Jurisdiction
Justice Sonia Sotomayor on October 5, 2026, criticized an Alabama trial judge who had a prospective juror arrested in front of the jury pool for arriving late, warning that such conduct can intimidate jurors. She wrote in a statement concurring in the Supreme Court's denial of review in Steven Mulkey's capital murder case, noting his lawyers had not objected at trial.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall finalized an agreement with TikTok Inc. on Friday to resolve state court consumer protection litigation days before scheduled trial. TikTok agreed to pay Alabama an initial $100 million within 45 days, with total payments reaching up to $300 million depending on other state resolutions. The settlement imposes operational restrictions across Alabama, including a two-hour daily use limit for teens, parental controls, and a ban on teen cosmetic filters.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC on September 21, 2026 that the Hugging Face intrusion is "the responsibility of the OpenAI management, not a bunch of agents," and that the administration will not take liability off AI labs' hands. OpenAI already faces an Alabama subpoena under the state's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a 15-state preservation demand, and congressional inquiries, with documents due to Senator Josh Hawley by October 1.
West Publishing's C-Track notified the public on September 2, 2026 that an unauthorized party obtained court-management files after activity discovered on June 30, 2026, with files obtained in March. The notice lists appellate and other courts in multiple U.S. states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and three Ontario courts. Confidential, redacted or sealed information may have been impacted at some courts; South Carolina's preliminary review found no PII so far in 2020-and-earlier appellate backups.