New York
Four guards plead guilty in brutal beating death of Black inmate at New York prison
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) —Four prison guards pleaded guilty Monday in the death of a Black inmate whose brutal beating at an upstate New York prison was captured on bodycam videos.
The pleas came two weeks before the start of trial for a group of guards accused in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled while handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. The beating of the restrained 43-year-old man triggered outrage and calls for reform.
Four of the 10 guards indicted in February are still headed to trial Oct. 6, including three accused of murder.
Two guards facing a top charge of murder pleaded guilty in a Utica court to a lesser charge in the indictment: first-degree manslaughter. Under the agreements, Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who have both resigned, will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison on Nov. 21.
Brooks’ relatives welcomed what they called a measure of justice.
“It is important to us to see my father’s killers publicly admit what they have done and face severe consequences,” Robert Brooks Jr., the victim’s son, said in a prepared release.
Two more men charged with second-degree manslaughter also pleaded guilty. Michael Mashaw will be sentenced to three to nine years in prison. and David Walters will be sentenced to two years, four months to seven years in prison. Mashaw has resigned. Walters’ status was unclear Monday.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017 and was transferred to Marcy from a nearby lockup on the night he was beaten. The videos show Brooks being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by his neck and then dropped.
The first plea in the case came in May, when a guard charged with murder pleaded guilty to manslaughter under a deal with prosecutors. Christopher Walrath, who resigned, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in August.
Another guard pleaded guilty later in May to attempted tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
The special prosecutor in the case is Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at another Marcy lockup, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder.
Vermont
Federal appeals court reinstates Christian school after it objected to player who was transgender
A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state’s sports league, overturning a previous ruling that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls basketball game against a team with a transgender athlete.
In a Sept. 9 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Mid Vermont Christian School a preliminary injunction to rejoin the Vermont Principals’ Association — also known as the state’s executive council that governs school sports — as the legal battle continues in court.
“We conclude that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the VPA’s expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs,” the appeals court wrote in their decision.
In 2023, the Quechee-based private school forfeited a game because officials believed the opposing teams’ transgender player jeopardized “the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”
In response, the VPA ruled that the school had violated the council’s policies on race, gender and disability awareness, and therefore was ineligible to participate in all state-sponsored games and other events including debate tournaments and science fairs.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Mid Vermont Christian, some students and parents then filed a lawsuit accusing the state of violating the school’s First Amendment rights. It said Mid Vermont Christian, which has competed in the state sports association for nearly 30 years, forfeited the single game “to avoid violating its religious beliefs.”
“The government cannot punish religious schools — and the families they serve — by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because the state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” David Cortman, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing the Vermont school, said in an email Monday.
Emails seeking comment were sent to Mid Vermont and the Vermont Principals Association.
A lower district court in 2024 ruled in the state’s favor, arguing that the executive council applies the athletic policy uniformly and doesn’t target religious organizations for enforcement or discrimination.
However, the appeals court disagreed. The appellate court argued that the state was “hostile to Mid Vermont’s religious views” and declared the outright ban on participating in sports and non-athletic activities “unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular.”
Specifically, the court took issue with the VPA’s executive director, Jay Nichols, who testified before a Vermont legislative committee in favor of legislation to ban public funding to religious schools just days after Mid Vermont forfeited the game in 2023.
Nichols told lawmakers “thank goodness the student in question didn’t attend that religious school” and said Vermont shouldn’t condone such discrimination.
“Put simply, the VPA may not impose discipline based on its view that Mid Vermont’s religious objection was ‘wrong,’” the court ruled.
The ongoing case is the latest development in the ongoing debate over transgender athletes participating in public school sports. The Trump administration has pressed states to block transgender youth from participating in girls sports.
Currently, at least 26 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls sports competitions. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of the bans in its coming term.
Connecticut
Federal judge lifts administration’s halt of offshore wind farm project that’s nearly done
The Trump administration can’t continue to keep work paused on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut while it reviews its national security concerns, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Work on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project has been paused since Aug. 22 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop work order for what it said were national security concerns. It did not specify those concerns at the time. Both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts.
Danish energy company Orsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that would allow them to move forward with the project.
Judge Royce Lamberth held a hearing on that request Monday. Lamberth said he considered how Revolution Wind has relied on its federal approval, the delays are costing $2.3 million a day and if the project can’t meet deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse. After December, the specialized ship needed to complete the project won’t be available until at least 2028, he said. More than 1,000 people have been working on the wind farm, which is 80% complete.
“There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs,” Lamberth said, as he granted the motion for the preliminary injunction.
The Interior Department has said that the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Revolution Wind is supposed to be Rhode Island’s and Connecticut’s first, large offshore wind farm, capable of providing about 2.5% of the region’s electricity needs.
Orsted began construction in 2024 about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast. It says in its complaint that about $5 billion has been spent or committed, and it expects more than $1 billion in costs if the project is canceled. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.
Florida
Federal judge tosses Trump’s $15B defamation suit against NYT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida federal judge on Friday tossed out a $15 billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The New York Times.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday ruled that Trump’s 85-page lawsuit was overly long and full of “tedious and burdensome” language that had no bearing on the legal case. The judge gave Trump 28 days to file an amended complaint that should not exceed 40 pages.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally,” Merryday wrote in a four-page order. “This action will begin, will continue, and will end in accord with the rules of procedure and in a professional and dignified manner.”
Trump’s legal team plans to continue the lawsuit “in accordance with the judge’s direction on logistics,” spokesman Aaron Harison said.
The lawsuit named four Times journalists and cited a book and three articles published within a two-month period before the last election.
The Times had said it was meritless and an attempt to discourage independent reporting. “We welcome the judge’s quick ruling, which recognized that the complaint was a political document rather than a serious legal filing,” spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said Friday.
Merryday noted that the lawsuit did not get to the first defamation count until page 80. The lawsuit delves into Trump’s work on “The Apprentice” TV show and an “extensive list” of Trump’s other media appearances.
“As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary,” wrote Merryday, an appointment of former President George H.W. Bush. “Although lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.”
The lawsuit named a book and an article written by Times reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig that focuses on Trump’s finances and his pre-presidency role in “The Apprentice.” Trump said in the lawsuit that they “maliciously peddled the fact-free narrative” that television producer Mark Burnett turned Trump into a celebrity — “even though at and prior to the time of publications defendants knew that President Trump was already a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business.”
The lawsuit also attacked claims the reporters made about Trump’s early business dealings and his father, Fred.
Trump also cited an article by Peter Baker last Oct. 20 headlined “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment.” He also sued Michael S. Schmidt for a piece two days later featuring an interview with Trump’s first-term chief of staff, John Kelly, headlined “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
Trump has also sued ABC News and CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” both of which were settled out of court by the news organizations’ parent companies. Trump also sued The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Four guards plead guilty in brutal beating death of Black inmate at New York prison
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) —Four prison guards pleaded guilty Monday in the death of a Black inmate whose brutal beating at an upstate New York prison was captured on bodycam videos.
The pleas came two weeks before the start of trial for a group of guards accused in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled while handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. The beating of the restrained 43-year-old man triggered outrage and calls for reform.
Four of the 10 guards indicted in February are still headed to trial Oct. 6, including three accused of murder.
Two guards facing a top charge of murder pleaded guilty in a Utica court to a lesser charge in the indictment: first-degree manslaughter. Under the agreements, Nicholas Anzalone and Anthony Farina, who have both resigned, will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison on Nov. 21.
Brooks’ relatives welcomed what they called a measure of justice.
“It is important to us to see my father’s killers publicly admit what they have done and face severe consequences,” Robert Brooks Jr., the victim’s son, said in a prepared release.
Two more men charged with second-degree manslaughter also pleaded guilty. Michael Mashaw will be sentenced to three to nine years in prison. and David Walters will be sentenced to two years, four months to seven years in prison. Mashaw has resigned. Walters’ status was unclear Monday.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017 and was transferred to Marcy from a nearby lockup on the night he was beaten. The videos show Brooks being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by his neck and then dropped.
The first plea in the case came in May, when a guard charged with murder pleaded guilty to manslaughter under a deal with prosecutors. Christopher Walrath, who resigned, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in August.
Another guard pleaded guilty later in May to attempted tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.
The special prosecutor in the case is Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at another Marcy lockup, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder.
Vermont
Federal appeals court reinstates Christian school after it objected to player who was transgender
A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state’s sports league, overturning a previous ruling that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls basketball game against a team with a transgender athlete.
In a Sept. 9 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Mid Vermont Christian School a preliminary injunction to rejoin the Vermont Principals’ Association — also known as the state’s executive council that governs school sports — as the legal battle continues in court.
“We conclude that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the VPA’s expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs,” the appeals court wrote in their decision.
In 2023, the Quechee-based private school forfeited a game because officials believed the opposing teams’ transgender player jeopardized “the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”
In response, the VPA ruled that the school had violated the council’s policies on race, gender and disability awareness, and therefore was ineligible to participate in all state-sponsored games and other events including debate tournaments and science fairs.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Mid Vermont Christian, some students and parents then filed a lawsuit accusing the state of violating the school’s First Amendment rights. It said Mid Vermont Christian, which has competed in the state sports association for nearly 30 years, forfeited the single game “to avoid violating its religious beliefs.”
“The government cannot punish religious schools — and the families they serve — by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because the state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” David Cortman, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing the Vermont school, said in an email Monday.
Emails seeking comment were sent to Mid Vermont and the Vermont Principals Association.
A lower district court in 2024 ruled in the state’s favor, arguing that the executive council applies the athletic policy uniformly and doesn’t target religious organizations for enforcement or discrimination.
However, the appeals court disagreed. The appellate court argued that the state was “hostile to Mid Vermont’s religious views” and declared the outright ban on participating in sports and non-athletic activities “unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular.”
Specifically, the court took issue with the VPA’s executive director, Jay Nichols, who testified before a Vermont legislative committee in favor of legislation to ban public funding to religious schools just days after Mid Vermont forfeited the game in 2023.
Nichols told lawmakers “thank goodness the student in question didn’t attend that religious school” and said Vermont shouldn’t condone such discrimination.
“Put simply, the VPA may not impose discipline based on its view that Mid Vermont’s religious objection was ‘wrong,’” the court ruled.
The ongoing case is the latest development in the ongoing debate over transgender athletes participating in public school sports. The Trump administration has pressed states to block transgender youth from participating in girls sports.
Currently, at least 26 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls sports competitions. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of the bans in its coming term.
Connecticut
Federal judge lifts administration’s halt of offshore wind farm project that’s nearly done
The Trump administration can’t continue to keep work paused on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut while it reviews its national security concerns, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Work on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project has been paused since Aug. 22 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop work order for what it said were national security concerns. It did not specify those concerns at the time. Both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts.
Danish energy company Orsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that would allow them to move forward with the project.
Judge Royce Lamberth held a hearing on that request Monday. Lamberth said he considered how Revolution Wind has relied on its federal approval, the delays are costing $2.3 million a day and if the project can’t meet deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse. After December, the specialized ship needed to complete the project won’t be available until at least 2028, he said. More than 1,000 people have been working on the wind farm, which is 80% complete.
“There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs,” Lamberth said, as he granted the motion for the preliminary injunction.
The Interior Department has said that the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Revolution Wind is supposed to be Rhode Island’s and Connecticut’s first, large offshore wind farm, capable of providing about 2.5% of the region’s electricity needs.
Orsted began construction in 2024 about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast. It says in its complaint that about $5 billion has been spent or committed, and it expects more than $1 billion in costs if the project is canceled. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.
Florida
Federal judge tosses Trump’s $15B defamation suit against NYT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida federal judge on Friday tossed out a $15 billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The New York Times.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday ruled that Trump’s 85-page lawsuit was overly long and full of “tedious and burdensome” language that had no bearing on the legal case. The judge gave Trump 28 days to file an amended complaint that should not exceed 40 pages.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally,” Merryday wrote in a four-page order. “This action will begin, will continue, and will end in accord with the rules of procedure and in a professional and dignified manner.”
Trump’s legal team plans to continue the lawsuit “in accordance with the judge’s direction on logistics,” spokesman Aaron Harison said.
The lawsuit named four Times journalists and cited a book and three articles published within a two-month period before the last election.
The Times had said it was meritless and an attempt to discourage independent reporting. “We welcome the judge’s quick ruling, which recognized that the complaint was a political document rather than a serious legal filing,” spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said Friday.
Merryday noted that the lawsuit did not get to the first defamation count until page 80. The lawsuit delves into Trump’s work on “The Apprentice” TV show and an “extensive list” of Trump’s other media appearances.
“As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary,” wrote Merryday, an appointment of former President George H.W. Bush. “Although lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.”
The lawsuit named a book and an article written by Times reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig that focuses on Trump’s finances and his pre-presidency role in “The Apprentice.” Trump said in the lawsuit that they “maliciously peddled the fact-free narrative” that television producer Mark Burnett turned Trump into a celebrity — “even though at and prior to the time of publications defendants knew that President Trump was already a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business.”
The lawsuit also attacked claims the reporters made about Trump’s early business dealings and his father, Fred.
Trump also cited an article by Peter Baker last Oct. 20 headlined “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment.” He also sued Michael S. Schmidt for a piece two days later featuring an interview with Trump’s first-term chief of staff, John Kelly, headlined “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
Trump has also sued ABC News and CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” both of which were settled out of court by the news organizations’ parent companies. Trump also sued The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
