs part of the dangerous MS-13 gang, an allegation Abrego Garcia denies. His lawyers are fighting the deportation efforts in court, arguing he has the right to express fear of persecution and torture in Uganda.
The White House says a judge's decision to throw out the Trump administration's lawsuit against all federal judges in Maryland is a direct assault on the presidentֱs ability to enforce immigration laws. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson says Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen will not be the final say on the suit. Cullen was nominated by President Donald Trump but slams the administration's lawsuit as ֱpotentially calamitous.ֱ Cullen also criticizes the Republican administration's attacks on the judiciary. At issue in the lawsuit was an order by the chief judge of the Maryland district court that stopped the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been detained by immigration authorities in Baltimore. However, a blanket court order automatically pauses any effort to immediately deport Abrego Garcia and other immigrants challenging their detention. The Trump administration wants to deport him to Uganda. Abrego Garcia became the face of President Donald Trumpֱs immigration policies in March when he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. He was returned to the U.S. in June, then charged with human smuggling. He was released from jail on Friday to await trial, and detained by ICE Monday morning. A federal judge says court orders temporarily prohibit the government from deporting Abrego Garcia.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to prosecute people for burning the American flag. This action challenges a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that protects flag burning as political expression. Trump argues that flag burning incites violence and should result in a one-year jail sentence. The order also instructs the attorney general to challenge the 1989 ruling. Critics, including civil liberties advocates, question the legality of Trump's move, saying it conflicts with First Amendment rights. Trump has long expressed a desire for consequences for flag burning, despite constitutional protections.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday threatening to withhold federal funding from local and state governments that allow cashless bail, arguing that it is a threat to public safety. Proponents of eliminating cash bail argue it penalizes poverty, as wealthier individuals can pay to await trial outside jail. Critics believe it is a time-honored way to ensure defendants released from jail show up for court proceedings and warn that cashless bail could lead to more crime. Studies show mixed results on the impact of cashless bail.
The conservative network Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Donald Trumpֱs 2020 election loss. The settlement announced Monday comes after Fox News Channel paid $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit in 2023 and Newsmax paid what court papers describe as $40 million to settle a libel lawsuit from a different voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, which also was a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories on the network. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled earlier Newsmax defamed Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by airing false information about the company and its equipment. Dominion says it's pleased to have settled.
A federal judge considered whether detainees have been denied their legal rights at a temporary immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades. This is the second lawsuit challenging practices at the facility known as ֱAlligator Alcatraz.ֱ On Monday, civil rights attorneys in Miami asked a judge to ensure detainees have confidential access to their lawyers. They also want the judge to identify an immigration court with jurisdiction over the center. Florida officials dispute claims that attorneys have been unable to meet with clients. Government attorneys said at the start of the hearing that they would designate a Miami-area immigration court for the Everglades detainees.
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