Summary: 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules assault weapons ban unconstitutional Court invalidates ban on semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines Judge Arianna Freeman cites Supreme Court's Second Amendment precedent A federal appeals court on July 17 ruled that New Jersey's assault-weapons law barring possession of semiautomatic rifles like AR-15s and large capacity magazines containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition is unconstitutional. The ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the first time a federal appeals court had ruled that a state's assault weapons ban violated the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. That issue is already in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed last month to review rulings that had upheld similar bans adopted in Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut against powerful semiautomatic rifles. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. The ruling on July 17 came in lawsuits filed by gun rights groups that said New Jersey's law could no longer stand after the Supreme Court handed down a landmark Second Amendment ruling in 2022 that expanded gun rights. That decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, held that modern gun restrictions must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." Lawyers for Democratic-led New Jersey had argued that the state, like 10 other U.S. states, was justified in banning assault weapons, which they characterized as military-style weapons that can cause "wholesale destruction" and fuel mass shootings. A lower-court judge in 2024 delivered a mixed ruling, holding New Jersey's 1990 ban on AR-15 rifles was unconstitutional but that its prohibition of large-capacity ammunition magazines could stand. The appeals court by a 10-5 vote went even further, declaring the ban on all types of semi-automatic rifles, and not just AR-15s, violates the Second Amendment, as does the large-capacity magazine ban. The court also directed a lower-court judge to assess the constitutionality of the assault weapons ban as applied to other types of firearms, such as semi-automatic pistols and shotguns. U.S. Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman said the Supreme Court's recent Second Amendment rulings "teach that bans or broad prohibitions on possessing or carrying of a class of weapons in common use for lawful purposes fail to find support in our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation." "That is so even when the regulations are passed with the intention of reducing gun violence," Freeman wrote for the court.

Summary: New York Times files motion to quash subpoenas Subpoenas issued by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan Justice Department limits subpoenas of journalists The New York Times has filed a court motion to block federal grand jury subpoenas to three of its journalists over their reporting on President Donald Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One, a spokesperson said on July 15. Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, issued the subpoenas last on July 10, shortly after the New York Times reported that the new Air Force One lacked some of the security features of the older aircraft. The newspaper's reporters were ordered to appear before a grand jury panel in Manhattan federal court. "As we set out in our motion, these subpoenas are brought in bad faith to punish The Times for its coverage," David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of the New York Times, said in a statement. Several press advocacy groups have accused Trump of using government power and private lawsuits to bully and harass the news media. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a U.S. Senate panel on July 15 that the reporters were not targets of an investigation, but the subpoenas were aimed at identifying people who leaked sensitive national security information. Justice Department policies place limitations on subpoenas of journalists and require that they receive top-level approval. Motions such as McCraw's seeking to quash a subpoena are typically under seal because of the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. McCraw, however, has asked the court to make the motion public, saying the newspaper "believes that the public has a right to information about this case." Both Republican and Democratic administrations have sought to compel journalists to reveal sources when probing leaks to the press, but media advocacy groups says Trump's Republican administration has used subpoenas and search warrants too freely, including against the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Both the National Press Club and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press criticized the subpoenas of the New York Times. In January, press freedom groups criticized the FBI for taking the rare step of searching the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of a leak probe. Federal judges have shown a rare willingness during the Trump administration to block subpoenas in investigations they find are politically motivated. Courts this year have quashed demands for information in probes of former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Democratic officials in Minnesota. The Justice Department has in previous cases withdrawn grand jury subpoenas against Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporters after challenges against them in sealed court filings.

Summary: XAI filed lawsuit in Texas federal court Terry Harwood accused of creating sexualized deepfakes XAI suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports in 2026   Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence startup xAI has sued a South Carolina man arrested earlier this year on charges of sexually exploiting minors, alleging he misused the company's AI system Grok to create child sexual abuse material. xAI alleged in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas on July 14, that Terry Harwood violated the company's terms of service. The case is one of the first brought by an AI company against one of its users for allegedly using an AI system to generate explicit material. Contact information for Harwood, who was arrested in February, was not immediately available. Spokespeople for xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The company's lawsuit against Harwood follows intense global scrutiny of xAI over allegations that Grok has allowed users to generate non-consensual sexualized deepfakes, or realistic-looking videos fabricated by AI. xAI's complaint said that the company "enforces its rules against violators through account suspensions, account terminations, and by reporting suspected child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children." "Indeed, Plaintiff has suspended 52,222 accounts and made 73,604 reports to NCMEC in 2026, resulting in (at least) 244 arrests," the lawsuit said. xAI alleged that Harwood uploaded non-sexual images of adults and minors to Grok and tried to use the system to generate sexually explicit deepfakes based on them. The complaint also alleged he created non-consensual sexual imagery of adults. The company asked the court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order permanently blocking Harwood from using Grok. "Defendant’s actions were a calculated scheme to weaponize Plaintiff’s tool for criminal ends, exposing real victims to profound and lasting harm, while exposing Plaintiff to significant legal risk and reputational damage," xAI said in the lawsuit.