North Carolina
NASCAR settles federal antitrust case filed by 2 of its teams, one owned by Jordan
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal antitrust case accusing NASCAR of being a monopolistic bully was settled Thursday after the stock car racing series agreed to make the charters at the heart of its business model permanent for its teams.
The lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports had shadowed NASCAR for more than a year. The retired NBA great pushed ahead, telling the jury he felt he was one of the few who could challenge the series.
Jordan, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin and Front Row owner Bob Jenkings joined NASCAR Chairman Jim France as they stood together outside the courthouse. The group announced that charters — at the heart of NASCAR’s revenue model — will be made permanent for all Cup Series teams. Both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, the two plaintiffs, will get them back after racing uncharted most of this past season.
The financial terms were not disclosed. An economist earlier testified 23XI and Front Row were owed over $300 million in damages.
The settlement came on the ninth day of the trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who set aside motions hearing for an hour-long sidebar. Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row, emerged from a conference room at the end of the hour to inform a court clerk “we’re ready.” Kessler then led Jordan, Hamlin and Bob Jenkins to another room for more talks.
23XI and Front Row filed their lawsuit last year after refusing to sign agreements on the new charter offers NASCAR presented in September 2024. Teams had until end of day to sign the 112-page document, which guarantees access to top-level Cup Series races and a revenue stream, and 13 of 15 organizations reluctantly agreed. Jordan and Jenkins sued instead and raced most of the 2025 season uncharted.
Both teams said a loss in the case would have put them out of business.
“What all parties have always agreed on is a deep love for the sport and a desire to see it fulfill its full potential,” NASCAR and the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “This is a landmark moment, one that ensures NASCAR’s foundation is stronger, its future is brighter and its possibilities are greater.”
Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.
“I wish we could’ve done this a few months ago,” Bell said in court. “I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”
All teams felt the previous revenue-sharing agreement was unfair and two-plus years of bitter negotiations led to NASCAR’s final offer, which was described by the teams as “take-it-or-leave it.” The teams believed the new agreement lacked all four of their key demands, most importantly the charters becoming permanent instead of renewable.
The settlement followed eight days of testimony in which the Florida-based France family, the founders and private owners of NASCAR, were shown to be inflexible in making the charters permanent.
When the defense began its case Wednesday it seemed focused more on mitigating damages than proving it did not act anticompetitively.
Ohio
Cincinnati approves $8.1 million settlement with protesters arrested in 2020
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — The city of Cincinnati approved an $8.1 million legal settlement Wednesday with hundreds of non-violent protesters who had alleged mistreatment at the hands of city and county authorities when they were arrested during the racial justice demonstrations of 2020.
Cincinnati City Council approved the deal after its terms were outlined last week. It brings to a close years of litigation that stemmed from protests over the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people.
None of the 479 plaintiffs had been charged with a felony or violent offense nor been involved in any property damage — though some did occur. All were charged with misdemeanor curfew violations during nights of protests from May 30 to June 8, 2020, but those were later dismissed by the city amid a flurry of conflicting court rulings.
The lawsuit they brought collectively in 2022 alleged police brutality, wrongful arrests, inhumane jail conditions and unlawful seizures of property.
Hamilton County, whose sheriff and jail were also named in the lawsuit, will pay $65,000 toward the settlement, with the city paying the remainder.
Montana
Judge blocks education savings accounts for students with special needs for lack of funding
A district court judge has blocked Montana’s education savings account program for students with disabilities, ruling in favor of two Montana nonprofits that claimed that lawmakers did not fund the program when they created it.
House Bill 393, the Students with Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act passed by lawmakers in 2023, created Montana’s first education savings account (ESA) program. It allows parents of students with disabilities to redirect their child’s per-pupil school funding that normally goes to a public school district into an account administered by the Office of Public Instruction, the state agency that oversees K-12 schools. Parents could use the money — estimated to be between $5,000 and $8,000 per student per year — to cover private schooling, tutoring, specialized therapies, online programs and other approved educational expenses.
To participate in the ESA program, families must agree to release their local school district from its legal obligation to provide special education students with a free, appropriate public education. The students would still be counted toward a district’s enrollment — key to determining how much money the district receives from the state — but the district would send back the funding attached to the student to the Office of Public Instruction in monthly installments. OPI would deposit 95% of those funds into a student’s ESA and retain 5% for administration.
In his ruling Monday, Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan found the funding structure unconstitutional because it lacked a valid statutory appropriation, meaning lawmakers did not properly set up a funding process to pay for the program. The order states that HB 393 “does not meet the statutory requirements” for an appropriation “made by law,” as required under the Montana Constitution. As a result, the court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on that claim, blocking the program.
The lawsuit was filed by two Montana nonprofits, the Montana Quality Education Coalition and Disability Rights Montana. They maintained that the bill required families to waive significant educational rights in exchange for funding that often would not cover basic needs. It was against the state, governor, OPI, the state superintendent of public instruction and the lawmaker who carried the bill.
In a press release Tuesday, MQEC Executive Director Doug Reisig said that “taking money from public schools for vouchers without clear limits on how much and where that money will be spent is unconstitutional, pure and simple.”
Tal Goldin, advocacy director for Disability Rights Montana, added, “HB 393 was a lose-lose for students with disabilities.”
The attorney for the plaintiffs, Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, founder and director of Upper Seven Law, stated that the decision reinforces constitutional requirements around public school funding in Montana.
“Siphoning public school money to unaccountable individual accounts is unconstitutional,” she said in a press release. “The legislature failed in the first instance to correctly appropriate funding for HB 393. And that is unconstitutional enough to stop it in its tracks.”
The judge rejected one of the plaintiffs’ other claims — that HB 393 infringed on the authority of local school boards — ruling in favor of the state and the bill’s sponsor, now-Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, on that issue. While local trustees have “supervision and control” of public schools, the court found that the Legislature holds broad authority over how state education dollars are collected and distributed.
Another claim made by the plaintiffs remains unresolved. The plaintiffs argue that the program could create inequitable funding impacts, particularly for smaller rural districts. The judge cited conflicting expert testimony and found “genuine issues of material fact,” leaving that portion of the case for a potential trial. Vinton expressed frustration with the ruling in an interview with Montana Free Press on Tuesday. “I am disappointed that he didn’t rule in favor of all the kids that are utilizing ESAs, and there is a large number of them that this is critical for,” she said. For now, the program cannot operate unless lawmakers address the appropriation issue or if the ruling is appealed and a higher court reverses the decision. In a statement shared with MTFP, the head of OPI, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Helden said that OPI “respects the role of the judiciary and will review the court’s decision carefully to determine next steps.”
New York
Prison officials tell judge ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO is competent to stand trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prison officials say the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges after he was hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury.
Michael Jeffries had been ordered to be hospitalized in May. But in a letter filed in federal court in New York on Wednesday, Blake Lott, the acting warden at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina said the 81-year-old is “now competent to stand trial.”
Lott didn’t provide further details in the letter but said the center has provided a report to the judge handling the case. Jeffries had been discharged from FMC-Butner on Nov. 21, according to previous filings in the case.
Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, responded that other doctors had previously found his client incompetent to proceed.
“A doctor from the Bureau of Prisons is of a different opinion,” he said in an email Wednesday. “We look forward to the Judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action moving forward.”
Jeffries pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.
His lawyers had argued that the former executive required around-the-clock care and was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the case against him or to assist properly in his defense.
They had said at least four medical professionals concluded that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”
Jeffries’ lawyers and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.
Choudhury agreed, ordering him placed in a hospital for up to four months. Before then, Jeffries had been free on a $10 million bond.
Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The charges echoed sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent years.
Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm. His partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.
NASCAR settles federal antitrust case filed by 2 of its teams, one owned by Jordan
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal antitrust case accusing NASCAR of being a monopolistic bully was settled Thursday after the stock car racing series agreed to make the charters at the heart of its business model permanent for its teams.
The lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports had shadowed NASCAR for more than a year. The retired NBA great pushed ahead, telling the jury he felt he was one of the few who could challenge the series.
Jordan, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin and Front Row owner Bob Jenkings joined NASCAR Chairman Jim France as they stood together outside the courthouse. The group announced that charters — at the heart of NASCAR’s revenue model — will be made permanent for all Cup Series teams. Both 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, the two plaintiffs, will get them back after racing uncharted most of this past season.
The financial terms were not disclosed. An economist earlier testified 23XI and Front Row were owed over $300 million in damages.
The settlement came on the ninth day of the trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who set aside motions hearing for an hour-long sidebar. Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row, emerged from a conference room at the end of the hour to inform a court clerk “we’re ready.” Kessler then led Jordan, Hamlin and Bob Jenkins to another room for more talks.
23XI and Front Row filed their lawsuit last year after refusing to sign agreements on the new charter offers NASCAR presented in September 2024. Teams had until end of day to sign the 112-page document, which guarantees access to top-level Cup Series races and a revenue stream, and 13 of 15 organizations reluctantly agreed. Jordan and Jenkins sued instead and raced most of the 2025 season uncharted.
Both teams said a loss in the case would have put them out of business.
“What all parties have always agreed on is a deep love for the sport and a desire to see it fulfill its full potential,” NASCAR and the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “This is a landmark moment, one that ensures NASCAR’s foundation is stronger, its future is brighter and its possibilities are greater.”
Bell told the jury that sometimes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.
“I wish we could’ve done this a few months ago,” Bell said in court. “I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”
All teams felt the previous revenue-sharing agreement was unfair and two-plus years of bitter negotiations led to NASCAR’s final offer, which was described by the teams as “take-it-or-leave it.” The teams believed the new agreement lacked all four of their key demands, most importantly the charters becoming permanent instead of renewable.
The settlement followed eight days of testimony in which the Florida-based France family, the founders and private owners of NASCAR, were shown to be inflexible in making the charters permanent.
When the defense began its case Wednesday it seemed focused more on mitigating damages than proving it did not act anticompetitively.
Ohio
Cincinnati approves $8.1 million settlement with protesters arrested in 2020
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — The city of Cincinnati approved an $8.1 million legal settlement Wednesday with hundreds of non-violent protesters who had alleged mistreatment at the hands of city and county authorities when they were arrested during the racial justice demonstrations of 2020.
Cincinnati City Council approved the deal after its terms were outlined last week. It brings to a close years of litigation that stemmed from protests over the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people.
None of the 479 plaintiffs had been charged with a felony or violent offense nor been involved in any property damage — though some did occur. All were charged with misdemeanor curfew violations during nights of protests from May 30 to June 8, 2020, but those were later dismissed by the city amid a flurry of conflicting court rulings.
The lawsuit they brought collectively in 2022 alleged police brutality, wrongful arrests, inhumane jail conditions and unlawful seizures of property.
Hamilton County, whose sheriff and jail were also named in the lawsuit, will pay $65,000 toward the settlement, with the city paying the remainder.
Montana
Judge blocks education savings accounts for students with special needs for lack of funding
A district court judge has blocked Montana’s education savings account program for students with disabilities, ruling in favor of two Montana nonprofits that claimed that lawmakers did not fund the program when they created it.
House Bill 393, the Students with Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act passed by lawmakers in 2023, created Montana’s first education savings account (ESA) program. It allows parents of students with disabilities to redirect their child’s per-pupil school funding that normally goes to a public school district into an account administered by the Office of Public Instruction, the state agency that oversees K-12 schools. Parents could use the money — estimated to be between $5,000 and $8,000 per student per year — to cover private schooling, tutoring, specialized therapies, online programs and other approved educational expenses.
To participate in the ESA program, families must agree to release their local school district from its legal obligation to provide special education students with a free, appropriate public education. The students would still be counted toward a district’s enrollment — key to determining how much money the district receives from the state — but the district would send back the funding attached to the student to the Office of Public Instruction in monthly installments. OPI would deposit 95% of those funds into a student’s ESA and retain 5% for administration.
In his ruling Monday, Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan found the funding structure unconstitutional because it lacked a valid statutory appropriation, meaning lawmakers did not properly set up a funding process to pay for the program. The order states that HB 393 “does not meet the statutory requirements” for an appropriation “made by law,” as required under the Montana Constitution. As a result, the court granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on that claim, blocking the program.
The lawsuit was filed by two Montana nonprofits, the Montana Quality Education Coalition and Disability Rights Montana. They maintained that the bill required families to waive significant educational rights in exchange for funding that often would not cover basic needs. It was against the state, governor, OPI, the state superintendent of public instruction and the lawmaker who carried the bill.
In a press release Tuesday, MQEC Executive Director Doug Reisig said that “taking money from public schools for vouchers without clear limits on how much and where that money will be spent is unconstitutional, pure and simple.”
Tal Goldin, advocacy director for Disability Rights Montana, added, “HB 393 was a lose-lose for students with disabilities.”
The attorney for the plaintiffs, Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, founder and director of Upper Seven Law, stated that the decision reinforces constitutional requirements around public school funding in Montana.
“Siphoning public school money to unaccountable individual accounts is unconstitutional,” she said in a press release. “The legislature failed in the first instance to correctly appropriate funding for HB 393. And that is unconstitutional enough to stop it in its tracks.”
The judge rejected one of the plaintiffs’ other claims — that HB 393 infringed on the authority of local school boards — ruling in favor of the state and the bill’s sponsor, now-Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, on that issue. While local trustees have “supervision and control” of public schools, the court found that the Legislature holds broad authority over how state education dollars are collected and distributed.
Another claim made by the plaintiffs remains unresolved. The plaintiffs argue that the program could create inequitable funding impacts, particularly for smaller rural districts. The judge cited conflicting expert testimony and found “genuine issues of material fact,” leaving that portion of the case for a potential trial. Vinton expressed frustration with the ruling in an interview with Montana Free Press on Tuesday. “I am disappointed that he didn’t rule in favor of all the kids that are utilizing ESAs, and there is a large number of them that this is critical for,” she said. For now, the program cannot operate unless lawmakers address the appropriation issue or if the ruling is appealed and a higher court reverses the decision. In a statement shared with MTFP, the head of OPI, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Helden said that OPI “respects the role of the judiciary and will review the court’s decision carefully to determine next steps.”
New York
Prison officials tell judge ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO is competent to stand trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prison officials say the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges after he was hospitalized with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and a traumatic brain injury.
Michael Jeffries had been ordered to be hospitalized in May. But in a letter filed in federal court in New York on Wednesday, Blake Lott, the acting warden at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina said the 81-year-old is “now competent to stand trial.”
Lott didn’t provide further details in the letter but said the center has provided a report to the judge handling the case. Jeffries had been discharged from FMC-Butner on Nov. 21, according to previous filings in the case.
Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, responded that other doctors had previously found his client incompetent to proceed.
“A doctor from the Bureau of Prisons is of a different opinion,” he said in an email Wednesday. “We look forward to the Judge hearing the medical evidence, and deciding on the appropriate course of action moving forward.”
Jeffries pleaded not guilty last year to federal charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.
His lawyers had argued that the former executive required around-the-clock care and was unable to understand the nature and consequences of the case against him or to assist properly in his defense.
They had said at least four medical professionals concluded that Jeffries’ cognitive issues were “progressive and incurable” and that he would not “regain his competency and cannot be restored to competency in the future.”
Jeffries’ lawyers and prosecutors had requested that he be hospitalized in federal Bureau of Prisons custody so he could receive treatment that might allow his criminal case to proceed.
Choudhury agreed, ordering him placed in a hospital for up to four months. Before then, Jeffries had been free on a $10 million bond.
Prosecutors say Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man used the promise of modeling jobs to lure men to drug-fueled sex parties in New York City, the Hamptons and other locations. The charges echoed sexual misconduct accusations made in a civil case and the media in recent years.
Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 after more than two decades at the helm. His partner, Matthew Smith, has also pleaded not guilty and remains out on bond, as has their co-defendant, James Jacobson.
