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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire's highest court on Friday upheld a judge's dismissal of civil rights complaints against a white nationalist group that prosecutors said committed trespassing when it launched “Keep New England White” without authorization in 2022 banner from an overpass.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in its first review of the state's civil rights law, agreed with the lower court judge that prosecutors' interpretation of the law was unconstitutionally overbroad.

The court explained that the state's interpretation of the law provides for state sanctions against individuals who inadvertently invade public property and whose presence is motivated by considered one of the characteristics laid out in the law. These characteristics include race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

“Such a broad statement discourages the expression of certain messages for fear of government sanctions under the law due to the content of the messages expressed,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The court also said it was “not persuaded” that the complaints “sufficiently allege” that group members intentionally trespassed.

The attorney general's office said it was dissatisfied with the court's decision but respected it, spokesman Michael Garrity said in an announcement.

“Our office remains steadfast in its commitment to enforcing the Civil Rights Act to ensure that all Granite Staters are free from discrimination, violence and hateful threats. “We will continue to explore all options to protect the rights and safety of our communities,” the statement said.

William Gens, a lawyer representing the group, said its members were “very happy with the decision and it was based on reasons that we had put forward all along.” He said the attorney general's interpretation “failed to adequately inform the public as to what conduct, including the speech portion of conduct, constitutes a violation of the law.”

The complaints alleged that the Nationalist Social Club, also generally known as NSC-131, and two of its members trespassed on public property and hung the banners on the overpass overlooking U.S. Route 1 in Portsmouth for racist reasons. About 10 people participated, the complaints say. The complaints asked a judge to issue an order banning the group and its members from threatening physical violence or violence and interesting in discriminatory behavior for 3 years.

NSC-131 was identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a New England-based neo-Nazi group founded in 2019 that “advocates racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance” and whose “members are a collection of neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, many of them.” “They were previously members of other white supremacist groups.”

A second lawsuit from the attorney general's office against the group is pending. She accuses the group of violations in response to an indication outside a Concord cafe where a drag story hour was happening.

RIO DE JANEIRO – A panel of Brazil's Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the choice of one among its judges to dam billionaire Elon Musk's social media platform X nationwide, the court's website said.

The broader support among the many justices undermines efforts by Musk and his supporters to portray Judge Alexandre de Moraes as a renegade and authoritarian censor of political speech.

The panel, which voted in a virtual session, consisted of 5 of the 11 full judges, including de Moraes, who ordered the platform blocked last Friday for failing to appoint an area legal representative as required by law.

X will remain suspended until it complies together with his orders and pays outstanding fines, which, based on his decision, exceed three million dollars as of last week.

De Moraes also imposed a every day advantageous of fifty,000 reais ($8,900) on individuals or corporations using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X. Some legal experts questioned the reasoning behind this decision and its enforcement. The Brazilian Bar Association announced it could ask the Supreme Court to review this provision.

But nearly all of the panel upheld the advantageous for VPNs – one judge opposed it unless it could be proven that users are using X to commit crimes.

Brazil is one among the most important markets for X, with tens of hundreds of thousands of users. His ban marked a dramatic Escalation in a months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes about free speech, right-wing extremist accounts and misinformation.

“He has repeatedly and egregiously violated the Constitution of Brazil, despite having sworn to protect it,” Musk wrote within the hours before the vote on de Moraes. He also announced on Sunday that he would create an X-account to publish the judge's decisions, which he said would offer evidence for his claims.

De Moraes' decision to quickly forward his resolution to a committee for approval was intended to achieve “collective, more institutional support that seeks to depersonalize the decision,” Conrado Hübner, a professor of constitutional law on the University of Sao Paulo, told the Associated Press.

Had de Moraes done the latter, two judges who had questioned his decisions up to now – and who were appointed by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro – would have had the chance to object or prevent the vote from happening.

Originally published: September 2, 2024 at 11:04 am

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge wanted a change. The New York Yankees center fielder, one of the crucial feared hitters in the main leagues, had struggled in the primary few weeks of the season. At the top of April, his batting average was just .207.

“I wasn’t feeling well,” he said recently.

So Judge – who, like many players, often tinkers along with his swing – made what appears to be a big change.

On May 5, he went to bat with two outs in the primary inning to face Detroit Tigers star Tarik Skubal. Instead of using his usual open batting stance — along with his left foot facing the third baseman — he modified his stance, narrowing his stance a bit of and pointing his foot more toward the pitcher. He also stood a bit of taller.

It worked like a charm. With the rating tied 1-1, Skubal tried to hit a 97-mph batter to Judge. But he left the ball over the plate and Judge hit it for a solo home run almost into the right-center field stands at Yankee Stadium.

Judge finished the sport 2 for 3, with a double and a walk. He has since reclaimed his place as baseball's best hitter. Before Monday's road game against the Chicago White Sox, he led in two of three Triple Crown categories, hitting 42 home runs and 106 RBIs, a best within the American League. However, his .328 batting average was second only to Bobby Witt of the Kansas City Royals, who hit .347. Judge's 217 wRC+ — a general stat that measures a player's overall value — was also the most effective, greater than 30 points higher than his closest competitor, teammate Juan Soto, who hit 186.

He also had 299 home runs in his profession and is on pace to develop into the fastest player to achieve 300.

Judge said the change helped him in several ways.

First, he said, it made him feel more comfortable. Second, it allowed him to be simpler against sliders and away pitches basically. Through May 4, Judge had a batting average of just .154 and a slugging percentage of .333 against sliders. After May 5, he had a batting average of .348 against them and a slugging percentage of .812.

“I just stay a little better on the away court,” he said. “A lot of teams like to throw sliders away, sliders away and then show heaters inside and then sliders away — same thing. If I just start a little more closed or a little straighter, which I usually like to do, I can stay there a little better.”

He added that it helped his front foot land more reliably where he wanted it to – almost directly on the pitcher.

“I always want to get back in position when I land,” he said. “But sometimes when I start way out, I feel like I never get back in position, making the pitch feel even farther away. So if I start in position sooner, I have a better chance of staying on some balls.”

Of course, the change wasn't a one-time adjustment. This season, Judge has stood much more square to the pitcher on several occasions and sometimes adjusted his height, all within the name of finding the best balance.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo — among the best hitters in the sport since his debut in 2011 — said he noticed the change in Judge's batting stance when it happened, and said a hitter's legs might be a key to his success. At workouts before spring training, Yankees players told one another they desired to make a degree all season long to closely watch one another's at-bats and help correct mistakes once they occur.

“Hitting is very difficult,” Rizzo said. “But I think as long as you have the basics and you're on time, it doesn't matter where you start. … It's a feeling thing.”

Since the change, Judge's swing seems more direct, said manager Aaron Boone.

“In some ways, it's simplified it for him,” Boone said, “and made him really efficient at what he does in the (batter's) box. Plus, we've seen great swing decisions. He's really calm up there when he's taking the throws, he knows what to look for and doesn't try to do too much with it. He knows he doesn't need to swing harder or add more. He slows it down really well, and I think the stance and the position he's in — from my perspective and my perspective — allows him to be more efficient.”

Batting coach James Rowson said it's not unusual for even the sport's best players to make significant adjustments to develop into more comfortable at bat.

“I don't think that's odd,” Rowson said. “I think if you take 100 hitters, you'll see them make adjustments just because something feels that way. That doesn't mean you're going to stay there. You could stay there. You could go back. I think as long as he gets to the point now where he feels like he's in a good position to make a good move, that's where we want to be. Sometimes you make those adjustments to get that feeling back.”

Lately, Judge has had fewer opportunities to implement his changeup. Teams have once more began giving Judge the Barry Bonds treatment – intentionally throwing around him or intentionally walking him fairly than letting him hit them. This season, he's tied with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros with 13 intentional walks in the sport. They also did it to him toward the top of the 2022 season, when he set an American League record with 62 home runs.

Judge said, nevertheless, that he was joyful with the move and that more could follow as he continues to go looking for a secure spot on the loft.

“There are certain things you have to hold on to, and you know things are going to change,” he said. “But those are the little things where you just watch your tape and analyze your game, and little things can stand out and you think, 'Well, let's see if this works.'”

A reporter then told Judge that the move actually looked as if it would have worked.

He smiled.

“Until now.”

Flags related to the January 6, 2021 riot and the overall efforts by Donald Trump and his supporters to overturn the final result of the 2020 presidential election flew on the homes of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

One, one the other way up American flaghas long been an emblem of a ship – or a nation – in distress, which Trump supporters adopted after the 2020 election. The flag flew at Alito's residence in Virginia on January 17, 2021, just 11 days after the riot on the U.S. Capitol.

The other photo, flown in the summertime of 2023 at an Alito family vacation home on the New Jersey coast, shows a lone pine tree and bears the words “An appeal to heaven.“ This flag, sometimes referred to as “Pine Tree Flag”, is a relic of the Revolutionary era and represents strength against tyrannical enemies. Like all long-used symbols, the pine tree flag has a wealthy history of use and continues to vary its connotations over time.

We are scientists of visually And political rhetoric who study the cultural significance Symbols attributedlike flags, and like these Symbols function on this planetGiven what we find out about symbolism, the Appeal to Heaven flag offers each historical and latest connotations.

A colonial history

The image on the flag of Appeal to Heaven was in-built 1652 when the colony of Massachusetts began minting Pine Shillingwhich were coins printed with pine trees.

The lonely pine is a Symbol of New Englandwhile the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven” on the flag is 1775 Resolution by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.

The 1775 resolution was inspired by the English philosopher John Locke. Locke argued in 1690 that individuals “Appeal to Heaven' when their rights are denied. The phrase and image on the flag symbolize the best to revolt against a tyrannical government.

As if to verify the revolutionary significance of the flag, in 1775 six schooners under the command of George Washington the flag waved while encountering British ships.

Modern uses

Today, the flag appears in social movements for various purposes. For example, in 2020, the Appeal to Heaven flag appeared at a Black Lives Matter protest dance party in Washington, DC.

But that just isn’t essentially the most common use. Since 2013, the Appeal to Heaven flag has taken on Christian nationalist overtones. Christian Nationalism refers to a set of ideological beliefs that portray the United States as a purely Christian, God-ordained nation.

Minister of South Carolina Dutch papers used social and traditional media to advertise the flag. Sheets spread the assumption that the The USA ought to be a Christian nationwhich ought to be regulated through belief in Christian superiority.

Over the last decade, Sheets and his fellow believers brought the flag to the state capitols and other public events to advertise his efforts to elect evangelical Christian leaders to political office.

On January 6, 2021, the flag appeared within the hands of insurgents, including the Proud boys. When insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, the “Appeal to Heaven” flag was considered one of many symbols leading the violence. After the harrowing events of that day, the flag became more closely related to the “Stop the Steal” effort, alongside general pro-Trump slogans.

In a resolution dated 31 January 2024 Facebook postA flag company advertised the “Appeal to Heaven” flag with an in depth description, which included the meaning of “goes beyond its historical origins“ and is “made very popular among Republicans and Christians … and is seen as a symbol of Christian nationalism.”

In the next years, the flag was displayed by elected officials, equivalent to Speaker of the House Mike Johnsonwho placed it in front of his congressional office. Senator from the State of Arizona. Janae Shamp used it on her desk within the Arizona Senate chamber. Co-Chair of the Federalist Society Leonard-Leothe conservative court activist who Hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to remodel the federal judiciary, hung it in front of his house in Maine.

A signal to the initiated

Despite the flag's clear connection to Christian nationalist ideology, a few of Alito's defenders say that just isn’t the flag's meaning.

For example Carrie Campbell Severino accused “the news establishment” is attempting to rewrite the history of this “Revolutionary War flag” as if it was “somehow connected to January 6th.” Severino said the thought was “completely ridiculous.” She is president of the Leo-affiliated Concord Fundsformerly Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative advocacy group that allegedly “unrivalled influence … in shaping the federal judiciary.”

In a May 29, 2024, letter responding to inquiries from members of Congress, Alito denied knowing the meaning of the flag. The New York Times quoted his letter as saying:

“I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the Stop the Steal movement, and neither does my wife. … She did not raise it to identify with this or any other group, and the use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily take away all other meanings from that flag.”

Some commentators on the flag controversy wondered aloud concerning the encrypted meaning of the flag, while others pound The flag is a “dog whistle” for pro-Trump and Christian nationalist ideologues. The flag is maybe an emblem that the majority people would overlook, but that appeals to a select audience. Research has shown that racist and non secular dog whistles help “Mobilizing … support for racist resentment“white Christian voters” without alienating others.

The meaning of symbols like this flag inevitably changes over time. And while Alito’s actual beliefs could also be difficult to discern, the recent revelations should draw attention to how the flag symbolizes a spread of beliefs held by conservative activists, Christian nationalists and those that need to impose their radical views on the country.