New Hampshire
Man accused of using hammer to kill grandmother
EASTON, N.H. (AP) — A 23-year-old man has been accused of killing his grandmother with a hammer in New Hampshire.
The man was being held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, the attorney general’s office said in a news release.
The man’s grandmother, 76, was found dead at her home in Easton on Saturday, the attorney general’s office said. The grandson was arrested that night on a charge of second-degree murder.
An autopsy determined that the woman died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Alabama
DOJ sues state over purging voter rolls too close to November election
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, accusing the state of illegally purging people from voter rolls too close to the November election.
Federal officials said the purge violates the “quiet period provision” of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits the systemic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election.
Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen in August announced an initiative “to remove noncitizens registered to vote in Alabama.” More than 3,000 people who had been previously issued noncitizen identification numbers will have their voter registration status made inactive and flagged for possible removal from the voter rolls. The Justice Department said both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens, who are eligible to vote, received the letters saying their voting status was being made inactive.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”
The lawsuit asks for injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote on Nov. 5.
“I was elected secretary of state by the people of Alabama, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections,” Allen said in a statement issued Friday night.
Allen in August acknowledged the possibility that some of the people identified had become naturalized citizens since receiving their noncitizen number. He said they would need to update their information on a state voter registration form and would be able to vote after it was verified.
The Campaign Legal Center, Fair Elections Center and Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this month filed a lawsuit also challenging the voter roll purge, They said the state purge targets naturalized citizens who once had noncitizen identification numbers before gaining citizenship.
The plaintiffs in that lawsuit include two U.S. citizens who received letters telling them they were being moved to inactive voter registration status because of the purge. One is man born in the Netherlands who became a U.S citizen in 2022. The other is a U.S.-born citizen.
Tennessee
Federal judge dismisses challenge to state’s school bathroom law
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Tennessee law that bans transgender students and staff from using school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities.
A transgender student, identified only as D.H., filed the lawsuit nearly two years ago, saying her school stopped supporting her social transition after the Republican-dominant Statehouse and GOP Gov. Bill Lee enacted several policies targeting accommodations for transgender people.
The school instead accommodated the student by allowing her to use one of four single-occupancy restrooms. However, according to D.H.’s attorneys, the accommodation caused severe stress, leading to the student briefly stopping using the restroom and limiting food and water to minimize her need for the restroom. D.H. sued the state and school district saying the law violated her constitutional rights under the Equal Protection
Clause and also Title IX, the 1972 federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
In 2023, U.S. District Judge William Campbell agreed the case could continue under the Equal Protection Clause claim but dismissed the claims alleging violations under Title IX.
Campbell reversed course this month and dismissed the suit entirely, saying that key rulings in separate transgender lawsuits influenced his decision.
Specifically, Campbell pointed to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding two Tennessee transgender-related laws — a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a ban changing sex designation on birth
certificates. The appeals court ruled that both laws treated the sexes equally.
“Although Plaintiff identifies as a girl, the Act prohibits her from using the facilities that correspond to her gender identity, while students who identify with their biological sex at birth are permitted to use such facilities,” Campbell wrote in his Sept. 4 ruling. “However, the Act and policy do not prefer one sex over the other, bestow benefits or burdens based on sex, or apply one rule for males and another for females.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights group representing D.H., called the decision a “disappointing setback”
“However, we will continue to fight for Tennessee’s LGBTQ+ youth so they can have the freedoms they deserve,” Ami Patel, an attorney for the organization, said in a statement.
The suit was one of the two that attempted to challenge the bathroom law known as the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act. The second lawsuit was dropped after the child plaintiffs moved out of state.
Across the U.S., at least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools, and in some cases other government facilities. The laws are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. A judge’s order putting enforcement on hold is in place in Idaho.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has enacted more anti-LGBTQ+ laws more than any other state since 2015.
Alabama
Court revives lawsuit of Black pastor who was arrested while watering his neighbor’s flowers
Montgomery, Ala. (AP) — The police officers who arrested a Black pastor while he watered his neighbor’s plants can be sued, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, reversing a lower court judge’s decision to dismiss the pastor’s lawsuit.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the three officers who arrested Michael Jennings in Childersburg, Alabama, lacked probable cause for the arrest and are therefore not shielded by qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability while performing their duties as long as their actions don’t violate clearly established law or constitutional rights which they should have known about.
Jennings was arrested in May 2022 after a white neighbor reported him to police as he was watering his friend’s garden while they were out of town. The responding officers said they arrested Jennings because he refused to provide a physical ID. Body camera footage shows that the man repeatedly told officers he was “Pastor Jennings” and that he lived across the street.
Attorneys for Jennings argued that the footage shows that the officers decided to arrest Jennings without probable cause “less than five minutes after” they arrived.
“This is a win for Pastor Jennings and a win for justice. The video speaks for itself,” said Harry Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings. “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.”
Attorneys representing the officers involved, as well as the city of Childersburg, did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday.
In December, Chief District Judge R. David Proctor had dismissed the case against the officers on the basis of qualified immunity.
Alabama law states officers have a right to request the name, address and explanation of a person in a public place if he “reasonably suspects” that person is committing or about to commit a crime, but an officer does not have a legal right to demand physical identification, the 11th circuit court decision said.
Jennings was arrested on a charge of obstructing government operations. Those charges were dismissed within days at the request of the police chief. The pastor then filed a lawsuit a few months later, saying the ordeal violated his constitutional rights and caused lingering problems including emotional distress and anxiety.
Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings, said that the decision could affect other ongoing civil rights cases across the state.
“This has major implications for anyone who has been subjected to unlawful arrest because they wouldn’t give their ID,” said Daniels.
Florida
Attorney for 18-year-old trying to halt auction of Ohtani’s 50/50 ball confident he has strong case
MIAMI (AP) — The attorney for an 18-year-old man trying to stop Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from being sold at auction until a lawsuit is resolved believes he has a strong case.
Online bidding began Friday, less than 24 hours after a Miami-Dade County Judge Spencer Eig said the process could begin — though a sale can’t be finalized before Eig rules on a motion for a temporary injunction next month.
Attorney John Uustal represents Max Matus in a lawsuit challenging ownership of the historic ball.
“What we wanted was to make sure this ball would stay under the jurisdiction of the court and that it could not be sold before the court rules,’’ Uustal said.
The lawsuit claims Matus, a Florida resident who was celebrating his 18th birthday at LoanDepot Park, gained possession of the ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run on Sept. 19 before another man, Chris Belanski, took it away.
“Max successfully grabbed the 50/50 ball in his left hand and intended to keep it,” the lawsuit stated. “Unfortunately, a few seconds later, defendant Belanski — a muscular older man — trapped plaintiff’s arm in between his legs and wrangled the 50/50 ball out of Max’s left hand.”
The ball has since been turned over to Goldin Auctions, a New Jersey-based auction house also named in the lawsuit. Bidding began at $500,000.
Matus is seeking a temporary injunction that would prevent a sale until after his lawsuit is resolved.
“The normal procedure with a lawsuit is it takes some time — a year, year and a half, sometimes longer — to get to jury and have a jury rule,” Uustal said.
“In this case, we don’t have time,” the attorney added. “The ball may be gone forever (if it’s sold). ... Who knows where it would be by then.”
Eig on Thursday set an evidentiary hearing for Oct. 10. Part of Uustal’s presentation will be video of the scramble for the ball in the stands.
Matus’ initial filing requested a court order declaring he is entitled to the ball and requests a jury trial on his claims. It also alleged unlawful battery against Belanski.
Kelvin Ramirez also is named in the lawsuit after claiming ownership of the ball. Ramirez attended the game with Belanski.
Ohtani’s home run against the Miami Marlins gave him 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season, making him the first player in major league history to reach that milestone.
Man accused of using hammer to kill grandmother
EASTON, N.H. (AP) — A 23-year-old man has been accused of killing his grandmother with a hammer in New Hampshire.
The man was being held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, the attorney general’s office said in a news release.
The man’s grandmother, 76, was found dead at her home in Easton on Saturday, the attorney general’s office said. The grandson was arrested that night on a charge of second-degree murder.
An autopsy determined that the woman died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Alabama
DOJ sues state over purging voter rolls too close to November election
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, accusing the state of illegally purging people from voter rolls too close to the November election.
Federal officials said the purge violates the “quiet period provision” of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits the systemic removal of names from voter rolls 90 days before a federal election.
Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen in August announced an initiative “to remove noncitizens registered to vote in Alabama.” More than 3,000 people who had been previously issued noncitizen identification numbers will have their voter registration status made inactive and flagged for possible removal from the voter rolls. The Justice Department said both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens, who are eligible to vote, received the letters saying their voting status was being made inactive.
“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”
The lawsuit asks for injunctive relief that would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote on Nov. 5.
“I was elected secretary of state by the people of Alabama, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections,” Allen said in a statement issued Friday night.
Allen in August acknowledged the possibility that some of the people identified had become naturalized citizens since receiving their noncitizen number. He said they would need to update their information on a state voter registration form and would be able to vote after it was verified.
The Campaign Legal Center, Fair Elections Center and Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this month filed a lawsuit also challenging the voter roll purge, They said the state purge targets naturalized citizens who once had noncitizen identification numbers before gaining citizenship.
The plaintiffs in that lawsuit include two U.S. citizens who received letters telling them they were being moved to inactive voter registration status because of the purge. One is man born in the Netherlands who became a U.S citizen in 2022. The other is a U.S.-born citizen.
Tennessee
Federal judge dismisses challenge to state’s school bathroom law
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Tennessee law that bans transgender students and staff from using school bathrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identities.
A transgender student, identified only as D.H., filed the lawsuit nearly two years ago, saying her school stopped supporting her social transition after the Republican-dominant Statehouse and GOP Gov. Bill Lee enacted several policies targeting accommodations for transgender people.
The school instead accommodated the student by allowing her to use one of four single-occupancy restrooms. However, according to D.H.’s attorneys, the accommodation caused severe stress, leading to the student briefly stopping using the restroom and limiting food and water to minimize her need for the restroom. D.H. sued the state and school district saying the law violated her constitutional rights under the Equal Protection
Clause and also Title IX, the 1972 federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
In 2023, U.S. District Judge William Campbell agreed the case could continue under the Equal Protection Clause claim but dismissed the claims alleging violations under Title IX.
Campbell reversed course this month and dismissed the suit entirely, saying that key rulings in separate transgender lawsuits influenced his decision.
Specifically, Campbell pointed to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding two Tennessee transgender-related laws — a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a ban changing sex designation on birth
certificates. The appeals court ruled that both laws treated the sexes equally.
“Although Plaintiff identifies as a girl, the Act prohibits her from using the facilities that correspond to her gender identity, while students who identify with their biological sex at birth are permitted to use such facilities,” Campbell wrote in his Sept. 4 ruling. “However, the Act and policy do not prefer one sex over the other, bestow benefits or burdens based on sex, or apply one rule for males and another for females.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights group representing D.H., called the decision a “disappointing setback”
“However, we will continue to fight for Tennessee’s LGBTQ+ youth so they can have the freedoms they deserve,” Ami Patel, an attorney for the organization, said in a statement.
The suit was one of the two that attempted to challenge the bathroom law known as the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act. The second lawsuit was dropped after the child plaintiffs moved out of state.
Across the U.S., at least 11 states have adopted laws barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools, and in some cases other government facilities. The laws are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. A judge’s order putting enforcement on hold is in place in Idaho.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Tennessee has enacted more anti-LGBTQ+ laws more than any other state since 2015.
Alabama
Court revives lawsuit of Black pastor who was arrested while watering his neighbor’s flowers
Montgomery, Ala. (AP) — The police officers who arrested a Black pastor while he watered his neighbor’s plants can be sued, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, reversing a lower court judge’s decision to dismiss the pastor’s lawsuit.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the three officers who arrested Michael Jennings in Childersburg, Alabama, lacked probable cause for the arrest and are therefore not shielded by qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity protects officers from civil liability while performing their duties as long as their actions don’t violate clearly established law or constitutional rights which they should have known about.
Jennings was arrested in May 2022 after a white neighbor reported him to police as he was watering his friend’s garden while they were out of town. The responding officers said they arrested Jennings because he refused to provide a physical ID. Body camera footage shows that the man repeatedly told officers he was “Pastor Jennings” and that he lived across the street.
Attorneys for Jennings argued that the footage shows that the officers decided to arrest Jennings without probable cause “less than five minutes after” they arrived.
“This is a win for Pastor Jennings and a win for justice. The video speaks for itself,” said Harry Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings. “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.”
Attorneys representing the officers involved, as well as the city of Childersburg, did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday.
In December, Chief District Judge R. David Proctor had dismissed the case against the officers on the basis of qualified immunity.
Alabama law states officers have a right to request the name, address and explanation of a person in a public place if he “reasonably suspects” that person is committing or about to commit a crime, but an officer does not have a legal right to demand physical identification, the 11th circuit court decision said.
Jennings was arrested on a charge of obstructing government operations. Those charges were dismissed within days at the request of the police chief. The pastor then filed a lawsuit a few months later, saying the ordeal violated his constitutional rights and caused lingering problems including emotional distress and anxiety.
Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings, said that the decision could affect other ongoing civil rights cases across the state.
“This has major implications for anyone who has been subjected to unlawful arrest because they wouldn’t give their ID,” said Daniels.
Florida
Attorney for 18-year-old trying to halt auction of Ohtani’s 50/50 ball confident he has strong case
MIAMI (AP) — The attorney for an 18-year-old man trying to stop Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from being sold at auction until a lawsuit is resolved believes he has a strong case.
Online bidding began Friday, less than 24 hours after a Miami-Dade County Judge Spencer Eig said the process could begin — though a sale can’t be finalized before Eig rules on a motion for a temporary injunction next month.
Attorney John Uustal represents Max Matus in a lawsuit challenging ownership of the historic ball.
“What we wanted was to make sure this ball would stay under the jurisdiction of the court and that it could not be sold before the court rules,’’ Uustal said.
The lawsuit claims Matus, a Florida resident who was celebrating his 18th birthday at LoanDepot Park, gained possession of the ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run on Sept. 19 before another man, Chris Belanski, took it away.
“Max successfully grabbed the 50/50 ball in his left hand and intended to keep it,” the lawsuit stated. “Unfortunately, a few seconds later, defendant Belanski — a muscular older man — trapped plaintiff’s arm in between his legs and wrangled the 50/50 ball out of Max’s left hand.”
The ball has since been turned over to Goldin Auctions, a New Jersey-based auction house also named in the lawsuit. Bidding began at $500,000.
Matus is seeking a temporary injunction that would prevent a sale until after his lawsuit is resolved.
“The normal procedure with a lawsuit is it takes some time — a year, year and a half, sometimes longer — to get to jury and have a jury rule,” Uustal said.
“In this case, we don’t have time,” the attorney added. “The ball may be gone forever (if it’s sold). ... Who knows where it would be by then.”
Eig on Thursday set an evidentiary hearing for Oct. 10. Part of Uustal’s presentation will be video of the scramble for the ball in the stands.
Matus’ initial filing requested a court order declaring he is entitled to the ball and requests a jury trial on his claims. It also alleged unlawful battery against Belanski.
Kelvin Ramirez also is named in the lawsuit after claiming ownership of the ball. Ramirez attended the game with Belanski.
Ohtani’s home run against the Miami Marlins gave him 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season, making him the first player in major league history to reach that milestone.
