Courtside

The trial of disbarred former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh began last week. Murdaugh is accused of shooting his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, at a family property in June 2021. While Murdaugh denies the allegations and says he discovered the bodies after returning from a visit with his father.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade led to a tsunami of new state legislation aimed to further restrict or protect the procedure.  In 2022, 15 states enacted laws relating to abortion, with nine states restricting access to some degree and six expanding it. Though legislative sessions have just begun in 2023, a new wave of proposed legislation is already on shore.

If you plan on seeing a movie because you liked the trailer, make sure you watch the movie carefully. You may be able to sue the movie studio if it turns out that a favorite actor or scene from the trailer is cut from the film. Two Ana de Armas fans rented "Yesterday" on Amazon Prime for $3.99 after seeing her in the trailer. Upon viewing the movie, they were upset to learn that her scenes did not make the final cut. So upset, it seems, that they chose to file a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit against the studio. While this may seem ridiculous, a California federal judge ruled that their lawsuit can proceed.

About a week after four students were murdered at the University of Idaho, Ashley Guillard began posting videos on TikTok detailing her theory of the case — that a professor named Rebecca Scofield had conspired with a student to carry out the murders. But the way she tells it, these are not theories; they are facts. So it's no surprise that she now faces a defamation lawsuit from Scofield.

Long Islanders elected New York Republican George Santos to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District in the 118th United States Congress. At least, they thought they did. The person who has been seated as a member of the House of Representatives bears virtually no resemblance to the man Santos portrayed himself to be.

Americans love their TikTok videos, dances, and challenges. The social media platform has exploded and boasts over 100 million monthly TikTok users in the U.S. However, there is growing concern among U.S. officials that the social media app has the potential to steal U.S. user data and use its algorithm to influence people with false or manipulated information. FBI Director Chris Wray warns that TikTok is a threat to national security because the Chinese government controls TikTok's parent company and China is a government that "doesn't share our values" and "they have the ability to collect data through it on users which can be used for traditional espionage operations."