CNN; Former DOJ ethics official sounds off on Bondi exit
"A former Justice Department ethics official fired by Pam Bondi last year speaks out on her departure."
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Copyright Head Chides Supreme Court’s ‘Shocking’ Cox Opinion; Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2026
Annelise Levy
"US Copyright Office Director Shira Perlmutter said the Supreme Court put “little thought” into the implications of its recent decision absolving an internet service provider for not shuttering accounts of users who repeatedly pirated music.
"The throwing out of many, many decades of copyright law on secondary liability so quickly and with so little analysis was shocking," Perlmutter said Friday at a Stanford Law School event."
AI agents are scrambling power users' brains; Axios, April 4, 2026
Megan Morrone, Axios ; AI agents are scrambling power users' brains
"A growing number of software developers say AI coding tools are frying their brains.
The big picture: The most popular agentic AI systems have triggered something that looks a lot like addiction among some of tech's highest performers."
‘Occasionally a picture can change the course of history’: 33 scandalous photos that shocked the world; The Guardian, April 4, 2026
Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian; ‘Occasionally a picture can change the course of history’: 33 scandalous photos that shocked the world
"The Bullingdon Club photograph, 1987
By Rona Marsden
In 2007, the Mail on Sunday published a photograph taken 20 years earlier: a group portrait of the Bullingdon Club’s class of 1987. Ten young members appear in the bespoke uniform of the exclusive all-male “dining club” at the University of Oxford. Among them are two future luminaries of the Conservative party: David Cameron (standing, second left) and Boris Johnson (seated on the right).
The club’s reputation as a drinking society for badly behaved posh boys – in 1987, a plant pot was thrown out of a window during a Bullingdon party – made the photo a source of embarrassment for Cameron, then leader of the opposition. “We do things when we are young that we deeply regret,” he said in 2009.
Soon after, the company that holds the copyright for the image withdrew permission to republish it. This painting by Oxford-based artist Rona Marsden was commissioned by BBC Newsnight as an alternative. The image remains a striking illustration of the elitism of Britain’s ruling class, and the vast inequality within the country. GS"
That Was Fast: Bondi’s Portrait Already Living At The Dump; Above The Law, April 3, 2026
Kathryn Rubino , Above The Law; That Was Fast: Bondi’s Portrait Already Living At The Dump
From the wall to the bin in minutes, with a karmic assist from her own management style.
"Pam Bondi’s tenure as attorney general didn’t just end abruptly, it ended curbside.
Because in a bit of poetic efficiency that would make even the most overworked line prosecutor crack a smile, Bondi’s official DOJ portrait was reportedly spotted in the trash mere minutes after Donald Trump gave her the boot. Just straight to the bin, like last week’s takeout and this week’s credibility."
With Mideast in conflict, Pope Leo criticizes those who invoke God for war; The Washington Post , April 3, 2026
, The Washington Post ; With Mideast in conflict, Pope Leo criticizes those who invoke God for war
"As Leo XIV approaches his first Easter as pope, a new era of American military might cloaked in religious righteousness is presenting him with a challenge: How to confront a vision of God being articulated by the Trump administration and its supporters that sounds radically different than the view of the Vatican, spiritual epicenter of the world’s largest Christian faith.
The administration’s depictions of a warlike God who picks sides have startled some in the Holy See, while Leo has felt compelled to counter them. He has done so repeatedly in recent weeks, most pointedly on Palm Sunday, saying God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”"
Friday, April 3, 2026
AI Is a Threat to Everything the American People Hold Dear.; The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2026
Bernie Sanders , The Wall Street Journal; AI Is a Threat to Everything the American People Hold Dear. It kills jobs, equality, connection, democracy and maybe the human race. Congress must act.
"The American people are deeply apprehensive about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on their lives. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 55% of Americans think AI will do more harm than good, 70% think AI will lead to fewer jobs, and only 5% think AI development is being led by people and organizations that represent their interests.
In the midst of all of this deep concern about the future of AI, 74% of Americans think the government isn't doing enough to regulate the use of AI."
The One Thing Trump Wanted That Pam Bondi Failed to Deliver; The New York Times, April 2, 2026
Jeffrey Toobin , The New York Times; The One Thing Trump Wanted That Pam Bondi Failed to Deliver
"But the core of Mr. Trump’s dissatisfaction with the attorney general was apparently her failure to serve his need for revenge against his enemies. She did not prosecute enough of Mr. Trump’s adversaries, and the cases she did bring were failures...
The worst consequence of the Justice Department’s pursuit of cases involving otherwise law-abiding but undocumented individuals is that it has led to untold suffering among those targeted, their families and the economies they support. Ms. Bondi’s lawyers have spent considerable time and money on the harassment, and worse, of people who have done no harm to anyone...
Perhaps worst of all, Justice Department lawyers under Ms. Bondi have often behaved in shockingly unethical ways. For decades, federal judges have looked at assistant U.S. attorneys and other Justice Department lawyers as something more than mere combatants. For good reason, judges assumed that federal lawyers told them the truth about the facts and the law of their cases. In legal terms, the actions of the Justice Department received a “presumption of regularity,” which the private bar did not enjoy. But based on the frequently appalling conduct — for instance, lying, gaslighting, hiding facts and evidence — of Justice Department lawyers in the Bondi era, many judges are no longer giving government lawyers the benefit of the doubt. Nor should they.
Replacing Ms. Bondi with her deputy, Todd Blanche, or the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, to name two likely successors, will not solve this problem unless the new attorney general makes the commitment, unlikely under the circumstances, that the Justice Department will return to its tradition of honesty and integrity."
Is Trump profiting off America's 250th? Ethics groups question merch; USA TODAY, April 2, 2026
Karissa Waddick , USA TODAY; Is Trump profiting off America's 250th? Ethics groups question merch
"Ethics groups point to the for-sale items as part of a growing list of evidence they say suggests the president is hijacking bipartisan plans for the milestone commemoration to benefit his personal interests."
OpenAI Buys Streaming Show ‘TBPN,’ Aiming to Change Narrative on A.I.; The New York Times, April 2, 2026
Mike Isaac, The New York Times ; OpenAI Buys Streaming Show ‘TBPN,’ Aiming to Change Narrative on A.I.
"On Thursday, OpenAI said it had bought “TBPN” for an undisclosed amount and would continue to support it as the show promoted the business of technology and media."
Sanctions ramping up in cases involving AI hallucinations; ABA Journal, April 2, 2026
AMANDA ROBERT, ABA Journal ; Sanctions ramping up in cases involving AI hallucinations
"The use of monetary sanctions against attorneys is seemingly on the rise as courts continue to address artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations in case documents."
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Exclusive: Trump's DOJ says he's not required to turn over official records; Axios, April 1, 2026
Alex Isenstadt , Axios; Exclusive: Trump's DOJ says he's not required to turn over official records
[Kip Currier: This is an appalling anti-democratic determination by Trump 2.0's DOJ. The post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 was enacted through bipartisan legislating, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, to curb government corruption and promote transparency, in the wake of actions by Pres. Richard M. Nixon and his administration. The Act codifies that presidential records are the property of the federal government, not the President and the Executive Branch, and are public records.
Democratically-elected officials must be accountable to their citizenries. The Presidential Records Act represents a vital means, among others, for holding Presidents and their administrations accountable for their actions by ensuring preservation of and access to their records by present and future generations.]
"President Trump's Justice Department has concluded that a federal law requiring presidential records to be turned over to the government is unconstitutional, a senior White House official tells Axios.
Why it matters: The finding is an indication Trump will be reluctant to give all of his official records to the National Archives at the end of his term, as presidents have done for nearly a half-century under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
The law, passed in the post-Watergate era as a hedge against government corruption, states that every official record regarding a president's decisions or policies belongs to the U.S. government, not the president."
72 Years Later, the Greatest Quote in Western Movie History Is Still Untouchable; CBR, March 31, 2026
[Kip Currier: I first saw the movie Shane (1953) as an undergraduate university student taking a course called "Samurai and Western Films", as an elective for my East Asian Languages and Literatures degree at the University of Pittsburgh. A course that I thought might just be a necessary elective for my major remains one of the most memorable courses I've ever taken. And the film Shane that we watched during the term became one of my all-time favorite movies. Little did I know then, until I talked about the course with my Dad at some point, that Shane was one of his favorite films, too.
The instructor and creator of the course, the late Dr. Keiko McDonald, with whom I was also taking Japanese language courses, provided trenchant insights into and comparative analysis of all of the films that we watched in the class sessions: The Seven Samurai (1954), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Stagecoach (1939), Johnny Guitar (1954), and Shane, among others. (I still recall Dr. McDonald drawing our attention to the symbolism of the buckskin "frontier" clothes Shane changes out of when he tries to take on the identity of an upstanding townsman by donning "civilized" garb.) All of the curated selections included anti-heroes with morally-fraught backgrounds, facing ethical dilemmas between doing right and wrong and confronting societal expectations.
If you haven't seen Shane (or even if you already have), check it out. And also watch its Japanese counterpart Yojimbo (1961), directed by Akira Kurosawa.]
"Unlike most Western protagonists, Shane's moral conflict doesn't come from choosing between right and wrong — it comes from knowing the difference and still being haunted by the cost. He isn't the morally ambiguous outlaw of later decades, nor the spotless lawman of the past; he's a man who knows that violence solves problems in the short term but poisons everything in the long term...
Shane is constantly framed against open sky or distant mountains — symbols of freedom that paradoxically emphasize his isolation. Every time he steps into a frame with the Starrett family, he looks slightly out of place, as if the domestic world itself resists him. These quiet visual cues underline the tragedy: Shane's strength makes him invaluable, but it also ensures he can never stay.
The interesting part of his story doesn't come from his skills, but his moral code and how he bucks the traditional gunfighter archetype. Neither a lawman nor a duelist, he was something different for his time. After its release, Shane completely changed the way Hollywood thought of Western heroes. Before the film, the standard protagonist of the genre was a cavalry officer, lawman, upstanding small-town citizen, or the like, typically a reflection of the Hays Code rules.
Shane's ambiguity pushed past that. He was a drifter who had done bad things but was still capable of goodness — an early cinematic antihero who carried his own code rather than society's. That nuance set the template for later figures like Eastwood's William Munny in Unforgiven or Costner's Charley Waite in Open Range. All of them share Shane's paradox: moral men trapped in immoral skills.
Shane's Speech is a Flawless Part of Western History
After defeating Ryker, an injured Shane saddles up to leave the valley, much to the sorrow of Joey. Seeing the boy's emotions, the hero delivers a speech that has since become one of the finest monologues ever written for film. As he states, "A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mold. I tried, and it didn't work for me. Joey, there's no living with the killing. There's no going back from one. Right and wrong is a brand. A brand sticks. There's no going back." Having said all he needs to, Shane rides off into the distant sunset, his fate ambiguous from a gunshot to his body. A poignant ending for a film that was almost never made."
Library Director in Tennessee Fired for Refusing to Move Gender-Themed Books; The New York Times, April 2, 2026
Emily Cochrane and Sonia A. Rao, The New York Times ; Library Director in Tennessee Fired for Refusing to Move Gender-Themed Books
The director, Luanne James, was fired at a board meeting for the Rutherford County Library System on Monday after she refused to move certain books to the adult section.
"It is still an uncertain moment for Ms. James, who had taken the position believing it would be where she would finish out her career. And she remains overwhelmed by both the scrutiny and public attention, even if there is nothing she would do differently.
“I’m just a librarian,” she said. “That’s who I am.”"
Pam Bondi had a ploy. A million people had opinions about it. | Opinion; USA TODAY, March 31, 2026
Chris Brennan, USA TODAY; Pam Bondi had a ploy. A million people had opinions about it. | Opinion
Study up on the attorney general's proposed rule and then head over to the Federal Register and let her hear what you think about it while you still have time.
"U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi devised a scheme earlier this month to run cover for Department of Justice lawyers who face ethics investigations for how they do their jobs.
Bondi wants to hijack the processes that state bar associations use to conduct those investigations, with a proposed rule to allow the DOJ to step in to stall those probes for as long as she likes.
But first, Americans get a month to tell the attorney general what they think of her scheme. And Americans have plenty to say. More than 1 million people have posted comments on the Federal Register since Bondi's proposed DOJ rule change was posted March 5. And the 30-day comment period still has a week to go until the April 6 deadline."
AI gaps in the boardroom are becoming a reputational risk; Axios, April 2, 2026
Eleanor Hawkins, Axios; AI gaps in the boardroom are becoming a reputational risk
"The big picture: Companies across every industry are being forced into rapid AI-driven transformation, but many corporate boards lack the expertise to guide strategy, manage risk or communicate decisions credibly to stakeholders.
By the numbers: Only 39% of Fortune 100 boards have any form of AI oversight, such as committees, a director with AI expertise, or an ethics board, according to McKinsey research.
Another recent report found that only 13% of S&P 500 companies have at least one director with AI-related expertise.
Similarly, McKinsey's survey of directors found that 66% say their boards have "limited to no knowledge or experience" with AI, and nearly one in three say AI does not even appear on their agendas.
And a report from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) found that only 17% have established an AI education plan for directors, and 6% have a dedicated committee to oversee AI.
Between the lines: Having an AI-savvy board is a major competitive advantage, according to a recent MIT study."
NHS staff boycott Palantir’s data platform over ethical concerns; Financial Times, April 1, 2026
Laura Hughes , Financial Times; NHS staff boycott Palantir’s data platform over ethical concerns
Controversial US tech group was awarded a £330mn contract in 2023 to collate hospital and patient information
"A growing number of NHS staff are refusing to work on Palantir’s health data platform over ethical concerns about the controversial US tech company.
The technology company was awarded a £330mn contract in 2023 to create the Federated Data Platform (FDP), which collates NHS operational data such as waiting lists, staffing, patient information and operating theatre schedules.
Palantir’s NHS role has become increasingly contentious owing to its work in the US defence sector and co-founder and chief executive Alex Karp’s outspoken backing for Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown."
The Supreme Court’s Decision on Indirect Internet Copyright Liability Could Have Far-Reaching Effects; The National Law Review, April 1, 2026
Jeffrey D. Dyess, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP , The National Law Review ; The Supreme Court’s Decision on Indirect Internet Copyright Liability Could Have Far-Reaching Effects
"On March 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision that will reshape not only how copyright law applies to the internet for years to come, but could impact other areas of intellectual property law as well. In Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, the Court held that internet service providers cannot be held indirectly liable for their customers’ copyright infringement simply because the ISPs knew the infringement was happening but failed to prevent it. The decision reversed and remanded a billion-dollar judgment against ISP Cox Communications and drew a more clearly defined line around secondary copyright liability."
Anthropic boss makes big call on Australian copyright as artists say pay up; Australian Broadcasting Corporation, April 1, 2026
Clare Armstrong , Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Anthropic boss makes big call on Australian copyright as artists say pay up
"In short:
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has told a Canberra forum AI is moving faster than any technological change before it.
Mr Amodei says he is not trying to change Australia's mind on copyright, is worried about AI in the hands of autocratic countries, and feels a tax on profits is inevitable.
What's next?
The $555 billion company behind AI program Claude is facing pushback from artists over the use of copyrighted material to train its technology."
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Judge rejects Johnson Amendment settlement, keeping ban on pastors endorsing candidates; Episcopal News Service (ENS), April 1, 2026
Bob Smietana, Episcopal News Service (ENS); Judge rejects Johnson Amendment settlement, keeping ban on pastors endorsing candidates
The ruling caps a decades-long battle to overturn a ban on houses of worship endorsing candidates.
"A federal judge rejected a settlement that would have lifted an IRS ban on pastors endorsing candidates, saying the court had no authority to approve an agreement, in a surprising end to a decades-long battle.
Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas also dismissed the lawsuit filed by the National Religious Broadcasters, a Christian communicators group, and two Texas churches that was at the heart of the anticipated settlement. The plaintiffs had argued that the ban on endorsements violated their religious liberty. Under the IRS rule, known as the Johnson Amendment, tax-exempt nonprofits are barred from taking sides in political campaigns.
In dismissing the case on March 31, Barker said courts are barred from “providing declaratory relief with respect to federal taxes,” and therefore the court could not approve the settlement, as it required the court to make a decision that affected the plaintiffs’ tax status."
USPTO announces agentic AI-assisted evaluator for patent eligibility determinations; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), April 1, 2026
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ; USPTO announces agentic AI-assisted evaluator for patent eligibility determinations
"As part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) continued efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into agency operations—first with the Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot Program, or “ASAP!,” for patent prior art references followed by the Trademark Classification Agentic Codification Tool, or “Class ACT,” for trademark searching—the USPTO today announced the first-of-its-kind agentic AI tool to assist in patent eligibility determinations under 35 U.S.C. §101.
America’s Innovation Agency’s new AI system, termed “McConaughey Agentic Tasking Technology Helping Examiner Workload,” or “MATTHEW,” for short, will help examiners tackle the thorniest of eligibility questions as to whether claims presented are an abstract idea or a patent-eligible invention. “MATTHEW will greatly enhance our ability to make the close calls—or any call, really—as I herewith also suspend all applicable precedent, including Desjardins, Alice, and Mayo,” said USPTO Director John A. Squires. “Basically, in terms of eligibility, if MATTHEW says your invention is ‘Alright, Alright, Alright,’ then it’s ‘Alright, Alright, Alright’ with the USPTO.”
“Initially, we had some concerns that we would be introducing a three-part test in place of the two-part test under Alice and Mayo, but I think we’ll be al…um, okay,” he continued.
“We want to equip our examiners—the best in the world at what they do—with the best tools to assist them,” said Director Squires. “In fact, MATTHEW was selected after careful evaluation of best-in-breed offerings, including the ‘Binary Eligibility Engaged Translation Language Environment Joint User Interface Computational Evaluator,’ or ‘BEETLEJUICE,’” he stated. “But the coders had some issues in testing when they said the name three times. I hope they’ll be al…um, okay,” remarked the Director.
When asked if the USPTO licensed its tool in light of famed actor McConaughey’s recent Name Image and Likeness (NIL) ‘non-traditional’ registrations, Director Squires retorted, “Well, he’s the one who said, ‘trademark yourself!’—I think the Founders would have wanted this.” When asked if he had heard from Mr. McConaughey’s lawyers, Director Squires produced an unintelligible, guttural chanting sound and began rhythmically beating his chest with his fist.
For more information on this trailblazing AI system, please visit the USPTO website."
What to know about Trump's future presidential library, which he says may be a hotel; NPR, April 1, 2026
Rachel Treisman, NPR; What to know about Trump's future presidential library, which he says may be a hotel
"President Trump has plans to splash his name across a sky-high presidential library in Florida. And he shared the first look at that vision on social media Monday...
At least from the outside, the property resembles one of his signature hotels — and Trump said Tuesday that it might well be one.
"I don't believe in building libraries or museums," Trump, who made a career out of self-branded luxury hotels, told reporters in the Oval Office. "Could be [an] office, but it's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby."
Anthropic Races to Contain Leak of Code Behind Claude AI Agent; The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2026
Sam Schechner, The Wall Street Journal; Anthropic Races to Contain Leak of Code Behind Claude AI Agent
Developer issues copyright takedown request in bid to prevent competitors from cloning coding tool’s features
"Anthropic is racing to contain the fallout after accidentally exposing the underlying instructions it uses to direct Claude Code, the popular artificial-intelligence agent app that has won the company an edge with developers and businesses.
By Wednesday morning, Anthropic representatives had used a copyright takedown request to force the removal of more than 8,000 copies and adaptations of the raw Claude Code instructions—known as source code—that developers had shared on programming platform GitHub."
Tennessee librarian fired for refusing to move LGBTQ books from children’s to adult section; The Hill, April 1, 2026
LEXI LONAS COCHRAN, The Hill; Tennessee librarian fired for refusing to move LGBTQ books from children’s to adult section
"The Rutherford County Library Board in Tennessee fired its top librarian for refusing to move LBGTQ books out of the children’s section.
The board voted 8-3 Monday to fire library system director Luanne James after she said she would not move more than 100 LGBTQ books from the children to the adult’s section, The Associated Press reported."
Taylor Swift Sued for Trademark Infringement Over ‘The Life of a Showgirl’; The Hollywood Reporter, March 30, 2026
Winston Cho , The Hollywood Reporter; Taylor Swift Sued for Trademark Infringement Over ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
Maren Wade owns the trademark for 'Confessions of a Showgirl.' She claims that the singer undermined her brand with the chart-topping album.
"Taylor Swift‘s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, has sparked a lawsuit from a writer, who accuses the singer of knowingly disregarding her claim to a similar name.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday in California federal court, Maren Wade brings claims for trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition against Swift and UMG Recordings. She seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring the singer from continuing to use the name of her chart-topping album."
Judge rules Trump order eliminating NPR, PBS funding is unconstitutional; The Washington Post, March 31, 2026
Scott Nover , The Washington Post; Judge rules Trump order eliminating NPR, PBS funding is unconstitutional
Trump’s order violated the First Amendment rights of the public media giants, a federal judge in Washington found.
"A federal judge in Washington struck down part of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on Tuesday, ruling that it was unconstitutional retaliation that violated their press freedom rights under the First Amendment.
The May 1, 2025, executive order, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” cut off funding to public media — with Trump calling out what he perceived as left-wing bias in NPR’s and PBS’s news reporting.
“The message is clear,” U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, a Barack Obama appointee to the federal bench, wrote in an opinion. “NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news.” He added that the action amounted to “viewpoint discrimination.”"
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