Week In Review
- Elissa D. Hecker - Editor
- Jun 9
- 18 min read
By Christine Coleman
Edited by Elissa D. Hecker
Entertainment
Eminem publisher accuses Meta of unlicensed song usage on Facebook, Instagram
Eminem's music publisher has filed suit against multinational tech company Meta, alleging that the Detroit rapper's songs are used on Meta's social media platforms without proper licensing. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Eight Mile Style LLC said Meta has created and stored copies of Eminem's songs on its servers and distributed them to billions of users around the world in violation of copyright law.
Jimmy Buffett’s Widow Sues in Battle Over $275 Million Estate
A vicious legal battle has erupted over Jimmy Buffett’s $275 million estate, with his widow and accountant filing lawsuits seeking to remove each other as co-trustees of a trust containing the “Margaritaville” singer’s sprawling holdings. The widow, Jane Buffett, is angry with the way her husband’s estate has been managed since his death nearly two years ago and has filed a petition seeking to oust her co-trustee, the accountant Richard Mozenter. She complains that the marital trust set up by the singer is producing far too little income.
Jurors Will Consider Weinstein’s Fate in a Changed Climate
Harvey Weinstein, the former movie mogul, is on trial again in New York for sexual assault. His earlier conviction, which was overturned last year, was a key moment in the #MeToo movement. However, this spring, the scene is markedly different. As Weinstein has returned to the same courthouse for a new trial after his initial verdict was overturned on appeal.
Combs Lawyers Question Assistant’s Abuse Allegations: Latest Trial Takeaways
A former assistant to Sean Combs returned to the stand in the music mogul’s federal trial, and under aggressive questioning by a defense lawyer, she denied that her allegations of sexual assault were untrue. The assistant, who testified under the pseudonym Mia, had given an account in prior days of being sexually abused and threatened by Combs and her account came under scrutiny from the defense during cross-examination.
A $100,000 Payment for Assault Footage: Latest Combs Trial Takeaways
On the 15th day of Sean Combs’s trial, a security officer gave a detailed account of how the music mogul gave him $100,000, delivered in a brown paper bag, in exchange for surveillance footage that captured Combs beating his longtime girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. The footage, which shows Combs striking, kicking, and dragging Ventura, has become a centerpiece of the government’s racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking case.
Arts
California Governor Newsom Proposes $11.5 Million In Cuts to Arts Funding
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent budget proposal sent shockwaves through the arts sector with a targeted $11.5 million cut. The budget cuts could have far-reaching consequences for music funding and the broader creative community.
Smithsonian’s Reaction to Trump’s Firing of Its Museum Director: Silence
Since President Trump announced he was dismissing the head of the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian has weighed whether to challenge the administration on its legal authority to fire a museum director employed by the institution. At an emergency meeting, the Smithsonian’s board and Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III discussed how to respond to the president’s announcement that he had fired Kim Sajet, the longtime director of the National Portrait Gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. So far, however, the Smithsonian, which is not an executive branch agency, has been silent on whether it will dispute a presidential announcement that is distinctly at odds with how the institution has long regarded its independence in hiring and firing.
Trump Cuts Leave Few Caretakers for a Massive Federal Art Collection
For decades, the United States government has quietly run the equivalent of its own major museum, amassing about 26,000 works that have been placed in hundreds of federal buildings and lent to hundreds more museums, historical societies and libraries across the country. However, in March, the Trump administration slashed the staff in the General Services Administration who track, maintain and protect that vast and valuable collection from roughly 30 people to fewer than 10, based on interviews with former employees. Now, art experts are concerned that the cuts put this massive portfolio of work at risk.
Sports
Historic House v. NCAA settlement gets final approval, allowing schools to pay college athletes
A federal judge granted final approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, a watershed agreement in college sports that permits schools to directly pay college athletes for the first time. The settlement establishes a new 10-year revenue sharing model in college sports, with athletic departments able to distribute roughly $20.5 million in name, image, and likeness (NIL) revenue to athletes over the 2025-26 season.
What changes with the House v. NCAA settlement? Goodbye amateurism, hello revenue sharing
College athletes are about to get paid directly by their universities and the amateurism model that has ruled college sports for more than a century will nearly cease to exist at the Division I level. Schools that opt into the settlement terms are now able to directly pay athletes via a revenue-sharing pool starting July 1. In addition, nearly $2.8 billion will be set aside as back-pay damages for athletes, dating back to 2016, who did not have the opportunity to be compensated for their NIL.
World Cup Athletes Are Among the Exceptions to Trump’s New Travel Ban
Trump signed a travel ban that prohibits citizens of 12 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, from entering the United States, but there are some exceptions to the expansive order. The list of exceptions includes athletes and coaches traveling to the United States to take part in major sports events, along with their families.
Rebuffing Trump, New York Refuses to Rescind Native American Mascot Ban
The New York State Education Department sternly rejected the Trump administration’s demand that the state reverse a ban on Native American mascots, questioning the federal government’s interpretation of civil rights law.
A Trump Official Threatens to Sue California Schools Over Trans Athletes
The U.S. Department of Justice threatened legal action against California public schools if they continued to allow trans athletes to compete in high school sports, calling the students’ participation unconstitutional and giving the schools a week to comply. In a letter sent to public school districts in the state, Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said that the California Interscholastic Federation’s 2013 bylaw that allowed trans athletes to compete violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and discriminated against athletes on the basis of sex.
Major League Baseball invests in Athletes Unlimited Softball League ahead of June debut
Major League Baseball (MLB) is investing in Athletes Unlimited to support its softball league that will debut next month, marking the first time MLB will have a comprehensive partnership with a professional women's sports league. The MLB said that it was making a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League of an undisclosed amount for operational costs and a commitment to help it gain visibility in various ways, including assistance with content, marketing and sales, events, distribution, editorial, and digital and social platforms.
Technology/Media
Reddit Sues Anthropic, Accusing It of Illegally Using Data From Its Site
Reddit sued Anthropic, accusing the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up of unlawfully using the data of Reddit’s more than 100 million daily users to train its AI systems. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, claimed that Anthropic had obtained access or tried to obtain access to Reddit data more than 100,000 times, in a breach of the online platform’s content policies. Anthropic also declined to enter into a licensing agreement for the data, the lawsuit said, and unjustly enriched itself at Reddit’s expense
Trump Can Restrict Associated Press Journalists’ Access, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court paused a lower court’s ruling that had required the White House to allow journalists from The Associated Press to participate in covering Trump’s daily events and travel alongside their peers from other major news outlets. By a 2-to-1 vote, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that many of the spaces in the White House complex or on Air Force One where members of the press have followed the president for decades are essentially invite-only, and not covered by First Amendment protections.
Palantir’s Collection of Disease Data at C.D.C. Stirs Privacy Concerns
The C.D.C’s plans to consolidate data on diseases like measles and polio are raising concerns about patient privacy, delays in spotting long-term trends, and ways in which the Trump administration may use the information. The agency told state officials earlier this week that it would shift disease information to a new system managed by Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm co-founded by Peter Thiel. Some officials worry that a sprawling data collection system could expose or endanger people with sensitive health needs, and some labor and other advocacy groups have tried to block the Trump administration from sharing data across agencies.
Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.
OpenAI has a plan to overhaul college education by embedding its artificial intelligence tools in every facet of campus life. If the company’s strategy succeeds, universities would give students AI assistants to help guide and tutor them from orientation day through graduation.
Buyer With Ties to Chinese Communist Party Received V.I.P. Treatment at Trump Crypto Dinner
The Trump White House has repeatedly sounded an alarm about visitors with ties to China’s Communist Party coming to the United States, arguing that they are a potential security threat. However, the administration appears to have left the door open to He Tianying, a member of a Chinese government group, when it went along with a plan to give the biggest purchasers of Trump’s digital currency access to the president and the White House.
Interpol Arrests 20 Over Network That Distributed Child Sex Abuse Material
Twenty people in Europe, the United States, and South America have been arrested as part of an investigation into an international network that produced and distributed child sexual abuse material. The policing organization said that the network was also thought to extend to Asia and the Pacific region. The arrests, which took place in 12 countries, were the result of a cross-border inquiry in which investigators tracked the illegal material online to people who viewed or downloaded it, according to Interpol.
England’s High Court Warns Lawyers to Stop Citing Fake A.I.-Generated Cases
The High Court of England and Wales warned lawyers that they could face criminal prosecution for presenting false material generated by AI, after a series of cases cited made-up quotes and rulings that did not exist. In a rare intervention, one of the country’s most senior judges said that existing guidance to lawyers had proved “insufficient to address the misuse of artificial intelligence” and that further steps were urgently needed.
Jury in El Salvador Convicts Three Ex-Officers in 1982 Killings of Dutch Journalists
A jury in El Salvador convicted three former senior military officers of murder in the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists, according to the Comunicándonos Foundation, a nonprofit group that has long pursued justice in the case. The three officers each received 15-year prison sentences after a trial that took about 10 hours. The jury also condemned the government of El Salvador for delaying a resolution of the case for more than four decades.
General News
U.S. Returns Abrego Garcia From El Salvador to Face Criminal Charges
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the man at the center of a political and legal maelstrom after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, was flown back to the United States to face charges of transporting undocumented migrants. The stunning move by the Trump administration, after months of fighting any effort to return him, could end the most high-profile court battle over Trump’s authority to rapidly seize and deport immigrants.
Supreme Court Turns Down Challenge to Ban on Semiautomatic Rifles
The Supreme Court announced that it would not hear a major Second Amendment challenge to a Maryland law banning semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. The move, over the objections of three conservative justices, let the ban stand and reflected the Court’s intermittent engagement with gun rights.
Supreme Court Rules for Straight Woman in Job Discrimination Suit
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a heterosexual woman who twice lost positions to gay workers, saying an appeals court had been wrong to require her to meet a heightened burden in seeking to prove workplace discrimination because she was a member of a majority group. The ruling will place further pressure on employers and others to eliminate affirmative action and other initiatives that seek to provide opportunities to members of historically disadvantaged groups.
Supreme Court Blocks Mexico’s Suit Against U.S. Gun Makers
The Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit by the Mexican government against U.S. gun manufacturers that attempted to hold them responsible for drug cartel violence. In a unanimous decision written by Justice Elena Kagan, the Court held that U.S. legislation that shields gun makers from liability in certain cases barred the lawsuit. Mexico, she wrote, had not plausibly argued that American gun manufacturers had aided and abetted gun dealers’ unlawful sales to Mexican drug traffickers.
Justices Grant DOGE Access to Social Security Data and Let the Team Shield Records
The Supreme Court let members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have access to sensitive records of many millions of Americans held by the Social Security Administration. The Court’s order was brief and unsigned. Additionally, in a second unsigned order, the Court handed DOGE another victory, ruling that, for now, the organization does not have to turn over internal records to a government watchdog group as part of a public records lawsuit. The Court’s three liberal members dissented from both rulings.
Trump Administration Asks Justices to Clear the Way for Cuts to Education Department
Lawyers for the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to move ahead with plans to dismantle the Education Department by lifting a lower court order that had prevented department workers from being fired. The request came as an emergency application, the latest in a flurry of such appeals to the Supreme Court filed since the start of the second Trump administration.
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Take Steps to Give Due Process to Deported Migrants
A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to take steps toward giving nearly 140 Venezuelan immigrants who were deported to El Salvador in March under a rarely invoked wartime law the due process that they had been denied. In a sweeping and at times outraged opinion, the judge, James E. Boasberg, compared the expelled men to characters in a Kafka novel. Judge Boasberg also asserted that they were likely to prevail in their claims that Trump had treated them unfairly by deporting them without hearings to a brutal Salvadoran prison under the expansive powers of the wartime statute.
U.S. Brings Back Guatemalan Wrongly Deported to Mexico
The Trump administration has brought back to the United States a Guatemalan man who was wrongfully deported to Mexico, albeit to an uncertain future. Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the man, known only by his initials, O.C.G., said that she expected him to remain in federal custody as the administration determined how to handle his case. That administration officials obeyed the instructions of the judge was a significant departure from the defiant stance that the White House has staked out in other immigration matters.
Judges in Deportation Cases Face Evasion and Delay From Trump Administration
Trump administration officials have either violated orders or used an array of obfuscations and delays to prevent federal judges from deciding whether violations took place. Now, three judges in three different courthouses who have been overseeing deportation cases have said they are considering whether to hold the administration in contempt.
Judge Orders Reinstatement of AmeriCorps Programs in 24 States
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s wholesale dismantling of AmeriCorps, an independent federal agency that facilitates public community service opportunities, reversing the termination of its grants and volunteer network across 24 Democratic-led states. In an opinion explaining the ruling, Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the Federal District Court in Maryland wrote that the various programs funded through AmeriCorps have come to fill a void in government services in many parts of the country. She concluded that the sudden suspension of those programs left states marooned and struggling to provide for their residents.
After Muscling Their Bill Through the House, Some Republicans Have Regrets
The sprawling legislation carrying Trump’s domestic agenda squeaked through the House with one vote to spare, but some Republicans now say they didn’t realize what they voted for.
Trump Pressures Divided G.O.P. to Back Policy Bill
Trump ratcheted up pressure on Senate Republicans to quickly embrace and pass legislation carrying his domestic agenda, intensifying a battle inside the G.O.P. about what should be in the measure and how much it should cost. The deepening divisions are threatening the fate of the sprawling bill. They erupted online after Trump lashed out at an outspoken Republican opponent of the legislation and as Elon Musk castigated its supporters, denouncing the bill as “a disgusting abomination.” The back-and-forth highlighted the challenges facing Trump’s top domestic priority, which has prompted a searing debate in the G.O.P. about policy priorities and how much additional debt the federal government should take on to address them.
Republican Policy Bill Would Add $2.4 Trillion to Debt, Budget Office Says
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that the broad Republican bill to cut taxes and slash some federal programs would add $2.4 trillion to the already soaring national debt over the next decade, in an analysis that was all but certain to inflame concerns that Trump’s domestic agenda would lead to excessive government borrowing. The budget office’s estimate focused on the version of the bill that passed the House late last month, but the tally could change as Republicans in the Senate begin to put their imprint on the legislation.
Tax Credit Increase Would Exclude Millions of Low-Income Children, Study Finds
A new analysis shows that while the giant domestic policy bill that Republicans pushed through the House last month includes tens of billions of dollars to increase child-rearing subsidies, millions of low-income children would not benefit because their parents earn too little.
Higher U.S. Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports Take Effect
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports doubled as Trump continued to ratchet up levies on foreign metals that he claims will help revitalize American steel mills and aluminum smelters. The White House called the increased tariffs a matter of addressing “trade practices that undermine national security.” The higher levies have already rankled close allies that sell metal to the United States, including Canada, Mexico, and Europe. They have also sent alarms to automakers, plane manufacturers, home builders, oil drillers, and other companies that rely on buying metals.
A Fiery Brief Fueled by Conservatives Helped Put Trump’s Tariffs in Peril
A powerful sign that Trump’s tariff-driven trade war is at risk came in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in April by a coalition that included many prominent conservative and libertarian lawyers, scholars, and former officials. The brief was also a signal of a deepening rift between Trump and the conservative legal movement, one that burst into public view last week with the president’s attacks on the Federalist Society, whose leaders helped pick the judges and justices he nominated in his first term.
The White House Gutted Science Funding. Now It Wants to ‘Correct’ Research.
Trump has ordered what he called a restoration of a “gold standard science” across federal agencies and national laboratories. Yet the May 23 executive order puts his political appointees in charge of vetting scientific research and gives them the authority to “correct scientific information,” control the way it is communicated to the public, and the power to “discipline” anyone who violates the way the administration views science. It has prompted an open letter, signed by more than 6,000 scientists, academics, physicians, researchers, and others, saying the order would destroy scientific independence. Agency heads have 30 days to comply with the order.
Trump Administration Backs Off Effort to Collect Data on Food Stamp Recipients
The Trump administration has backed off a demand that states hand over personal information about food stamp recipients in the face of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of public interest groups. An Agriculture Department official said in a sworn statement filed in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia that the agency was pausing its plans, announced last month, to create a database of Americans who receive nutrition benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The move was a rare instance of the Trump administration proceeding cautiously amid litigation, relenting for now before potential intervention by a judge.
Denouncing Antisemitism, Trump Also Fans Its Flames
Trump’s effort to punish Harvard over antisemitism is complicated by his extensive history of amplifying white supremacist figures and symbols.
After Several Attacks, Heightened Anxiety Among American Jews
The drumbeat of violence erupting across the country and taking an unpredictable variety of forms has deepened anxieties among many Jewish Americans and contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous.
Border Officials Told Not to Attend Events Tied to Diversity in Law Enforcement
The Trump administration this year ordered federal border agents and customs officers not to attend events hosted by organizations that support women or minority groups in law enforcement, according to a senior border official.
Trump Is Calling Up National Guard Troops Under a Rarely Used Law
Trump took extraordinary action by calling up 2,000 National Guard troops to quell immigration protests in California, making rare use of federal powers and bypassing the authority of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom. It is the first time since 1965 that a president has activated a state’s National Guard force without a request from that state’s governor and Newsom immediately rebuked the president’s action.
$105 Million Reparations Package for Tulsa Race Massacre Unveiled by Mayor
Tulsa’s mayor Monroe Nichols announced a $105 million reparations package for the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, the first large-scale plan committing funds to address the impact of the atrocity. The sweeping project, named Road to Repair, is intended to chip away at enduring disparities caused by the massacre and its aftermath in the Greenwood neighborhood and the wider North Tulsa community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Texas’ Migrant Tuition Break Blocked After Texas Joins D.O.J. to Kill It
A federal judge in Texas blocked a two decade-old law offering undocumented residents the same discounted tuition as other in-state college students, after the Trump administration and the Texas attorney general joined together to argue that the measure violated federal law. The one-page order, signed by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas, came just hours after the federal government filed suit challenging the Texas law. Soon after, Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas said he would not oppose the lawsuit. Instead, his office filed a joint motion with the Justice Department asking the judge to permanently block the law.
Judge Blocks Deportation of Family of Suspect in Colorado Attack
A federal judge in Colorado temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting the wife and children of the Egyptian man charged with attacking people who were peacefully gathering about the hostages still being held in Gaza in Boulder, Colorado. Judge Gordon P. Gallagher of the U.S. District Court in Colorado wrote that the administration “shall not remove” the woman, Hayem El Gamal, and her five children from the United States until further rulings in the case, adding that deportation could cause “irreparable harm.”
Trump Pushes to Restrict Harvard’s International Students From Entering U.S.
Trump said that he would prevent Harvard University’s international students from entering the country, an aggressive move the school called “illegal.” The extraordinary action marks the first time that Trump has tried to directly use the power of the presidency against Harvard, an indication of how personal the effort to inflict distress on the Ivy League university has become for him.
Judge Considers Early Release of Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination Documents
A federal judge in Washington said that he was open to lifting a court order ahead of schedule to release potentially sensitive documents related to the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., nodding to an executive order Trump signed in January aimed at achieving that outcome. During a hearing to discuss the possibility, Judge Richard Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia nonetheless cautioned that he intended to proceed slowly and prioritize privacy in an extended process to determine whether any documents should be released before 2027, the date that another judge set in 1977 for the documents to be unsealed.
Four States Ask F.D.A. to Lift Special Restrictions on Abortion Pill
In a strategy aimed at countering efforts to further restrict the abortion pill mifepristone, attorneys general of four states (CA, MA, NY, and NJ) that support abortion rights asked the Food and Drug Administration to do the opposite and lift the most stringent remaining restrictions on the pill.
Newark’s Mayor Sues a Top Trump Lawyer, Claiming Malicious Prosecution
Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, a Democratic candidate for governor who was arrested last month outside an immigration detention center, filed a federal lawsuit against Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, that argues that his arrest was motivated by political malice, not justice.
Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’
Five members of the Proud Boys who were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges in connection with the violent assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued the government for $100 million, claiming that federal officials had subjected them to “political persecution” as “allies of President Trump.” Much of the lawsuit sought to re-litigate legal questions that had not gone their way during a lengthy pretrial period and a multiweek trial in Federal District Court in Washington that ended in May 2023 with guilty verdicts against all of them.
Trump Orders Investigation of Biden and His Aides
Trump ordered his White House counsel and the attorney general to investigate former President Biden and his staff in Trump’s latest attempt to stoke outlandish conspiracy theories about his predecessor. In an executive order, Trump put the power and resources of the federal government to work examining whether some of Biden’s presidential actions were legally invalid because his aides had enacted those policies without his knowledge. The former president called such claims “ridiculous and false” in a statement after the order’s release.
Paul Weiss Loses Another Prominent Lawyer in Wake of Trump Deal
Paul Weiss, the elite law firm that was the first to strike a deal with the Trump administration to deflect a punishing executive order, is losing one of its most prominent new hires, Damian Williams. the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Williams, who joined the firm in January, shortly after stepping down as one of the nation’s top federal prosecutors, is now taking a job with Jenner & Block. Unlike Paul Weiss, Jenner & Block chose to challenge an executive order aimed at punishing the firm for employing an attorney who had investigated Trump.
Cuomo Was Contrite About His Sexual Harassment Scandal. Not Anymore.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo left office in 2021 amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations. As he runs for mayor, he is counting on voters’ having moved on.
Southern Baptists to Vote on Effort to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage
Southern Baptists plan to vote this week on acting to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage 10 years ago this month. The step is part of a growing effort by evangelicals nationwide to reverse Obergefell, and coincides with a renewed campaign in state legislatures to challenge the widely accepted view that same-sex marriage has become an established civil right.
China Rejects Trump’s Accusation That It Violated Trade Truce
China said that the United States had “severely undermined” the trade truce the two countries reached last month, striking back against Trump’s accusations that it was violating the terms of their agreement. China’s Ministry of Commerce called Trump’s attacks on social media “baseless” and said it had continued to honor its agreement responsibly and accused the United States of “erroneous practices” by introducing a series of “discriminatory restrictive measures.”
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