Washington
Governor signs strippers’ bill of rights into law
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Legislation in Washington state known as the strippers’ bill of rights, which advocates say includes the most comprehensive statewide protections in the nation, was signed into law on Monday.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure, which creates safer working conditions for people in the adult entertainment industry and makes it possible for the clubs to sell alcohol.
“Strippers are workers, and they should be given the same rights and protections as any other labor force,” bill sponsor Sen. Rebecca Saldaña of Seattle, said in a news release. “If they are employed at a legal establishment in Washington, they deserve the safeguards that every worker is entitled to, including protection from exploitation, trafficking, and abuse.”
The new law requires training for employees in establishments to prevent sexual harassment, identify and report human trafficking, de-escalate conflict and provide first aid. It also mandates security workers on site, keypad codes on dressing rooms and panic buttons in places where entertainers may be alone with customers.
Most dancers in the state are independent contractors who are paid by customers and then must pay club fees every shift, Zack-Wu said. The new law limits the fees owners can charge, capping them at $150 or 30% of the amount dancers make during their shift — whichever is less. It also prohibits late fees and other charges related to unpaid balances.
The state Department of Labor and Industries will draft the new rules and guidelines for making the changes to workplace safety standards included in the law by early next year.
The new law also makes it possible for adult entertainment businesses to obtain liquor licenses. The law ties the liquor licenses to compliance with the new safety regulations.
Strippers Are Workers, a dancer-led organization in the state since 2018, advocated for the regulations — and alcohol sales.
The organization’s efforts began in response to wide regulation gaps for people performing at the 11 adult entertainment clubs across the state, according to Madison Zack-Wu, the group’s campaign manager.
But there were also concerns that adding the protections without adding revenue from alcohol sales could lead some clubs to close.
“We don’t want clubs to shut down now or in the future because that will just put everyone out of work and then put them in even riskier or more dire situations,” she said previously.
State Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson Brian Smith told The News Tribune in Tacoma that it could take over a year to get the liquor license process in place for the clubs.
Only one other state has added worker protections for adult entertainers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2019, Illinois started requiring that adult entertainment establishments, along with other businesses, have a written sexual harassment policy.
There have also been other efforts — including at a bar in Los Angeles and a strip club in Portland, Oregon, where dancers voted to unionize. And, the Nevada Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that dancers at one Las Vegas club are employees, and are entitled to minimum wage and other protections.
“It is crucial that we confront the stigma surrounding adult entertainment and recognize the humanity of those involved in the industry,” Saldaña said.
Florida
Convicted sex offender who hacked jumbotron gets 220 years
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A convicted child molester has been sentenced to 220 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material and hacking the jumbotron at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium after the team learned he was a registered sex offender and fired him.
A federal judge in Jacksonville sentenced 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, on Monday, according to court records. He was convicted in November of producing, receiving and possessing sexual images of children, producing such images while required to register as a sex offender, violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, sending unauthorized damaging commands to a protected computer and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Thompson was arrested in early 2020 after being deported by the Philippines back to the U.S., officials said. He had fled to the Southeast Asian country about six months earlier, after the FBI executed a search warrant at his home and seized several of his computers, according to a criminal complaint.
According to court records, Thompson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998. Among other things, the conviction required him to register as a sex offender and to report any international travel.
The Jaguars hired Thompson as a contractor in 2013 to consult on the design and installation of their new video board network and later to operate the jumbotron on gamedays, investigators said. The team chose not to renew his contract in 2018 after learning of his conviction and status as a sex offender.
According to prosecutors, before Thompson’s contract ended in March 2018, he installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room. He then remotely accessed computers controlling the jumbotron during three 2018 season games, causing the video boards to malfunction repeatedly.
The Jaguars eventually found the spare server and removed its access to the jumbotron, prosecutors said. The next time the server was accessed during a game, the team was able to collect network information about the intruder, which the FBI traced to Thompson’s home, prosecutors said.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Thompson’s residence in July 2019 and seized a phone, a tablet and two laptops, which all had been used to access the spare jumbotron server, according to log files. Agents also said they seized a firearm, which Thompson was prohibited from possessing as a convicted felon.
The FBI also found thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child sexual abuse on the devices. The files included videos and images that Thompson had produced a month before the raid on his home that depicted children that had been in his care and custody, investigators said.
The Jaguars released a statement in November, following Thompson’s conviction, thanking federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work on the case.
South Carolina
Court official resigns as state probes allegations of tampering with Murdaugh jury
WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina court official under investigation amid allegations of tampering with the jury in the Alex Murdaugh trial announced her resignation on Monday.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill said that her resignation would take effect immediately during a news conference in front of the courthouse. Serving as clerk since 2020 was an honor, she said, citing the office’s work and its management of the high-profile Murdaugh trial last year.
“Managing a trial with such importance to the people of South Carolina, as well as of the national and international media interest and public scrutiny, it has caused me to reflect upon decisions involving my stay in the office of the clerk of court,” Hill said.
“And so after much reflection, I have decided that it is best not to run again for reelection.”
Hill said she wanted to leave time for Republican candidates interested in running for the position to act. When asked about the deciding factor for her final decision on Monday, Hill cited her grandchildren.
Murdaugh’s fall from his role as an attorney lording over his small county to a sentence of life without parole for the murder of his wife and son at their sprawling estate has been exhaustively covered by true crime shows, podcasts and bloggers.
His lawyers sought another trial in the killings, citing allegations that the court clerk improperly influenced the jury. Hill denied the allegations. In January, a judge denied Murdaugh’s appeal, saying she wasn’t sure that Hill was telling the truth about never speaking to jurors, but jurors testified that their decision to find Murdaugh guilty wasn’t influenced by any comments.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigations into allegations of jury tampering and misuse of office against Hill are active and ongoing, spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said Monday. No charges have been filed against her.
Hill’s attorney Justin Bamberg said at the news conference that her decision wasn’t about an investigation, but the people of the county, noting that there’s another week left for filing for the Clerk of Court office.
“Today is not in response to any new development of some investigation or anything like that,” Bamberg said. He said Hill’s resignation letter would be sent to the governor’s office Monday. Later in the day, Gov. Henry McMaster accepted Hill’s resignation in a letter and notified the county probate judge that he should take charge of the office until the position can be filled. McMaster’s office said the governor would make an appointment to fill the vacancy in the coming days.
Virginia
US appeals court finds for Donald Trump Jr. in defamation suit by ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court rejected a bid Monday from former coal executive Don Blankenship, who argued that Donald Trump Jr. defamed him by calling him a “felon.”
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, left in place a lower court’s ruling in West Virginia against Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy. He served a year in prison on a misdemeanor charge after he was found guilty of conspiring to violate safety standards at a West Virginia mine before an explosion in 2010 that killed 29 men.
Blankenship sued the son of then-President Donald Trump after Donald Trump Jr. posted the comment in May 2018 on social media. The appeals court found that “the record fails to show that Trump, Jr. published his statement with actual malice.”
The appeals court previously affirmed a determination by a district court that CNN, Fox News and 14 other media outlets sued by Blankenship did not act with “actual malice” amid coverage of his unsuccessful 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, even if, it said, they failed to meet journalistic standards. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Blankenship’s appeal in that case.
The high court also previously turned away Blankenship’s appeal of his misdemeanor conviction.
Alabama
Woman who set fire to church sentenced to 8 years in prison
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A 30-year-old woman in the U.S. on a student visa has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for setting fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 2021, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Xiaoqin Yan, a citizen of China, was convicted last year on charges of arson and illegal possession of a firearm. At the time of her arrest, Yan had overstayed her non-immigrant visa and, therefore, could not lawfully possess a firearm. Her visa was revoked after her arrest.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross of Alabama’s Middle District said in a news release that Yan was sentenced to 102 months in prison on Friday. The statement didn’t specify how long Yan had overstayed her visa.
According to court records and evidence presented at Yan’s June 2023 trial, Yan entered a church in downtown Montgomery on Sept. 30, 2021 and ignited multiple fires inside the building. The church sustained at least $25,000 in damage, al.com reported.
Yan was captured on surveillance video. Investigators also found items identical to those seen in the video, as well as clothing the type worn by Yan when setting the fires.
Governor signs strippers’ bill of rights into law
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Legislation in Washington state known as the strippers’ bill of rights, which advocates say includes the most comprehensive statewide protections in the nation, was signed into law on Monday.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure, which creates safer working conditions for people in the adult entertainment industry and makes it possible for the clubs to sell alcohol.
“Strippers are workers, and they should be given the same rights and protections as any other labor force,” bill sponsor Sen. Rebecca Saldaña of Seattle, said in a news release. “If they are employed at a legal establishment in Washington, they deserve the safeguards that every worker is entitled to, including protection from exploitation, trafficking, and abuse.”
The new law requires training for employees in establishments to prevent sexual harassment, identify and report human trafficking, de-escalate conflict and provide first aid. It also mandates security workers on site, keypad codes on dressing rooms and panic buttons in places where entertainers may be alone with customers.
Most dancers in the state are independent contractors who are paid by customers and then must pay club fees every shift, Zack-Wu said. The new law limits the fees owners can charge, capping them at $150 or 30% of the amount dancers make during their shift — whichever is less. It also prohibits late fees and other charges related to unpaid balances.
The state Department of Labor and Industries will draft the new rules and guidelines for making the changes to workplace safety standards included in the law by early next year.
The new law also makes it possible for adult entertainment businesses to obtain liquor licenses. The law ties the liquor licenses to compliance with the new safety regulations.
Strippers Are Workers, a dancer-led organization in the state since 2018, advocated for the regulations — and alcohol sales.
The organization’s efforts began in response to wide regulation gaps for people performing at the 11 adult entertainment clubs across the state, according to Madison Zack-Wu, the group’s campaign manager.
But there were also concerns that adding the protections without adding revenue from alcohol sales could lead some clubs to close.
“We don’t want clubs to shut down now or in the future because that will just put everyone out of work and then put them in even riskier or more dire situations,” she said previously.
State Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson Brian Smith told The News Tribune in Tacoma that it could take over a year to get the liquor license process in place for the clubs.
Only one other state has added worker protections for adult entertainers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2019, Illinois started requiring that adult entertainment establishments, along with other businesses, have a written sexual harassment policy.
There have also been other efforts — including at a bar in Los Angeles and a strip club in Portland, Oregon, where dancers voted to unionize. And, the Nevada Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that dancers at one Las Vegas club are employees, and are entitled to minimum wage and other protections.
“It is crucial that we confront the stigma surrounding adult entertainment and recognize the humanity of those involved in the industry,” Saldaña said.
Florida
Convicted sex offender who hacked jumbotron gets 220 years
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A convicted child molester has been sentenced to 220 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material and hacking the jumbotron at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium after the team learned he was a registered sex offender and fired him.
A federal judge in Jacksonville sentenced 53-year-old Samuel Arthur Thompson, of St. Augustine, on Monday, according to court records. He was convicted in November of producing, receiving and possessing sexual images of children, producing such images while required to register as a sex offender, violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, sending unauthorized damaging commands to a protected computer and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Thompson was arrested in early 2020 after being deported by the Philippines back to the U.S., officials said. He had fled to the Southeast Asian country about six months earlier, after the FBI executed a search warrant at his home and seized several of his computers, according to a criminal complaint.
According to court records, Thompson was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998. Among other things, the conviction required him to register as a sex offender and to report any international travel.
The Jaguars hired Thompson as a contractor in 2013 to consult on the design and installation of their new video board network and later to operate the jumbotron on gamedays, investigators said. The team chose not to renew his contract in 2018 after learning of his conviction and status as a sex offender.
According to prosecutors, before Thompson’s contract ended in March 2018, he installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room. He then remotely accessed computers controlling the jumbotron during three 2018 season games, causing the video boards to malfunction repeatedly.
The Jaguars eventually found the spare server and removed its access to the jumbotron, prosecutors said. The next time the server was accessed during a game, the team was able to collect network information about the intruder, which the FBI traced to Thompson’s home, prosecutors said.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Thompson’s residence in July 2019 and seized a phone, a tablet and two laptops, which all had been used to access the spare jumbotron server, according to log files. Agents also said they seized a firearm, which Thompson was prohibited from possessing as a convicted felon.
The FBI also found thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child sexual abuse on the devices. The files included videos and images that Thompson had produced a month before the raid on his home that depicted children that had been in his care and custody, investigators said.
The Jaguars released a statement in November, following Thompson’s conviction, thanking federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work on the case.
South Carolina
Court official resigns as state probes allegations of tampering with Murdaugh jury
WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina court official under investigation amid allegations of tampering with the jury in the Alex Murdaugh trial announced her resignation on Monday.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill said that her resignation would take effect immediately during a news conference in front of the courthouse. Serving as clerk since 2020 was an honor, she said, citing the office’s work and its management of the high-profile Murdaugh trial last year.
“Managing a trial with such importance to the people of South Carolina, as well as of the national and international media interest and public scrutiny, it has caused me to reflect upon decisions involving my stay in the office of the clerk of court,” Hill said.
“And so after much reflection, I have decided that it is best not to run again for reelection.”
Hill said she wanted to leave time for Republican candidates interested in running for the position to act. When asked about the deciding factor for her final decision on Monday, Hill cited her grandchildren.
Murdaugh’s fall from his role as an attorney lording over his small county to a sentence of life without parole for the murder of his wife and son at their sprawling estate has been exhaustively covered by true crime shows, podcasts and bloggers.
His lawyers sought another trial in the killings, citing allegations that the court clerk improperly influenced the jury. Hill denied the allegations. In January, a judge denied Murdaugh’s appeal, saying she wasn’t sure that Hill was telling the truth about never speaking to jurors, but jurors testified that their decision to find Murdaugh guilty wasn’t influenced by any comments.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigations into allegations of jury tampering and misuse of office against Hill are active and ongoing, spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said Monday. No charges have been filed against her.
Hill’s attorney Justin Bamberg said at the news conference that her decision wasn’t about an investigation, but the people of the county, noting that there’s another week left for filing for the Clerk of Court office.
“Today is not in response to any new development of some investigation or anything like that,” Bamberg said. He said Hill’s resignation letter would be sent to the governor’s office Monday. Later in the day, Gov. Henry McMaster accepted Hill’s resignation in a letter and notified the county probate judge that he should take charge of the office until the position can be filled. McMaster’s office said the governor would make an appointment to fill the vacancy in the coming days.
Virginia
US appeals court finds for Donald Trump Jr. in defamation suit by ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court rejected a bid Monday from former coal executive Don Blankenship, who argued that Donald Trump Jr. defamed him by calling him a “felon.”
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, left in place a lower court’s ruling in West Virginia against Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy. He served a year in prison on a misdemeanor charge after he was found guilty of conspiring to violate safety standards at a West Virginia mine before an explosion in 2010 that killed 29 men.
Blankenship sued the son of then-President Donald Trump after Donald Trump Jr. posted the comment in May 2018 on social media. The appeals court found that “the record fails to show that Trump, Jr. published his statement with actual malice.”
The appeals court previously affirmed a determination by a district court that CNN, Fox News and 14 other media outlets sued by Blankenship did not act with “actual malice” amid coverage of his unsuccessful 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, even if, it said, they failed to meet journalistic standards. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Blankenship’s appeal in that case.
The high court also previously turned away Blankenship’s appeal of his misdemeanor conviction.
Alabama
Woman who set fire to church sentenced to 8 years in prison
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A 30-year-old woman in the U.S. on a student visa has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for setting fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 2021, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Xiaoqin Yan, a citizen of China, was convicted last year on charges of arson and illegal possession of a firearm. At the time of her arrest, Yan had overstayed her non-immigrant visa and, therefore, could not lawfully possess a firearm. Her visa was revoked after her arrest.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross of Alabama’s Middle District said in a news release that Yan was sentenced to 102 months in prison on Friday. The statement didn’t specify how long Yan had overstayed her visa.
According to court records and evidence presented at Yan’s June 2023 trial, Yan entered a church in downtown Montgomery on Sept. 30, 2021 and ignited multiple fires inside the building. The church sustained at least $25,000 in damage, al.com reported.
Yan was captured on surveillance video. Investigators also found items identical to those seen in the video, as well as clothing the type worn by Yan when setting the fires.
