Black Sabbath‘s first official live album is getting the reissue treatment.
A super deluxe version of 1983’s Live Evil, featuring remastered and newly mixed audio, will be released on June 2. You can listen to the reissue’s version of the song “The Mob Rules” now via digital outlets.
Live Evil was recorded during Ronnie James Dio‘s first tenure with the band, before he left Sabbath to form his namesake band Dio in late 1982. The set includes performances of Dio-era staples such as “The Mob Rules” and “Heaven and Hell,” as well as the Ozzy Osbourne-era classics “Iron Man,” “War Pigs” and “Paranoid.”
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — An unprecedented ruling by a single federal judge in Texas on mifepristone is raising concerns of “judge shopping” in a legal clash that could reshape abortion access in the U.S.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, in his April 7 order, ruled to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill. In his order, Kacsmaryk the drug — which has been on the market for 23 years — is unsafe and its approval process was rushed.
The order is set to take effect at the end of the day Friday unless the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court intervene.
President Joe Biden, in his first on-camera reaction to the ruling, said Tuesday he thought it was “completely out of bounds what the judge did.”
Legal experts, too, have both scrutinized Kacsmaryk’s ruling and how the case ended up in his court in the first place.
“I think his order shows why the lawsuit was brought in Amarillo,” Stephen Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas, told ABC News. “It gives the appearance of being a sort of a judicial decision that was written to reach a foreordained result.”
Texas is home to four federal district courts, and several of them have created so-called “single judge divisions” where just one judge is responsible for hearing 100% of the cases filed there.
Kacsmaryk is the sole judge seated in the Amarillo division of the U.S. District of Northern Texas. He was appointed to the federal bench in 2019 under former President Donald Trump, and has since been at the center of several contentious legal fights over policies on immigration, LGBTQ protections and more — often ruling against the Biden administration.
Before his appointment, Kacsmaryk worked with the conservative First Liberty Institute, where he participated in a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s “contraception mandate” requiring health insurers to pay for birth control. Kacsmaryk said at the time the requirement aimed to “punish” those who follow “their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
Kacsmaryk’s sister told the Washington Post, which reported in depth his stance on abortion, she felt he “was made” for this case.
But during his confirmation process, Kacsmaryk said as a district judge he would “not advocate for clients or a particular policy but instead is bound by oath to faithfully apply all Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent.”
Critics have accused the plaintiffs in this case of exploiting the single-judge division and purposely seeking out Kacsmaryk because they thought he’d be friendly to their point of view. The group Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group, filed the lawsuit last year.
Some legal observers have pointed to the specific language from Kacsmaryk’s order as evidence of his ideological inclinations. Instead of referring to a fetus or embryo, he used the term “unborn human” or substituted the phrase “chemical abortion” for medication abortion.
“It is very clearly anti-abortion movement language,” said Nicole Huberfeld, a health law professor at Boston University.
The issue of judge shopping, Vladeck said, undermines fairness in the judicial process and raises ethical concerns.
“The legal system is not supposed to work this way,” he said. “You’re not supposed to be able to handpick your judge.”
Huberfeld said this “playbook already existed” but has intensified in recent years.
In response to accusations that plaintiffs specifically sought out Kacsmaryk, Erik Baptist, a senior attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, told ABC News his organization “goes wherever our clients take us.”
“And in this instance, we have eight different plaintiffs: four national Medical Association’s and four individual doctors,” Baptist said. “Two of our clients are based in the Amarillo, Texas, area and we went where they took us this time.”
Asked about the broader issue of judge shopping, and whether it undermines the legal process, Baptist said the group didn’t have a position on the matter.
“ADF doesn’t have a position,” he said. “But those are the rules that the courts have established for themselves, and we honor what those rules are as the court deems appropriate.”
Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, told ABC News “all lawyers file a case in the place where they can have the best shot of winning.”
The bigger issue, Blackman argued, is the nature of nationwide injunctions — where a single district court judge can prevent the government from enforcing a statute or regulation coast to coast.
“The problem, to the extent that exists, is where single judges can sort of change policy overnight,” he said.
The nation now waits for word from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the Justice Department’s emergency stay motion to block Kacsmaryk’s order. The DOJ has asked the court to enter an administrative stay or grant a stay pending appeal by noon on Thursday.
And at the same time, there is a competing order out of Washington in a separate case regarding the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. That order prevents the FDA from “altering the status quo” as it relates to the availability of the drug.
“I think it’s important to recognize that these legal battles matter,” Huberfeld said, “that they have real implications for people, that people won’t get the care that they need, that it increases the risk of injury and death. And this isn’t going to stop anytime soon. It is a health problem whether or not people want to recognize it as such.”
(NEW YORK) — Families of Black men killed by police or gun violence have come together to brainstorm how to turn their “grief into action” to prevent continued instances of police violence.
The conversation comes as the country awaits a decision from a grand jury on the indictment of officers in the death of Jayland Walker, who was shot by police following a 2022 attempted traffic stop.
The panel, held by civil rights organization National Action Network on Wednesday in Manhattan, included family members of Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tyre Nichols, Amir Locke and Botham Jean.
Garner, Locke, Floyd and Nichols were killed in incidents with police.
Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a man who followed Martin for believing Martin was suspicious. He was acquitted on all charges connected to Martin’s death. Arbery was followed by three men and fatally shot by one of them while out for a jog because the men believed he was responsible for trespassing.
Together, the families talked about their collective efforts to keep the memory of their deceased loved ones alive – in some ways, through the implementation of police reform.
On Tuesday, the evening before the panel, Memphis passed an ordinance called the “Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols” that would ban traffic stops for secondary violations like overdue registration or broken lights.
Nichols died in January following a violent traffic stop captured in body camera footage, which shows officers striking Nichols repeatedly. Five officers have been charged so far in connection with his death.
“He was on his way home from watching the sunsets. He liked to go to a park and watch the sunsets as much as possible,” said Row Vaughn, mother of Nichols, through tears.
She continued, “He was stopped. He was beaten. Less than 800 feet from my home … I didn’t watch the video, but I could hear him calling my name.”
She applauded Memphis for the move, but says there is much more to be done.
“We are going to continue to fight so that this doesn’t happen to another Tyre,” said Vaughn. “There’s just too many of our Black men being killed for nothing. I’m not understanding why Black men can’t even go home.”
Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, said the pain over her son’s 2014 death by police in New York City lingers on. She reminds other families facing similar tragedies that they’re “all fighting for the same thing, going down the same road.”
“I remember when this horrible incident happened to my son – I didn’t know what I would do. I was in a dark place at that time. But I decided to turn my mourning into action,” Carr said.
In 2020, several years after Garner’s death, she helped to pass the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act, which criminalizes the harmful use of a chokehold by a police officer.
“You’re going to knock on doors that are not going to open, but sometimes you have to kick the door in,” said Carr.
She also helped build the E.R.I.C. Initiative Foundation, which offers scholarships, free meals, toy giveaways and retreats in an effort to connect and uplift those affected by police brutality.
Wanda Cooper Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, also has been fighting for legislative change since her son’s death.
Arbery was killed in Brunswick, Georgia, when three men followed him while he was jogging in their neighborhood and one of the men fatally shot him.
Arbery’s death and the nationwide outcry that followed led to the repealing of Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law and the enactment of hate crime laws that criminalize acts motivated by someone’s identity.
“They repealed the citizens’ arrest laws, so white people cannot get in their trucks and chase down a Black boy,” said Cooper Jones.
She said her son’s death made her redefine who she was “as a woman.”
“Wanda, are you just going to sit down or are you going to implement more changes?” she said she asked herself. “Ahmaud is gone, but it is very important that his legacy lives forever.”
Though the evening applauded the wins so far from victims and their families, others said there’s a long way to go in addressing the policing issues that lead to the deaths of their children.
Amir Locke’s father, Andre Locke, is working on federal legislation that would end the use of no-knock warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without announcing their arrival. Locke was fatally shot by police who were executing a no-knock warrant.
The passage of the George Floyd Policing Act also has been an ongoing battle for police reform advocates. The legislation would improve accountability for police misconduct, restrict certain harmful policing practices, and enhance transparency and data collection.
“I cannot explain the pain,” said one of George Floyd’s brothers. “We’ve been fighting since 2020 – it is 2023. Times are changing.”
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Whole Foods is temporarily closing a large store in downtown San Francisco due to concerns over employee safety, the company said on Wednesday.
The closure arrives roughly a week after the high-profile killing of Cash App Founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, which sparked crime fears among some city residents.
Overall, crime in San Francisco is down nearly 10% this year compared to last year, but homicides are up 20% and robberies are up more than 13%, San Francisco crime data shows.
The Whole Foods store, which spans nearly 65,000 square feet, opened last year at Trinity Place in the city’s Mid Market neighborhood.
A company press release announcing the store’s opening in March 2022 referred to the location as a “flagship store.”
Whole Foods opted to close the location to “ensure worker safety,” the company said, noting that all of the employees would be transferred to nearby locations.
“We have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being,” the company said in a statement.
Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, said it would assess a reopening of the store if it feels it can protect employees at the location.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said he was “incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised” with the decision.
“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them,” he added.
The store cut its operating hours last year due to theft and hostility among its customers, the San Francisco Standard reported.
Whole Foods operates eight other locations in the San Francisco area.
In California, violent crime increased by 6% last year but remained well below a peak experienced in the early 1990s, according to a report from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California released in October.
The Whole Foods announcement stoked criticism from some prominent Republican figures over the threat of crime in major U.S. cities, which are typically run by Democratic mayors.
Violent crime in U.S. urban areas increased by 4.4% over the year ending in June 2022, a study from the Major Cities Chiefs Association found. However, instances of homicide and rape fell over that period, the study showed.
After the murder of Lee on April 4, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said in a statement that the city does not tolerate violent crime.
“There is no place for this kind of violent crime against anyone in our city,” Scott said.
“I want to assure everyone that our investigators are working tirelessly to make an arrest and bring justice to Mr. Lee and his loved ones, just as we try to do on every homicide that occurs in our city.”
(NEW YORK) — The New York City Police Department is responding to a new threatening letter sent to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to police sources.
The sources told ABC News the letter contained a white powder and was discovered just after 3 p.m. in the basement mailroom at 80 Centre Street.
There are no reports of injuries or sickness.
The NYPD, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of Emergency Management are all responding, authorities said.
This is at least the second time Bragg has received a letter containing a suspicious white powder since former President Donald Trump started writing on social media about his impending indictment.
Bragg has been receiving additional security protection.
His lawsuit against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said the office has received more than a thousand threatening or harassing calls and emails. Bragg himself has received “multiple” death threats since Trump’s indictment, police sources told ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The music video for Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Psycho” just surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. The 2018 song is Posty’s fifth entry in the Billion Views Clubs and Ty Dolla’s third.
After Millie Bobby Brown seemingly announced her engagement to Jake Bongiovi using a Taylor Swift “Lover” lyric, Taylor gave her stamp of approval by liking the post. In the post, Millie is seen embracing Jake while showing off a diamond ring on her left finger. “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,” she wrote, quoting Taylor.
The Jonas Brothers have been added to the lineup of Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival. The three-day fest takes place Friday, April 28, to Sunday, April 30, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Weeknd is teasing what to expect from The Idol‘s soundtrack. In a social media post Wednesday, he shared a clip of himself and producer Mike Dean in the studio watching an orchestra play a sweeping instrumental arrangement. “THE IDOL VOL. 1,” he captioned the clip along with a CD emoji. “coming soon (double fantasy & jealous guy just a taste).” It’s rumored that The Weeknd will premiere HBO’s The Idol at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
After Millie Bobby Brown seemingly announced her engagement to Jake Bongiovi using a Taylor Swift “Lover” lyric, Taylor gave her stamp of approval by liking the post. In the post, Millie is seen embracing Jake while showing off a diamond ring on her left finger. “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,” she wrote, quoting Taylor.
The Jonas Brothers have been added to the lineup of Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival. The three-day fest takes place Friday, April 28, to Sunday, April 30, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The producers of the Broadway show A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musicalhave raised $500,000 for the Parkinson’s Foundation in honor of Diamond, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2018. To support the ongoing fundraising efforts, visit Parkinson.org/ABeautifulNoise.
Céline Dion‘s new rom-com, Love Again, will be hitting theaters earlier than anticipated. Deadline reports the film, also starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan, will premiere on May 5 instead of May 12. Céline plays herself in the film and contributes new songs to the soundtrack.
Call it the Amazon Technicolor Dreamcoat: Deadline reports Jon M. Chu, veteran of Crazy Rich Asians and the musical In The Heights, has inked a deal with Amazon Studios to bring Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to theaters.
Chu is currently in London, calling the shots on the big-screen bow of another Broadway smash, Wicked, which will star Grammy winners Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, as well as newly minted Oscar winner and his former Crazy Rich Asians co-star Michelle Yeoh.
The filmmaker said he’s been dreaming of directing a Joseph movie, according to the trade, which notes his In The Heights producer Scott Sanderswill help bring the Old Testament musical to the big screen.
Bono is lending his talent to a new animated short film based on the Sergei Prokofiev classic symphony Peter & The Wolf.
Deadline reports the project, which has been given the go-ahead by Max and Cartoon Network, will turn the story into a contemporary tale, with artwork inspired by Bono’s original illustrations, and music and narration by composer Gavin Friday.It is based on a 2003 project by the pair, which they did for the Irish Hospice Foundation.
The story follows a 12-year-old Peter, who is dealing with the loss of a parent. He heads into the forest to search for a reported wolf on the loose and comes across creatures who help him on the search, as well as hunters trying to capture the wolf for a prize.
“The messaging of vigilance, bravery, and resilience that were core to the original symphony are still echoed throughout our interpretation, but we spin a traditional fairy tale into a unique adaptation that also incorporates the topic of loss, redemption, and recovery,” Friday and Bono said. “It’s our hope that this Peter & the Wolf becomes a balm for any child dealing with loss, alongside exposing and captivating them into the wonderful and musical world of Prokofiev.”
Peter & The Wolf is expected to premiere later this year.
(NEW YORK) — A judge overseeing Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News on Wednesday imposed a sanction against the network after it made “misrepresentations” to the court and potentially withheld evidence.
Dominion’s lawsuit accuses Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company had somehow rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor, so the network could retain viewers.
The judge said during a pretrial hearing on Wednesday that Fox News would have to pay for any last-minute additional depositions that Dominion would need to do before the case is set to head to trial on Monday. Dominion did not immediately make clear if any such depositions were needed.
“If there is a deposition that needs to be done, it will be done,” Judge Eric Davis said. “Fox will do everything it needs to make the person available, and it will be at the cost of Fox.”
But potentially more significantly, the judge said he would “most likely” appoint a special master to “do an investigation” into whether representations by Fox made to the court as part of the case were “untrue or negligent” — including a certification it had made in December that it had essentially completed its discovery process in accordance with the case.
The special master was already involved in the case to oversee the discovery process, but the new investigation will determine “what sanctions could be implemented” against Fox, the judge said — a significant development on the eve of trial.
“This is very serious,” Judge Davis said of the issue.
The unexpected move came in response to concerns raised by Dominion that Fox News was still turning over evidence in the case, and that in some instances Dominion was still learning of evidence from the public domain. This included, for example, an internal recording they said they only recently obtained appearing to show former President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani privately expressing doubts over the claims regarding Dominion’s voting software.
The recordings, Dominion’s attorney said, were made by a Fox News producer, Abby Grossberg, on her phone during the pre-taping of an interview Giuliani gave on the network on November 8, 2020.
“What about this software, this Dominion software?” Fox News host Maria Bartiromo could be heard asking Giuliani on the recording, which was played out in court.
“That’s a little harder, it’s being analyzed right now,” Giuliani said.
Dominion’s attorney, Davida Brooks, said the interview “marched forward” even after Giuliani failed to give credence to the question. She said the recordings were “obviously relevant” and expressed concern over what else might exist that Fox has not turned over as evidence.
“What I don’t know is, are there more recordings?” Brooks asked the judge.
An attorney for Fox pushed back, claiming they had handed over all relevant documents and that they were not aware the recordings existed until recently.
“They are recordings of a Fox employee,” Davis responded. “How could Fox not know?”
Grossberg is engaged in separate litigation with the network, claiming in a lawsuit that that she was “coerced” by Fox’s attorneys as part of her deposition in the case.
In a statement issued after the hearing, Fox said, “As counsel explained to the Court, FOX produced the supplemental information from Ms. Grossberg when we first learned it.”
Also Wednesday, the judge questioned Fox attorneys over allegations from Dominion that the network had concealed the official role of Rupert Murdoch as an officer at Fox News. Although Murdoch is the chairman of the network’s parent company, Fox Corporation, Dominion said Fox News’ lack of disclosure regarding Murdoch’s position with Fox News had hindered, among other things, their ability to obtain evidence regarding him.
“We have been litigating based on this false premise that Rupert Murdoch wasn’t an officer of Fox News,” Dominion’s attorney, Justin Nelson, told the judge. Nelson also pointed out that Murdoch himself said during his deposition that he was not an officer of Fox News.
The judge appeared taken aback by the revelation, which first arose on Tuesday, saying Fox attorneys had been “evasive.”
“I need people to tell me the truth,” Davis said on Tuesday. “And by the way, omission is a lie.”
Davis said he was ordering Fox attorneys to preserve all communications related to the issue.
“I’m very uncomfortable right now,” Davis said. “I’m going to let you know — I’m very uncomfortable.”
Fox’s attorney, Dan Webb, said that Murdoch himself “did not know” that he was an executive of the network. An attorney for Fox on Tuesday had said it was an “honorific” title.
“I don’t think there’s any documents withheld related to Rupert Murdoch that are relevant to this case,” Webb said. “Nobody intentionally withheld information with them.”
In a statement on Tuesday night Fox pushed back on the idea that Murdoch’s status at Fox News had been concealed.
“Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of FOX News in our SEC filings since 2019 and this filing was referenced by Dominion’s own attorney during his deposition,” Fox said in the statement.
“Now the question becomes, ‘What do I do with attorneys that aren’t straightforward with me?'” Judge Davis said. “That’s the next question.”
