The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 2-1 against Maryland parents who sued their local school board for not letting their children in grades K-5 opt out of reading books supporting transgender ideology and gender transitioning. The Montgomery County Public Schools board denied the parents their request to be notified when the books would be read to their children and the opportunity to opt out. “The Board is violating the parents’ inalienable and constitutionally protected right to control the religious upbringing of their children, especially on sensitive issues concerning family life and human sexuality,” The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, litigated the lawsuit, stated, explaining: In fall 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education announced over 20 new “inclusivity” books for its pre-K through eighth grade classrooms. But rather than focusing on basic civility and kindness, these books champion pride parades, gender transitioning, and pronoun preferences for children. For example, one book tasks three- and four-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “[drag] queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker. Another encourages fifth graders to discuss what it means to be “non-binary.” Other books advocate a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to “make sense” and that doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex anyway. A district court ruled against the parents, prompting them to appeal to the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the parents’ request for a preliminary injunction but allowed the possibility of changing its position once the classes have already been taught, writing: We take no view on whether the Parents will be able to present evidence sufficient to support any of their various theories once they have the opportunity to develop a record as to the circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision and how the challenged texts are actually being used in schools. At this early stage, however, given the Parents’ broad claims, the very high burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the scant record before us, we are constrained to affirm the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Judge Marvin Quattlebaum dissented, writing, “I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the parents have not produced enough evidence to establish that their free exercised rights have been burdened. The parents have met their burden. They have produced the books that no one disputes will be used to instruct their K-5 children. They produced declarations explaining in detail why the books conflict with their religious beliefs. They have produced the board’s own internal documents that show how it suggests teachers respond to students and parents who question the contents of the books.”

Authorities in Ventura County, California, were tipped off last week to a suspected sex trafficker and rapist when a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly smuggled into the U.S. by the Mexican national texted 911 from the house she was being held in. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday that “In the early morning hours of May 9th, deputies working the Ojai Sheriff’s Sub-Station rescued a female human trafficking victim who had text[ed] ‘911’ to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Communication Center.” The young girl doesn’t speak English and could only provide details about the landmarks surrounding the house, but officers translated the texts into English and pieced together the clues given by the 17-year-old. Despite the limited information, deputies found the victim in just 20 minutes. “Simultaneously as the call taker was engaging with the victim, other members of the communications center team were successful in giving real time information to deputies responding to the search. After about twenty minutes of searching the area of Casitas Springs, the victim was found by deputies,” the sheriff’s office added. After she was rescued, the girl gave more information to deputies, which helped them identify and track down the suspect, Gerardo Cruz. The suspect was arrested and booked on multiple charges, including Human Trafficking, Forcible Rape, Lewd Acts Upon a Child, Luring, and Sexual Penetration with Force, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. Cruz’s bail was set at $500,000. Following a preliminary investigation, authorities said that the teenage victim was trafficked into California from Mexico around two months ago. The southern border crisis that has exploded under President Joe Biden has opened the door for human traffickers to take advantage of loose U.S. laws to boost their exploitative enterprise. Authorities encouraged people to contact law enforcement immediately if they know a human trafficking victim or suspect that someone is running a human trafficking operation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “Human trafficking affects all of us. Thousands of people are trafficked each year into the United States and forced into sex and labor markets,” the sheriff’s office said. “Most victims are forced into mounting debt and quarantined from contact with family and friends.”

A Wyoming woman who claimed a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting died after falling down the stairs has been convicted of the child’s murder. Cheri Marler, 53, was convicted of first-degree murder and child abuse on May 10, the Cowboy State Daily reported. The jury took less than 5 hours to return the guilty verdict. “There isn’t a winner or loser today. Families lives have been changed forever on both sides,” Kemmerer City Police Chief Michael Kahre told the outlet after the verdict was read. “The justice system worked like it is supposed to. I would be lying if I said I was not pleased with today’s verdict. Unfortunately nothing will bring Annabelle back. She is gone. Today’s verdict however brings us justice for her. I am grateful to everyone who did their part to make this trial a success.” Marler had been babysitting 5-year-old Annabelle Noles and her sister for several weeks when, on November 25, 2022, she called 911 around 3:40 p.m. and reported an unresponsive child, the Star Valley Independent reported. First responders arrived and provided life-saving measures for the girl before she was taken to a local hospital, where she died the next morning as a result of her injuries. Marler was arrested shortly after Noles died, and told the Kemmerer, Wyoming, police chief that she had slapped and hit the young girl up to 10 times by “clapping” her hands on either side of the girl’s head, the State Daily reported after reviewing an affidavit in the case. Marler explained to the police chief how she clapped her hands with Noles’ “head in the middle.” After the attack, Marler said Noles went to lie down, and the babysitter found her unconscious. Marler also admitted to police that she had beaten Noles with kitchen utensils the day before the clapping attack. “Eventually, she succumbed to these fatal injuries. Her deep brain injury was a result of blunt force trauma, not just contact injuries,” Dr. Ruiz-Maldonado testified at Marler’s trial, the Uinta County Herald reported. Marler denied harming Noles when she took the stand in her own defense. In its closing arguments, the defense argued that it had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Marler had caused the death of Noles. The defense stuck to the claim that the girl had fallen down the stairs, with those injuries causing her death. Noles had a broken back, bleeding in the brain, and had cuts and bruises from new and previous injuries, a doctor testified at her trial. The defense argued that Noles’ mother was the possible cause of the abuse, as she had a history of drug abuse and had multiple drug charges. Ultimately, the jury sided with prosecutors and found Marler guilty. She faces up to life in prison without parole or even the death penalty, along with up to 10 years in prison for the child abuse charge. Her sentencing date has not been set.

Kevin Bacon and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, have happily been together since 1988. As actors, they’re both very familiar with the hectic work schedule that comes along with this profession. This includes, of course, lots of time spent in their trailers in between filming scenes. So much time is spent here, in fact, that many actors take the time to make their trailers feel like a second home. Luckily for Bacon, his crew took it upon themselves to go ahead and do that for him — in the form of the best wholesome prank. In a video on social media, Bacon reveals that he was welcomed by quite a surprise. Amidst all of the items and features you’d expect to find in a trailer like this one, there were also several photos of his wife, Sedgwick. Some of these photos are of her alone while others showcase the adorable couple together. Now, any time Bacon is missing his wife, he can admire one of these strategically placed photos. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kevin Bacon (@kevinbacon) “They must really think I like Kyra Sedgwick,” Bacon playfully says at the end of the video. Fans of this sweet couple are loving this wholesome prank almost as much as Bacon himself. Though, the best comment in reply to this video has to be from Sedgwick herself. In it, she poses a very important question to her husband of 35 years. Instagram Crew Pulls Off the Best Wholesome Prank Ever in Kevin Bacon’s Trailer “You’ve been Kyra’d!!” someone cleverly adds in the comments. “It’s a good thing you’re an actor and not a cinematographer. Loll,” a fan jokingly admits. “The two of you are the best couple ever though!” “I absolutely love how much you love each other! It makes my heart so happy,” another fan shares. “You are a beautiful couple!” You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Kevin Bacon Opens Trailer To Find Adorably Wholesome Prank On Set appeared first on InspireMore.

'Working to get tents off our streets'

'Insufficient internal controls for verifying data'