A federal appeals court panel has put on hold a lower court judge’s order to wind down operations of the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The three-judge panel in Atlanta on Thursday decided by a 2-1 vote to stay the federal judge’s order pending the outcome of an appeal. The judges in the majority said it was in the public interest. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October. Detainees would be transferred to other facilities.
President Donald Trump is suggesting that New Orleans could be his next target for deploying the National Guard. Trump says the escalation is necessary because New Orleans has a “crime problem.” City leaders point out that crime rates have dropped considerably this year. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Wednesday on social media that Louisiana would take Trump’s assistance. Leaders of New Orleans are less supportive. Trump has already said he plans to send the National Guard into Chicago and Baltimore. He deployed troops and federal agents to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., last month.
A federal appeals court has approved Illinois’ ban on carrying firearms on public transit, reversing a lower court decision that found the prohibition violated the Second Amendment. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals delivered its opinion on Tuesday. Judge Joshua Kolar wrote in the majority opinion that the Illinois restriction follows “a centuries-old practice of limiting firearms” in confined or crowded conditions. That ruling overturned one from a U.S. District Court in 2024 that relied on a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that restrictions on public weapons must be consistent with those imposed when the Second Amendment was written.
A woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” has pleaded guilty to selling Matthew Perry the ketamine that killed him. Jasveen Sangha became the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the “Friends” star to plead guilty Wednesday after an agreement with federal prosecutors. The plea means the 42-year-old will avoid a trial that had been planned for later this month. Prosecutors cast Sangha as a prolific drug dealer who sought to sell especially to celebrities and other wealthy customers. According to court documents, she sold Perry 25 vials of ketamine four days before his death from an overdose of the drug.
A New York judge has allowed DNA evidence obtained through advanced techniques into the forthcoming murder trial of the man accused of being Long Island’s Gilgo Beach serial killer. A New York State Supreme Court justice handed down his decision Wednesday in the case against Rex Heuermann in Riverhead court. The 61-year-old Manhattan architect was arrested more than two years ago and has been charged in the deaths of seven women in a series of killings that prosecutors say spanned decades. Most of the women's remains were discovered along an isolated parkway not far from Gilgo Beach and Heuermann’s home in Massapequa.
A jury has ruled in favor of Cardi B in a lawsuit where a security guard accused her of assault during the rapper's first pregnancy. On Tuesday, the jury in Alhambra, California, deliberated for about an hour before finding Cardi not liable. Emani Ellis claimed Cardi cut her face with a fingernail and spat on her in a Beverly Hills doctor's office in February 2018. Cardi admitted they argued but denied it turned physical. Ellis sought damages for medical expenses and emotional suffering. A receptionist supported Cardi's account, and the jury sided with the rapper.
President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Space Command will be relocated from Colorado to Alabama, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary home. Space Command’s functions include conducting operations like enabling satellite-based navigation and troop communication and providing warning of missile launches. Alabama and Colorado have long battled to claim Space Command because it has significant implications for the local economy. The site has also been a political prize, with elected officials from both Alabama and Colorado asserting their state is the better location.
The House Oversight Committee has publicly posted the files it has received from the Justice Department on the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. The folders contain hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein and Maxwell. They also contain video files appearing to be body cam footage from police searches as well as recordings and summaries of law enforcement interviews with victims detailing the abuse they said they suffered. Pressure is mounting on Congress to force more disclosure in the case, but the files released Tuesday they mostly contain information that was already publicly known.
The verdict and sentencing phase has started in the trial of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro. He faces allegations of leading a conspiracy to stay in power in the proceedings that opened Tuesday. A Supreme Court panel is set to decide if Bolsonaro is guilty of trying to overturn the 2022 election results. Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. He is charged with five counts, including attempting a coup. He claims the trial is politically motivated. Six of his allies also are on trial. A guilty verdict on the coup charge could mean up to 12 years in prison. Experts call the trial historic, marking a shift from Brazil’s past impunity.
The White House has indicated it plans to appeal a judge's ruling that President Donald Trump’s use of National Guard troops during California immigration enforcement protests is illegal. Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled Tuesday the Trump administration violated federal law by sending troops to accompany federal agents on immigration raids. California sued, saying the troops sent to Los Angeles over the summer violated a law that prohibits military enforcement of domestic laws. Lawyers for the Republican administration say the troops were protecting federal officers, not enforcing laws. A White House spokeswoman says “a rogue judge is trying to usurp” Trump’s authority. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom says the court sided with democracy.