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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul granted a full pardon to a Dominican immigrant convicted of felony assault, a move that eliminated the conviction underlying his removal proceedings and brought an abrupt end to a major Supreme Court case over whether certain noncitizens held for extended periods are constitutionally entitled to bond hearings.

The case centered on Keisy Guerrero Mariano, identified in Supreme Court filings as Keisy G.M., a lawfully present Dominican citizen whose case had become the vehicle for resolving a broader dispute over the federal government’s authority to detain certain noncitizens without bond while removal proceedings are pending.

Mariano pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in New York in 2015 and served time for the offense. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him in 2020, with the aggravated-felony conviction serving as the basis for removal proceedings and mandatory immigration detention.

Mariano remained in ICE custody for nearly two years before being released in 2022 under a nationwide injunction connected to health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before that release, U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan of the Southern District of New York rejected Mariano’s habeas petition in November 2021.

The legal landscape changed in May 2024, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling and concluded that the government must provide noncitizens with a bond hearing when their detention becomes “unreasonably long.” The appeals court held that failing to provide such a hearing would violate the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

The Trump administration appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, arguing against the Second Circuit’s conclusion that the Constitution requires bond hearings in such circumstances. Under federal law, certain noncitizens convicted of specified crimes are subject to mandatory detention while removal proceedings are underway.

The Supreme Court agreed in June to hear the dispute. The case initially involved both Mariano and Carol Williams Black, a Jamaican national who had also challenged his prolonged detention.

Black’s portion of the dispute became moot after he left the United States and submitted a declaration stating that he did not intend to return. That left Mariano’s case as the vehicle through which the justices were expected to decide the constitutional question.

Then, in late August, Hochul granted Mariano a full and unconditional pardon for the aggravated-felony conviction at the center of his immigration case.

The timing immediately changed the Supreme Court litigation. According to Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the pardon came three calendar days before Mariano’s merits brief was due at the Supreme Court.

Because the assault conviction was the basis for Mariano’s pending removal proceedings and the government’s argument that he was subject to mandatory detention, the pardon meant he would no longer be subject to that detention on those grounds, the Solicitor General told the Court.

As a result, both sides agreed that Mariano’s habeas case had become moot.

The parties filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the Supreme Court case on September 11, and the Court’s official docket records that the case was dismissed that day under Supreme Court Rule 46.

The development means the Supreme Court will not use Mariano’s case to decide whether the Second Circuit was correct in holding that prolonged mandatory immigration detention can trigger a constitutional right to a bond hearing.

The Trump administration, however, has made clear that it intends to continue challenging the Second Circuit precedent.

Sauer informed the Supreme Court that the administration would look for another case — an “alternative vehicle” — that could allow the justices to resolve the same legal questions during the Court’s 2026-27 term.

Hochul’s pardon drew criticism from Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who questioned the governor’s decision to erase the conviction while the Supreme Court litigation was pending.

“I wonder how many non-American felons Governors like Hochul will choose to fully pardon and free to avoid them facing consequences for their actions,” Wessan added.

The federal government had considered asking the Supreme Court to vacate the lower-court rulings after Mariano’s case became moot. Sauer said the administration ultimately decided against doing so, reasoning that vacating those decisions would not resolve conflicting rulings among the federal appeals courts and could delay another suitable case from reaching the Supreme Court.

Instead, the Second Circuit’s ruling remains in place while the administration searches for another case through which it can ask the Supreme Court to decide the broader constitutional dispute.

The episode therefore ended Mariano’s particular Supreme Court battle without resolving the underlying question that brought the case before the justices: when, if ever, the Constitution requires the federal government to provide a bond hearing to a noncitizen who would otherwise be subject to mandatory immigration detention for an extended period.

SAN FRANCISCO — A driverless Waymo taxi pulled itself over in San Francisco and alerted authorities after the company detected a firearm inside the vehicle, leading police to arrest two juveniles and recover what authorities described as a loaded, AR-style “ghost gun.”

The unusual incident unfolded shortly before 4 a.m. on September 3 in San Francisco’s Richmond District, offering a striking example of how autonomous taxi companies can remotely respond to activity taking place inside their driverless vehicles.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Waymo confirmed that its systems detected what a company spokesperson described as a “violation of our terms of service involving a firearm.” The vehicle was then brought to a stop, emergency services were contacted, and the company “cooperated fully” with the San Francisco Police Department.

Police said they received a report involving two passengers traveling in an autonomous vehicle with a firearm. Officers responded to the location and carried out what the department described as a “high-risk vehicle stop.”

Inside the driverless taxi were two juveniles, a boy and a girl. Officers detained both passengers before searching the vehicle.

During that search, police said they recovered a loaded AR-style firearm that authorities characterized as a ghost gun, a term generally used for privately assembled firearms that lack standard identifying markings or serial numbers. Officers also allegedly recovered suspected marijuana and mace spray.

Both juveniles were taken into custody and transported to juvenile hall. Their identities were not released because of their ages.

Police said the investigation remains “open and active.”

The episode raises an unusual aspect of the growing use of robotaxis: although there is no human driver sitting behind the wheel, passengers should not assume that activity inside an autonomous vehicle necessarily goes unnoticed.

Waymo’s rider policies prohibit weapons inside its vehicles, and the company has systems in place to respond when prohibited or potentially dangerous behavior is detected.

In this case, the company said the firearm triggered its response procedures, ultimately resulting in the vehicle stopping and authorities being notified.

The September 3 encounter was also not the first time Waymo has intervened because of alleged misconduct by passengers.

In July, the company contacted police in San Mateo after two teenagers were reportedly drinking alcohol and shooting toy guns from the back of one of its vehicles. Authorities said Waymo responded by stopping the vehicle, after which police became involved.

Waymo began in 2009 as Google’s self-driving vehicle project and was spun off into a separate company under Google parent Alphabet in 2016. Its autonomous vehicles have since become an increasingly common sight in cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The company has continued rapidly expanding its robotaxi operations. This month, Waymo launched paid service in San Diego, Denver and Tampa, and it recently received authorization from California regulators to expand into additional areas including Sacramento and communities in Orange and Riverside counties.

As Waymo’s driverless vehicles have become more commonplace, they have also been involved in a number of unusual incidents.

In July, for example, a shirtless man in East Hollywood was recorded standing on top of a Waymo vehicle and dismantling parts of the car. In another incident in downtown Los Angeles in 2025, authorities arrested a man who allegedly attempted to get behind the wheel of a Waymo and drive it himself.

The latest incident, however, presented a different scenario: the alleged danger was not outside the autonomous vehicle but sitting inside it.

With no human driver present to observe the passengers or call police, Waymo itself detected the alleged firearm violation, stopped the ride and contacted emergency services — culminating in the arrest of both juvenile passengers and the recovery of the loaded weapon.

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White House border czar Tom Homan said there are no plans for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct sweeps at polling locations during November’s midterm elections, rejecting concerns that federal immigration officers could be deployed broadly to voting sites.

“There’s no plan to sweep polling locations,” Homan said, according to the Washington Examiner.

His comments came amid growing concern among Democratic officials and voting-rights organizations that the presence of immigration agents or other federal officers near polling places could intimidate voters or discourage some people from casting ballots.

Democratic organizations and activist groups have responded by launching an initiative called the “New Battlefield Project,” which is seeking to recruit 10,000 volunteers to monitor polling locations and prepare for the possibility of federal officers appearing at voting sites.

Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, accused the administration of using concerns about noncitizen voting and possible immigration enforcement to frighten Latino voters.

“This administration is basically using the rhetoric that undocumented citizens are voting and that they’re going to have DHS and ICE at the polls to try to intimidate and suppress the Latino vote,” Proaño told the AP.

The Trump administration has denied that it intends to send ICE agents on widespread enforcement operations at polling locations. Homan said he had not seen operational plans or discussions concerning immigration enforcement at voting sites.

His latest remarks represent the administration’s clearest assurance that ICE is not preparing a coordinated operation to search polling places for noncitizens during the November elections.

The controversy has emerged as part of a much broader political and legal fight over election procedures ahead of the midterms, with Democrats and voting-rights organizations challenging several Trump administration initiatives that they say could make voting more difficult. The administration maintains that its policies are aimed at safeguarding election integrity.

Among the measures drawing scrutiny are President Donald Trump’s efforts to change federal election procedures, including new rules affecting mail voting and stronger mechanisms for verifying U.S. citizenship.

Trump signed an executive order in March directing federal agencies to strengthen citizenship verification in federal elections and make changes involving mail and absentee voting.

Among other provisions, the administration sought greater federal access to information that could be used to verify citizenship and backed Postal Service regulations that would require states to submit information about mail voters through a federal portal and comply with new requirements for ballot envelopes.

Administration officials have maintained that the changes are intended to strengthen election security and help ensure that only eligible U.S. citizens participate in federal elections.

Trump has also repeatedly urged Congress to approve the SAVE America Act, legislation that would impose documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration in federal elections. The White House has presented the proposal as another election-integrity measure.

The administration’s effort to impose new requirements on mail ballots has faced a series of court challenges.

On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, became the second federal judge to block the Postal Service regulations. Nichols concluded that Congress gave the Postal Service authority to deliver mail, but not to require states to enroll mail voters in a federal system or refuse ballots that failed to comply with the agency’s new standards.

The rules would have required states to provide information about mail voters and obtain approval for ballot-envelope designs, with the Postal Service potentially refusing to deliver ballots that failed to satisfy the requirements. The administration sought Supreme Court intervention after an earlier injunction was issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani.

Voting-rights organizations and Democratic officials have argued that imposing the requirements so close to the election could prevent otherwise valid ballots from being delivered or counted. The administration has argued that the regulations are lawful safeguards and would not override state election laws or prevent eligible voters from casting ballots.

The disputes over mail voting and citizenship verification have become part of the larger partisan battle over the administration’s election policies, with Democrats warning that the changes could discourage participation and the administration insisting that its objective is to protect the integrity of federal elections.

Homan’s statement addressed one particularly contentious aspect of that debate: He said ICE is not planning widespread immigration-enforcement operations at polling locations during the November midterms.

“There’s no plan to sweep polling locations,” Homan said.

Twenty Chabad rabbis from across the United States recently took part in an intensive five-day security program in Los Angeles that combined firearms instruction, emergency medical training and threat-response preparation, as Jewish communities contend with continuing security concerns ahead of the Yomim Tovim, the NY Post reports.

The pilot program was organized by Magen Am USA, a Los Angeles-based Jewish security organization, and drew participants from 12 states. The goal was not simply to teach rabbanim how to use firearms, organizers said, but to give Jewish communal leaders the knowledge and training needed to respond responsibly to emergencies at shuls and within their communities.

Held in August, the program brought together firearms training, emergency medicine and broader security instruction. It took place amid heightened concern over threats and attacks directed at Jewish institutions in California and across the country.

For Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, founder of Magen Am, simply encouraging more Jewish community members to carry weapons without adequate preparation is not the answer.

“Lots of people, lots of guns, little training,” Eilfort told the California Post. “That can be bad for the community.”

Magen Am operates both as a registered nonprofit organization and a California-licensed security company. Its stated mission is to help Jewish communities create and train their own security teams and improve preparedness at communal institutions.

The program comes against the backdrop of thousands of reported antisemitic incidents around the country. The Anti-Defamation League recorded 6,274 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism nationwide in 2025.

California accounted for 817 of those incidents, the second-highest total of any state, while 419 were recorded in the Los Angeles area. Although Los Angeles saw an overall decline from 532 incidents in 2024, the number of assaults rose 22%, reaching what the ADL said was a record high for the region.

Eilfort said Magen Am works with members of Jewish communities, law enforcement agencies and government officials to develop effective security systems. The organization also provides firearms education to the broader public.

The idea for a program specifically geared toward rabbanim emerged after Jewish religious leaders increasingly began contacting Eilfort with questions about firearms and protecting their shuls.

“We’re visibly Jewish and we walk down the street and dozens of rabbis have people yell things at them,” Eilfort said, adding that rabbis have increasingly been targeted with hate speech and protests.

An anonymous donor agreed to finance the pilot program, allowing all of the participating rabbanim to attend without paying for the training.

Interest quickly exceeded the number of available places. Magen Am said 37 rabbis applied for the 20 spots in the inaugural program.

Organizers selected participants based in part on the security challenges confronting their respective communities and the protections already available to them. Their firearms experience varied considerably. Some had never touched a gun, others owned firearms but were uncomfortable carrying them, and still others were experienced gun owners seeking more advanced instruction.

Participants traveled to Los Angeles from Alaska, Montana, Arizona, Florida, New York, Missouri and other states. California rabbanim came from communities ranging from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

The five-day program began in the morning and continued through the evening, with Magen Am providing meals and accommodations in addition to the training.

Instruction covered responsible firearm ownership, recognizing potentially dangerous situations, emergency medicine and working effectively with law enforcement.

Eilfort declined to identify the specific law enforcement agency that participated in the training.

The rabbanim were also taught how to file suspicious-activity reports and how such information is processed by fusion centers that collect and analyze potential security threats.

“It’s not all about the gun,” Eilfort said. “It’s all about community safety.”

The instructors were themselves members of the Jewish community, including some with backgrounds in the Israel Defense Forces. Eilfort, who is a rabbi, is also a licensed and certified firearms instructor and previously competed as an MMA fighter.

“I’m not a security professional who found the Jewish community,” he said. “I’m a Jewish community member who realized we need more security in our community.”

Eilfort stressed that possessing a firearm is only one component of a comprehensive approach to security.

He said responsible gun ownership must include safe storage, proper insurance, proficiency, licensing and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. He also rejected any suggestion that Magen Am was encouraging community members to act as vigilantes.

“I’m not calling for vigilantism,” he said. “I believe in doing things right.”

One Los Angeles rabbi who participated in the program said the organizers compressed material that would ordinarily require weeks or even months of instruction into five intensive days.

The rabbi, who requested anonymity, said each morning began with davening and breakfast, after which the participants moved into classroom sessions or firearms training at the shooting range.

The daily schedule combined their regular religious routine with intensive security preparation. Among the medical skills taught was how to control severe bleeding during an emergency.

On the firing range, the rabbanim learned proper and safe firearm handling, how to holster and draw a weapon, how to aim and how to react to various emergency scenarios. They were also instructed in responding safely when a firearm malfunctions, the participant said.

“Every day they were building on the previous day’s learning,” he added.

For the Los Angeles rabbi, the experience represented an especially significant step: He had never fired a gun before attending the program.

“Some participants were very good,” he said. “They wanted to become excellent. And then there was someone like me that never touched a gun.”

As the course progressed, the participants advanced from basic classroom and range instruction to what the rabbi described as “FBI-style,” practical exercises at an indoor shooting facility. The final stages were intended to test accuracy and the participants’ overall proficiency with a firearm.

“It was a high level of being accurate and to know what you’re doing with a firearm,” the rabbi said.

The strong response to the pilot suggested that demand for similar training extends well beyond the original group. After the five-day program concluded, additional rabbanim sought admission, and Eilfort said approximately 40 people were placed on a waiting list.

Magen Am is now seeking additional financial backing that could allow it to conduct another four to six rabbinic programs next year. Organizers hope the initiative could eventually expand to 10 to 12 sessions the following year.

The organization has also been broadening its overall Jewish community security operations, including establishing a new security team in San Diego.

Even after completing the intensive program, however, some of the participating rabbanim are still weighing whether carrying a firearm should become part of their personal approach to protecting their communities.

The Los Angeles rabbi said graduating from the course did not mean that he had decided to begin carrying a weapon. He is continuing to consider whether owning a firearm is appropriate for him and intends to receive additional training before reaching a decision.

“I’m still in the journey with it,” he said. “My biggest takeaway is now I know how to use a firearm. God forbid, if it’s a case of an emergency, as a rabbi, I’m prepared.”

The rabbi said the issue also raised questions for him about the responsibilities imposed by Jewish law and whether carrying a weapon could be appropriate as part of those obligations.

Ultimately, he said, the Torah’s emphasis on preserving human life provides an important consideration when confronting a genuine life-threatening emergency.

“If it’s a matter of life and death, you have to do all that you can to save a life,” he said. “So this could save a life.”

Despite the extensive preparation, the rabbi said his greatest hope is that he and the other participants will never encounter a situation in which they need to put their new training into practice.

“If we would all be able to get along and respect each other’s differences, that will really make a community and a city and a country so beautiful,” he said.

A prominent bais din in Bnei Brak has issued an unusually forceful psak targeting the widespread practice of private transportation drivers using their cellphones while driving, warning that distracted driving constitutes a genuine danger to life and that repeat offenders could ultimately face efforts to have their licenses revoked.

The ruling, issued by the Bais Din Tzedek of Bnei Brak, was signed by leading dayanim Rav Sariel Rosenberg, Rav Yehuda Silman and Rav Yitzchok Mordechai Hakohen Rubin.

The dayanim focused particularly on the growing network of private transportation drivers commonly known as “drivers,” many of whom rely on WhatsApp groups and other cellphone communications to receive and accept rides throughout the day.

Because of the competitive nature of the business, drivers may feel pressure to constantly monitor their phones, respond to messages and secure new fares even while transporting passengers. The dayanim ruled unequivocally that concerns over parnassah cannot justify putting passengers or others on the road at risk.

“One who is lenient regarding road safety may come to transgress the severe sin of actual bloodshed,” the psak states.

The ruling specifically addresses drivers who dial numbers, write or read messages, or otherwise occupy themselves with their phones while driving, thereby diverting their eyes and attention from the road.

The dayanim based their ruling on the Torah obligation of “V’nishmartem me’od l’nafshoseichem” — to carefully guard one’s life — explaining that this obligation includes both avoiding injury to others and protecting oneself from harm.

Because driving inherently carries potential danger, the letter states, every driver bears an absolute responsibility to operate his vehicle carefully, obey established traffic and safety regulations, and refrain from conduct that could endanger others.

The dayanim further write that maintaining safe roads and removing hazards is among the responsibilities of the community. In earlier eras, when batei din possessed broader communal enforcement powers, they note, local dayanim themselves would have enacted regulations designed to eliminate even the possibility of danger on the roads.

Because matters of life and death are involved, and chamira sakanta mei’issura — danger is treated even more stringently than a matter of prohibition — the bais din says such regulations would have been enforced in the strictest possible manner, with penalties imposed against reckless drivers.

The letter also cites a statement attributed to the Steipler Gaon, Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky zt”l, that if a Sanhedrin existed in contemporary times, the majority of drivers would be disqualified from driving because they fail to exercise sufficient caution on the roads.

Turning specifically to the current problem, the dayanim write that it has become increasingly common for transportation drivers, as well as other motorists, to engage in dialing, writing and talking on their phones while driving.

Such conduct, they write, distracts drivers from hazards that can arise without warning and places their passengers in danger.

The bais din says the community must find ways to eradicate the practice, invoking the Torah’s words, “Yadeinu lo shafchu es hadam hazeh” — “Our hands did not spill this blood.”

The letter cites earlier Gedolei Hador who ruled that the public roadway belongs to the public and that every individual therefore has an obligation to use it in a manner that does not cause harm to others.

Accordingly, the dayanim write that appropriate measures may be taken proactively to eliminate dangers before tragedy strikes.

The most striking portion of the ruling addresses what a passenger or other individual should do upon witnessing dangerous driving.

“Therefore, it is our opinion that any person who sees any driver, even a relative or acquaintance, driving in a manner that endangers the public or an individual, must warn and admonish him. If he does not cease his actions, he should ask a chacham what may be done to bring about the revocation of his license and ensure that he is held accountable for his actions,” the dayanim write.

Significantly, the ruling does not instruct witnesses to automatically report every offender to the authorities. Rather, after warning a driver who is endangering others, if the conduct continues, the individual should consult a chacham regarding what steps are permissible to take in order to have the driver’s license revoked.

The dayanim conclude with a bracha for those who conduct themselves properly on the roads, writing that they should be blessed from Shomayim to be spared from harm and destructive forces and to reach their destinations “for life, joy and peace.”

The ruling comes as the informal “drivers” industry has received increasing attention in Israel in recent months. Tax authorities recently arrested a Beit Shemesh resident suspected of operating an unauthorized taxi service, while police have also carried out enforcement efforts against drivers accused of transporting passengers for payment without the required licensing.

Meanwhile, proposed legislation intended to regulate Israel’s private transportation market, commonly referred to as the “Uber Law,” has stalled amid disagreements over a proposed compensation mechanism for traditional taxi drivers.