NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein has been moved to a New York City hospital after a judge approved the ailing ex-studio boss’s request to stay there rather than in jail when he’s not in court for his #MeToo retrial.

Judge Paul Goetz late Thursday ordered that Weinstein be immediately relocated from the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex to the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan so he can receive necessary medical treatment.

Weinstein’s lawyers lobbied for the move as jury selection got underway this week.

They argued in court papers that being locked up in a sometimes freezing jail cell was exacerbating the Oscar-winning producer’s health issues, which include chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and walking difficulties that require a wheelchair to get in and out of court.

Goetz’s order will remain in effect at least until next Thursday, when he is set to hold a hearing to discuss the matter further.

A different judge, Curtis Farber, is presiding over Weinstein’s retrial. The case will resume Monday with more jury selection after nine jurors were picked this week. In all, 12 jurors and six alternates need to be seated.

Weinstein is being tried again on rape and sexual assault charges after New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, last year overturned his 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial, finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted the original one.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.

Weinstein has been back and forth numerous times to Bellevue in recent months for treatment of various maladies. At a pretrial hearing in January, he railed against his treatment at Rikers, telling Farber he wanted to “get out of this hellhole as quickly as possible.”

Weinstein’s lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City last November, alleging he was receiving substandard medical treatment in unhygienic conditions at Rikers. The claim, which seeks $5 million in damages, argues that Weinstein has been returned to Rikers each time before fully recovering at the hospital.

The troubled jail complex has faced growing scrutiny for its mistreatment of detainees and dangerous conditions. Last year, a federal judge cleared the way for a possible federal takeover, finding the city had placed inmates in “unconstitutional danger.”

NEW YORK — Five years after Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and hauled to jail in handcuffs, the former movie mogul returns to a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday for a new trial covering the very same allegations — plus one that hasn’t been tried before.

It isn’t double jeopardy, but rather a legal redo after a New York appeals court overturned the landmark #MeToo verdict a year ago.

The state’s Court of Appeals threw out Weinstein’s convictions and 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial after finding that the original one was tilted by “egregious” judicial rulings and prejudicial testimony.

Jury selection could take a few days. Opening statements and the start of testimony are expected next week. Judge Curtis Farber said that in addition to 12 jurors, six alternates will be picked. Prosecutors expect the retrial to last a month.

Here’s what you need to know about Weinstein’s retrial:

In some ways, the new trial will be two trials spliced into one.

Weinstein, 73, faces charges involving two women from his original trial in 2020, Jessica Mann and Miriam Haley, and he’s being tried for the first time on an allegation from a woman who wasn’t in the first case.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone. Prosecutors are not allowed to retry Weinstein on certain counts that he was acquitted of during his first trial, including charges of predatory sexual assault and one count of first-degree rape.

The judicial reboot will play out in a different climate than Weinstein’s first trial, which drew intense media attention and saw protesters chanting “rapist” outside the courthouse.

The #MeToo movement, spawned by scores of allegations in 2017 against the ex-studio boss, has evolved and ebbed over time, and Weinstein has since been convicted in a separate rape case in Los Angeles — a verdict he is also appealing.

While some stars are still facing a legal reckoning for alleged sexual misconduct – like Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is set to go to trial next month – the drumbeat of allegations against powerful figures has abated from #MeToo’s early days.

Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial: one count of criminal sex act for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and one count of third-degree rape for allegedly assaulting an aspiring actor in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.

Haley, a former production assistant on the Weinstein-produced “Project Runway,” testified at the 2020 trial that he pushed her onto a bed at his Manhattan apartment in June 2006 and forced oral sex on her, undeterred by her kicks and pleas of, “No, please don’t do this, I don’t want it.”

Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, acknowledged that she kept in touch with Weinstein, exchanged warm messages with him, and accepted an invitation to his hotel room two weeks after the alleged assault, where he pulled her into bed for sex. Under New York law applicable at the time, Weinstein has not being charged with rape in connection with Haley’s allegations.

Mann, who said she saw Weinstein as a “pseudo father” figure as she pursued an acting career after a rough upbringing, testified at the 2020 trial that he trapped her in a hotel room in March 2013, ordered her to undress as he loomed over her, and then raped her. She alleges that Weinstein raped her again eight months later at a Beverly Hills hotel, where she worked as a hairdresser.

Mann also kept in touch with Weinstein after the alleged assault, testifying that she sent him flattering emails, because “his ego was so fragile,” she said, and it “made me feel safe, worshipping him in this sense.”

In addition to Haley and Mann, Weinstein is also charged with one count of criminal sex act for allegedly forcing oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.

That woman, who was not part of Weinstein’s first trial, has not been named publicly. The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann have done.

Prosecutors said that the woman came forward to them just days before the start of Weinstein’s first trial but was not part of that case. They said they did not pursue the women’s allegations after Weinstein’s conviction, but revisited them and secured a new indictment after the first verdict was thrown out.

Weinstein’s lawyers contend that prosecutors shouldn’t have waited nearly five years to bring the additional charge.

New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, threw out Weinstein’s conviction in April 2024.

In a 4-3 decision, the court said then-Judge James Burke had denied Weinstein a fully fair trial by letting three women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case and his decision to let prosecutors confront Weinstein, if he had testified, over his history of brutish behavior.

The court labeled the allegations against Weinstein “appalling, shameful, repulsive conduct” but warned that “destroying a defendant’s character under the guise of prosecutorial need” did not justify some trial evidence and testimony. Burke’s term expired at the end of 2022, and he is no longer a judge.

In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Judge Madeline Singas wrote that her colleagues in the majority were continuing a “disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.”

The ruling came at “the expense and safety of women,” she wrote.

CHICAGO — A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts among federal contractors and grant recipients.

Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois halted the Labor Department from requiring federal contractors or grant recipients from certifying that they don’t operate any programs in violation of Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.

That certification provision has stepped up pressure on companies and other organizations to revisit their DEI practices because if the government were to determine they violated the provision, they would be subject to crippling financial penalties under the False Claims Act.

Thursday’s ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit founded in 1981 that helps prepare women for work in skilled construction trades and has several contracts with the Department of Labor. There was no immediate reaction from Chicago Women in Trades to Kennelly’s order. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A hearing on Chicago Women in Trades’ bid for a longer-lasting halt on Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders is scheduled for April 10.

The organization’s lawsuit is one of several challenging Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs in both the private and public sectors.

Trump signed an order his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all “equity-related” grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order that included a requirement that federal contractors and grantees certify that they don’t “operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”

Kennelly’s decision comes nearly two weeks after an appeals court lifted a broader nationwide injunction against Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders in a separate lawsuit in Baltimore. But Thursday’s ruling is limited in scope because Kennelly declined to extend the temporary restraining order to other federal agencies.

Chicago Women in Trades, which filed its case against the Trump administration last month, argued that the president’s executive orders on DEI are so broad and vague that the organization had no way to ensure compliance, and thus they threaten its core mission.

Kennelly wrote that Chicago Women in Trades, which is being represented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, was likely to succeed in its arguments that parts of the executive orders are a violation of free speech rights and are unconstitutionally vague.

Although the government argued that the certification provision “implicates only illegal DEI programs, it has studiously declined to shed any light on what this means. The answer is anything but obvious,” Kennelly wrote.

Kennelly wrote that he extended his order to all Labor Department contractors and grant recipients because the vagueness of Trump’s executive orders, coupled with the threat of financial penalties, would likely pressure organizations to curb DEI programs in potential violation of free speech rights.

Rather than face potentially crippling penalties, “it is likely that many of these grantees will take the safer route and choose to simply stop speaking on anything remotely related to what the government might consider to promote DEI or equity. A nationwide restraining order is appropriate to protect grantees who cannot afford the risks inherent in biting the hand that feeds them,” Kennelly wrote.

The judge also blocked the DOL from freezing or canceling any funding with Chicago Women in Trades, and the Trump administration from pursuing any False Claims Act enforcement against them.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the Trump administration argued that Chicago Women in Trades’ motion for relief was premature because its arguments rely on speculation as to how the executive orders will be implemented.

But Chicago Women in Trades noted in court filings that it has multiple communications from the Department of Labor directing them to ensure compliance with both DEI executive orders. The organization also said in court and has already lost a subcontract with a contractor trying to comply with the executive order.

Chicago Women in Trades has a long history of partnering with companies, state and federal agencies and other industry stakeholders to provide guidance and training on best practices for recruiting and retaining women in the trades — including training to combat bias and harassment that is prevalent in one of the country’s most male-dominated industries.

Its grant work with the federal government dates back years, including two grants awarded under the first Trump administration under the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations, which aims to expand pathways for women seeking to enter skilled trades.

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The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A member of a South African research team that is confined for more than a year at an isolated Antarctica base was put under psychological evaluation there after he allegedly assaulted and sexually harassed colleagues, government officials said.

The problems at the SANAE IV base were first reported by South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper, which said it had seen an email from a team member to authorities last month claiming the man had attacked the base leader and made threats.

The email pleaded for help.

“His behavior has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing,” the email said, according to The Sunday Times. “I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim.” The report said the man allegedly made a death threat.

South Africa’s Ministry of Environment, which oversees the research missions, said in a statement Monday night that the alleged assault on the base leader was reported on Feb. 27, and officials and counselors intervened remotely “to mediate and restore relationships at the base.” They were speaking with team members almost daily, it said.

“The alleged perpetrator has willingly participated in further psychological evaluation, has shown remorse and is willingly cooperative,” the ministry said, adding that he had written a formal apology to the victim of the alleged assault. It said the allegations were being investigated. No one was identified.

The nine-member team, which includes scientists, a doctor and engineers, is expected to stay at the base for about 13 months until next year, authorities said, living in close quarters through the hostile Antarctic winter, whose six months of darkness begin in June.

The base is on a cliff in Queen Maud Land and is surrounded by a glacial ice sheet, more than 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) from South Africa.

The next planned visit by a supply ship is in December, according to the South African National Antarctic Program. It takes the ship around 10 days to travel from Cape Town.

Authorities said they had decided not to evacuate anyone from SANAE IV, where the onset of unpredictable weather conditions meant the team was now confined to the base.

The ministry said all team members had undergone evaluations ahead of the trip to ensure they are able to cope with the “extreme nature of the environment in Antarctica” and the isolation and confinement, and no problems were identified.

“It is not uncommon that once individuals arrive at the extremely remote areas where the scientific bases are located, an initial adjustment to the environment is required,” it said.

Previous problems have been reported at another of South Africa’s remote research bases on Marion Island, a South African territory near Antarctica.

In 2017, a member of a research team there smashed a colleague’s room with an ax over an apparent love triangle, according to a report to South Africa’s Parliament. Lawmakers said it appeared the researchers were living in highly stressful conditions.

The National Science Foundation, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. Antarctic Program, published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women in the U.S. program said they’d experienced harassment or assault while on research trips in Antarctica.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

WASHINGTON — Schools and universities responding to complaints of sexual misconduct must return to policies created during President Donald Trump’s first term, with requirements for live hearings and more protections for accused students, according to new guidance issued Friday by the Education Department.

In a memo to education institutions across the nation, the agency clarified that Title IX, a 1972 law barring discrimination based on sex, will be enforced according to a set of rules created by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The rules govern how complaints of misconduct are investigated and how to settle cases where students present differing accounts.

Colleges already have been returning to DeVos’ 2020 rules in recent weeks since a federal judge in Kentucky overturned the Biden administration’s Title IX rules. The court’s decision effectively ordered a return to the earlier Trump administration rules.

A statement from the Education Department called Biden’s rules an “egregious slight to women and girls.”

“Under the Trump Administration, the Education Department will champion equal opportunity for all Americans, including women and girls, by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges and universities,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.

The Biden administration sought to overhaul the rules and expand Title IX to protect LGBTQ+ students. It expanded the type of behavior that’s considered sexual harassment — a reversal of the DeVos policy, which used a narrower definition.

But a federal judge in Kentucky overturned Biden’s rule on Jan. 9, saying it was a presidential overstep and violated constitutional free speech rights by telling schools to honor students’ preferred pronouns. The judge, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, said there was nothing in Title IX suggesting it should cover anything more than it did when Congress created it.

Even before the decision, Biden’s rule had been halted in half the states amid legal challenges from Republicans.

The full text of the Title IX law is just 37 words long, but the federal government has added rules over the years explaining how it’s interpreted. DeVos’ policy adds 500 pages detailing how schools must address complaints and how the Education Department makes sure schools comply.

Already, the Trump administration has taken a hard turn on its enforcement of Title IX: On Tuesday the Education Department said it opened an investigation into Denver schools after the district converted a girl’s restroom into an all-gender restroom while leaving another bathroom exclusive to boys.

The new memo says even investigations that started when Biden’s rules were in effect “should be immediately reoriented to comport fully with the requirements of the 2020 Title IX Rule.”

DeVos’ rules were welcomed by advocates who said colleges had become too quick to punish students accused of sexual misconduct without a fair trial. But the rules were condemned by victims’ rights groups who said they retraumatized victims and would deter many from reporting assaults.

Among the most controversial changes was a rule requiring colleges to hold live hearings where accused students could cross-examine their accusers through an adviser. The Biden rule eliminated the requirement and made live hearings optional, though some courts had previously upheld an accused student’s right to cross examination.

More broadly, the 2020 policy narrowed the definition of sexual harassment and the scope of cases that schools must address. It also reduced the liability for colleges, holding them responsible only if they acted with “deliberate indifference.”

Trump’s new pick for education secretary is Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally known for building the World Wrestling Entertainment professional wrestling empire with her husband, Vince McMahon. Her Senate confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The state of Alabama urged a federal judge Tuesday to allow the nation’s fourth execution with nitrogen gas to proceed next week, but a doctor who witnessed an earlier execution by the new method told the judge the inmate appeared to be in distress and awake minutes longer than officials predicted.

Alabama has carried out all three of the nation’s executions using the gas and has set a Feb. 6 execution date for Demetrius Terrence Frazier, 52. But attorneys for Frazier, who was convicted of the 1991 rape and murder of a woman in Birmingham, sought the hearing asking the court to intervene.

Frazier’s attorneys urged the judge to block the execution unless the state makes changes to its protocol, such as giving the inmate the same sedative used at the start of lethal injections before the gas begins flowing. Separately Tuesday, Frazier’s mother and death penalty opponents asked Michigan’s governor to bring Frazier back there to finish a life sentence in the state for a separate murder conviction in the killing of a 14-year-old girl. Michigan has no death penalty.

Alabama’s method involves placing a respirator gas mask over the face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen. The state maintained Tuesday that the method brings swift death.

Dylan L. Mauldin, assistant solicitor general for Alabama, called Frazier’s legal maneuver a tactic to delay his execution and said the court should deny his request for a preliminary injunction. Mauldin noted the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled the method unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Frazier, argued that inmates executed with the gas appeared to be conscious for some minutes, instead of the 30 to 40 seconds he said the state predicted.

U.S. District Judge Emily Marks questioned Frazier’s attorney about why she should intervene when the courts have previously let nitrogen executions go forward.

“Something is going wrong. Every inmate who has been executed by nitrogen gas has exhibited signs of consciousness beyond the 40 seconds,” Spencer Hahn, an attorney for Frazier, responded.

Dr. Brian McAlary, an anesthesiologist who witnessed the November execution of Carey Dale Grayson, testified that he observed clear “evidence of distress” in the prisoner. He noted Grayson moved his head back and forth, had rapid eye movements and struggled against his restraints.

McAlary said he believed Grayson’s last voluntary movement occurred after about three minutes when he simultaneously raised both legs and held them in the air before letting them fall down. McAlary said he believed the movement was voluntary because “both legs were moved at exactly the same time, direction and distance.”

The testimony was the first time a medical doctor had testified about observations during a nitrogen execution. The court was previously given news accounts from journalists and the observations of prison staff.

Dr. Joseph Antognini, an anesthesiologist hired by the state as an expert witness, gave competing testimony that such movements did not necessarily indicate Grayson was conscious. Antognini did not witness Grayson’s execution.

“Movement can happen in the absence of pain,” Antognini said. He gave examples of instances when he saw patients move involuntarily during surgery while unconscious. But he acknowledged he had never seen movements like a double leg lift during surgery.

Frazier was in the courtroom throughout, shackled and taking notes in handcuffs on a legal pad.

Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm testified that Grayson was combative at the start of his execution, cursing the warden and raising his middle fingers as he was strapped to the gurney. Hamm testified that he thought Grayson’s head movements were an effort to knock the mask loose.

Frazier’s supporters had also argued he should be in a Michigan prison instead of Alabama’s death row.

Frazier was first convicted in Michigan and sentenced to life in prison for the 1992 murder of a 14-year-old girl. Prosecutors said Frazier while in police custody in Michigan, confessed to raping and shooting Brown in Alabama after stealing about $80 from her purse. He was convicted in Alabama and given the death penalty. The then governors of Alabama and Michigan agreed in 2011 to place him on Alabama’s death row.

Frazier’s attorneys had filed a separate appeal to have him sent to Michigan to finish his life sentence there but dropped the request after Michigan’s attorney general wrote in a court filing that Michigan doesn’t seek his return.

Death penalty opponents and Frazier’s mother made a last-minute plea to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to intervene and request that Frazier be sent back to Michigan.

“Please bring my son back to Michigan. Please don’t let Alabama kill my son if you can stop it,” Carol Frazier wrote in the letter to Whitmer.

Whitmer’s office declined to comment.

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Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti contributed from Lansing, Michigan

PARIS — French Appeal Court prosecutors said an American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” was being extradited Thursday to the United States.

The Appeal Court prosecutors’ office in Metz, in northeastern France, said Ian Cleary was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in Metz after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest. The Appeal Court in Metz ruled in July that he could be extradited.

Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.

The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didn’t return to campus.

The accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.

“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a string of messages.

“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”

“I need to hear your voice.”

“I’ll pray for you.”

According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.

The AP doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.

CONCORD, N.H. — The first of multiple sexual assault trials starts Wednesday for a man whose arrest more than five years ago thrust allegations of widespread abuse at New Hampshire’s state-run youth detention center into the public eye.

Former youth counselor Stephen Murphy, 55, of Danvers, Massachusetts, faces 16 charges involving four boys held at the Youth Development Center in Manchester in the late 1990s. In the current case, he faces one charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault alleging that he raped a boy in a stairwell while several coworkers restrained the teen.

Murphy’s accuser, Michael Gilpatrick, already has testified twice about the allegations — first at a civil trial involving another former youth center resident and again at a criminal trial for Brad Asbury, the man he said held him down. He described Murphy, Asbury and the others as a “hit squad” who regularly terrorized children.

“The four of them used to roll together,” he had testified. “They would literally come over and just go door to door and beat every single one of us, down the line.”

Asbury, 70, was convicted in November of two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault, and prosecutors listed him as a potential witness against Murphy, who has pleaded not guilty.

Murphy and another former employee were arrested in July 2019 and charged with sexually assaulting David Meehan, who later became the first of more than 1,100 former residents who have sued the state alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades.

Murphy’s attorney, Charles Keefe, did not return a phone call Tuesday, but a former attorney said he has denied the allegations involving Meehan and “anything like them regarding anybody no matter who the accuser might be or when it took place.”

Concurrent with Murphy’s arrest, the attorney general’s office launched a broad investigation into the facility, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center. A total of 11 men have been arrested, though charges against one were dropped due to a lack of evidence, another was found incompetent to stand trial and a third died awaiting trial. Murphy is the fourth to go to trial.

In addition to Asbury, Stanley Watson was convicted this week of three counts of aggravated sexual assault against two boys. Another case that ended in a hung jury is expected to be re-tried later this year.

Before his arrest, Murphy worked as a clubhouse attendant for the Boston Red Sox, which suspended him when it learned of the allegations. He took that job in 2007 after working as a special education teacher and assistant high school basketball coach in Massachusetts, according to a 2010 interview with the Lowell Sun.

The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan and Gilpatrick have done. Meehan’s lawsuit is the only civil case to go to trial so far. A jury awarded him $38 million in May, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce the amount to $475,000.

The youth center, which once housed upward of 100 children but now typically serves fewer than a dozen, is named for former Gov. John H. Sununu. Lawmakers have approved closing the facility, which now only houses those accused or convicted of the most serious violent crimes, and replacing it with a much smaller building in a new location.

LOS ANGELES — The new Los Angeles County District Attorney met with the Menendez brothers’ family as he continues to review their bid for freedom 35 years after they were convicted of killing their parents.

Nathan Hochman, who took office in December, said Friday that he had a “productive session” with the family members, who shared their thoughts with him on whether the brothers should be released. The meeting lasted about three hours.

Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty of murdering Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Now in their 50s, they began their bid for freedom in recent years after new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse emerged in their case. Their lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition — a request for a court to examine whether someone is being lawfully detained — in May 2023, asking a judge to consider the evidence.

The brothers have the support of most of their extended family, who have said they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Several family members have said that in today’s world — which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse — the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life.

In October 2024, then-District Attorney George Gascon recommended the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman, who was running against Gascon, called it a “desperate political move.”

“By releasing it now, Gascon has cast a cloud over the fairness and impartiality of his decision,” he said at the time.

A judge delayed the brothers’ resentencing hearing, originally set for early December, to the end of January. Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he needed time to review extensive evidence and give Hochman time to weigh in on the case.

Hochman said Friday he was still reviewing thousands of pages of prison records to “analyze the rehabilitation aspect of resentencing.” Evidence of rehabilitation could include not engaging in illegal activity while in prison, starting organizations that helped other prisoners, and using that time to improve oneself, he said.

At the brothers’ original trials, their defense attorneys argued that they had been sexually abused by their father. Prosecutors denied that and accused them of killing their parents for money. In the years that followed, they repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.

The brothers are being held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

A nonprofit leader who supports at-risk New Orleans youth. A social worker who fosters animals. A counselor and recovery coach who volunteers at organizations that fight sexual assault and domestic violence.

They are among the roughly 1,540 people whose sentences were commuted or who were pardoned by President Joe Biden on Thursday in what was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

But not everyone was pleased by Biden’s decisions. A Republican state senator said a commutation for a woman who stole $54 million from a small town in Illinois was “a slap in the face” to residents.

Here are some of their stories:

Fulton was pardoned after pleading guilty to participating in a payroll fraud scheme while serving as a New Orleans middle school teacher in the early 2000s. She was convicted of a felony and sentenced to three years of probation in 2008.

Fulton, who has two children and works as an elementary school teacher, said that for years she had lived with “a sense of embarrassment and shame” about the felony conviction.

Even though she completed a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2017, Fulton felt that her criminal record disqualified her from applying for principal positions she felt she could handle.

“The conviction has served as a mental barrier for me, limiting my ability to live a full life,” Fulton said.

Nearly a decade after she first applied for a presidential pardon, Fulton this week received a phone call informing her that it had been granted. “It was astonishing for me, I wasn’t expecting a call,” Fulton said, adding that the pardon will enable her to explore more career opportunities.

A White House news release commended Fulton as “someone who goes above and beyond for her community.” For years, Fulton has helped lead a nonprofit supporting at-risk New Orleans youth with hot meals, clothing and shelter and mental health referrals.

Doyle applied for a pardon six years ago. It had been so long that she had all but forgotten about it — until Wednesday.

“I was in shock,” Doyle said of the call she received from a Justice Department pardon attorney. “And honored.”

Doyle, who was once addicted to meth, had pleaded guilty to drug possession and check forging charges when she was 24. She served more than two years in state and federal prison.

Released in 2006, Doyle resolved to stay clean. She started a family, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and now works as a social worker with a behavioral health center.

Doyle applied for a pardon in 2018 and heard nothing until 2020, when the FBI reached out — and the vetting began.

“They talked to my boss, my boss’ boss, they talked to my mother’s boss, they called my doctors,” Doyle said. “Just pretty much anybody that had any type of relationship with me in the past 20 years they contacted.”

After the vetting was over, she would have to wait some more: four years, it turned out.

“I just want people to know that are in the throes of addiction, or families to know that when they have somebody in their family that is addicted, that there is hope,” Doyle said Thursday. “This has just brought so much joy to me and my family and is just the continuation of my recovery.”

She has five children and three grandchildren, volunteers in her community, fosters animals and competes in roller derby.

Crundwell was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison in 2013 for stealing about $54 million over two decades when she was in charge of finances for Dixon, Illinois.

She was released to a halfway house program in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic before moving to home confinement. Biden’s commutation releases Crundwell from any restrictions.

Paul Gaziano, a lawyer who represented Crundwell in federal court, declined to comment Thursday.

Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said he believes most of the town is probably stunned, and maybe even angry, that Biden would provide clemency to Crundwell. Republican state Sen. Andrew Chesney called Biden’s act “nothing short of a slap in the face to the people of Dixon.”

Dixon, best known as the childhood home of President Ronald Reagan, sued auditors and a bank after Crundwell’s theft was revealed and recovered $40 million in settlements.

Crundwell, who was a horse breeder, told a judge in 2020 that more than $15 million was repaid from the sale of her horses and other assets.

“I am going to do everything possible to make up for my mistakes,” she told the judge in a handwritten letter that described various health problems. “I have taken responsibility for my actions since the first day.”

Castroflay was pardoned after pleading guilty to nonviolent, drug-related offenses at age 21, the White House said.

After completing his sentence, Castroflay continued his career in the U.S. Army and went on to work as a civilian for both the Army and the Air Force, receiving multiple awards.

He took night classes to earn a bachelor’s degree while working full-time.

Castroflay volunteers for several charitable organizations that support Gold Star families and wounded service members. He has been described as exceptionally hard-working, dedicated and trustworthy by those who know him.

Faulkner was pardoned after pleading guilty to a nonviolent drug offense and serving her sentence, the White House said.

Since then, Faulkner furthered her education and now works as a counselor and recovery coach with female trauma victims and people with disabilities.

Faulkner also volunteers with organizations dedicated to preventing sexual assault and domestic violence, as well as with local charities.

Colleagues attest to her inspirational character, her integrity and the remarkable impact she makes on the lives of those she helps.

Terence Jackson of Seattle was pardoned after pleading guilty to a nonviolent drug offense he committed when he was 23.

If Jackson had been sentenced under current law and sentencing practices, he probably would have received a shorter sentence, the White House said.

In the years since his release, Jackson has worked in the legal industry and is pursuing a degree while he works full-time.

Jackson has also volunteered, including as a barber to children in need. He is described by those who know him as dependable and caring and as someone who always tries to help others.

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Associated Press writers Jack Brook in New Orleans, Ed White in Detroit, Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Wash., contributed to this report.