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Page Six confirmed on Saturday that Pastore had died at the age of 80.

Page Six confirmed on Saturday that Pastore had died at the age of 80.

Michigan Waves The White Flag On Child 'Conversion Therapy' Ban

Democrat-run Michigan just backed down after threatening therapists who use talk therapy to help children with 'gender dysphoria' accept their biology. 

Alex Brandon / AP

On Thursday, the state agreed to a permanent federal court order barring it from ever enforcing House Bill 4616 - the 2023 law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, that threatened licensed counselors with discipline for engaging in ordinary talk therapy with minors experiencing gender dysphoria. U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering signed off on the stipulated judgment, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the counselors who sued, wasted no time declaring victory according to the Daily Caller.

Interestingly, a year and a half earlier the same judge sided with the state.

Backstory

Whitmer signed HB 4616 and its companion bill in July 2023, making Michigan the 22nd state to bar mental health professionals from what the statute broadly defined as "conversion therapy" for minors - not just efforts to change sexual orientation, but any "efforts to change behavior or gender expression." At the time, Whitmer said Michigan was "banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy" and pitched the law as making the state more welcoming for LGBTQ kids.

Then the law met the constitution... Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties, joined by Lansing therapist Emily McJones of Little Flower Counseling, sued in 2024, arguing the ban was viewpoint discrimination dressed up as medical regulation. Judge Beckering initially sided with the state, denying a preliminary injunction in February 2025. The counselors appealed - and won.

Late last year, the Sixth Circuit reversed her, becoming the first federal appeals court in the country to block a statewide "conversion therapy" ban of this kind. Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote for the majority that the state's theory "faces strong headwinds as applied to counseling that consists solely of spoken words." Judge Rachel Bloomekatz, a Biden appointee, dissented, arguing the ban was likely constitutional because every major medical association treats "conversion therapy" as illegitimate care.

Then SCOTUS Weighed In

On March 31, the Court ruled 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's nearly identical "conversion therapy" ban had to survive strict First Amendment scrutiny - a standard laws like it almost never clear. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion; Justice Elena Kagan concurred, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor; only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Buried in Gorsuch's opinion was a citation to the Sixth Circuit's Michigan ruling - the same case now forcing Whitmer's hand. The Trevor Project called the ruling a disappointing setback for LGBTQ+ youth mental health protections.

Michigan didn't fold right away. After Chiles came down, Attorney General Dana Nessel - the state's first openly gay AG - argued free speech doesn't give medical professionals license to harm their patients, and said her office would review the ruling before deciding on next steps. Whitmer vowed to keep protecting LGBTQ youth "as long as I'm governor." Four months and one dead legal theory later, the state signed the permanent order instead.

"Common Sense," Says Becket

Becket's Luke Goodrich, the counselors' lead attorney, called the outcome "a major victory for children, counselors, and common sense." He also argued - pointing to the roughly two dozen U.S. states and several European countries that have moved to restrict youth gender-transition medicine in recent years - that Michigan's ban was pushing kids toward medical intervention rather than away from it, and that the new order protects every licensed talk therapist in the state, not just his own clients.

It's Becket's second major win on this exact front this year. In February, its Mahmoud v. Taylor case - over Maryland parents' right to pull kids from classroom readings on gender transition and same-sex romance - ended in a $1.5 million settlement, as ZeroHedge reported at the time. The nonprofit hasn't lost a case at the Supreme Court since 2012.

As we noted back in April, Colorado didn't take its own 8-1 loss quietly - state lawmakers hit back with a bill making it easier to sue "conversion therapy" counselors and stripping away the usual time limit for filing those suits. Whether Michigan tries the same counterpunch, or just lets its ban die quietly, is still an open question. Either way, every other state running a similar law is standing on considerably thinner ice than it was four months ago.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 19:50

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Pastore played Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the iconic HBO series.

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North Carolina Police Officer Arrested For Alleged Illegal Use Of Flock Cameras

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A North Carolina officer was arrested by state authorities July 29 after allegedly accessing license plate registration information from Flock Safety cameras and other technology, authorities announced.

Flock Safety, based in Georgia, estimates more than 6,000 communities in 49 states have partnered with the company to install surveillance systems. Flock Safety

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Seth Elliot, 25, is facing a misdemeanor charge of illegally accessing a government computer, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Elliot, who started working at the department in 2024, allegedly accessed the Flock system and CJ Leads, a criminal justice database used by law enforcement in North Carolina, one time for non-law enforcement purposes, according to the police department.

The officer was placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.

A previous unrelated investigation had initially found the evidence that on June 16, Elliot had allegedly improperly accessed the license plate reader systems.

He was then placed on administrative assignment on June 22, and his equipment and access to systems with criminal intelligence information was revoked pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

Police Chief Estella Patterson said the department doesn't operate any of the Flock cameras or devices but has an agreement with the company to allow officers access to them.

Misuse of the access is not tolerated, Patterson said.

"The public expects and deserves the highest level of integrity from every officer who wears the CMPD badge," Patterson said in a statement. "Misusing law enforcement technology or accessing confidential information for non-law enforcement purposes is a betrayal of the public's trust and a violation of everything this profession stands for."

The Epoch Times was not able to reach Elliott for comment, and it's unclear if he has an attorney.

The North Carolina case is the latest law enforcement-related allegation of Flock camera misuse.

Earlier this month, Sgt. Kabiru Salawu of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office was arrested after an internal investigation found he allegedly misused the agency's Flock system. Salawu was fired by the department and charged with a felony violation of oath of office and misdemeanor misuse of license plate data, according to a sheriff's office statement.

Investigations in Georgia and several other states have also led to arrests over Flock camera access.

People have also destroyed the cameras in some cities, with some incidents occurring this week.

In Upstate New York, police arrested a 25-year-old man July 29 after he allegedly used a saw to cut down a Flock camera.

In Central California, a 40-year-old Pismo Beach man was arrested July 28 for allegedly intentionally tearing down and running over at least three Flock license plate readers, causing thousands of dollars in damage, Monterey County Sheriff's Office reported.

Flock Safety, based in Georgia, estimates more than 6,000 communities in 49 states have partnered with the company to install the surveillance systems.

The cameras are powered by artificial intelligence and capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, recording the location, date, and time. The cameras also capture the car's make, model, color, and other features, such as dents and bumper stickers, to use as data points, according to DeFlock, a community-driven, open-source project that maps the license plate readers.

DeFlock estimates Flock has installed nearly 123,400 cameras throughout the United States.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Seth Elliot, 25, is facing a misdemeanor charge of illegally accessing a government computer. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 19:15

The Jets’ history at tight end is not exactly the greatest chapter in franchise history.