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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning! Our top story today is a look at the prosecutors inside a new unit in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office trying to convict Diddy. Plus, a judge grilled the Trump administration over its order against Susman Godfrey; the 5th Circuit said Southwest lawyers don't need “religious liberty training;” and Jenna Greene has the scoop on a custody fight in Delaware Chancery Court over a goldendoodle named Tucker. It’s Friday! Thanks for reading. It’s been a fun first week back on the docket.

'Diddy' is highest-profile case so far for new unit of civil rights prosecutors

Sean "Diddy" Combs, May 7, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

The sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, which kicks off on Monday, marks the highest-profile case so far for a nascent group in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office focusing on criminal prosecution of civil rights violations.

Since its launch in 2022 the nine-lawyer group, called the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Division, has brought 21 criminal cases with allegations ranging from antisemitic hate crimes, excessive use of force by law enforcement, sexual abuse of a minor, and environmental negligence by a construction contractor.

The new criminal division unit has a solid record. It has secured 15 guilty pleas and one trial conviction, with two defendants acquitted at trial, according to a Reuters review of court records and press releases. Luc Cohen has more on the prosecutors trying to convict the former hip hop mogul.

Coming up today

The 4th Circuit will consider whether the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center violated the Affordable Care Act when it denied a transgender man medical care because the procedure was for gender-affirming care. The government-owned hospital claimed providing Jesse Hammons with medical care would be a violation of its religious beliefs. The ACLU represents Hammons. Read the district court ruling here.
U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Burlington, Vermont, will consider whether to grant bail to Tuft University student Rumeysa Ozturk. Ozturk, a Turkish national, has argued that the Trump administration has been unlawfully detaining her in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana for co-writing an op-ed criticizing her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza.
Apple will ask the Federal Circuit to overturn a jury verdict that found it owes patent owner Optis Wireless Technology $300 million for infringing patents related to LTE wireless technology.
The ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar will consider a recommendation to further defer the enforcement of its longstanding diversity rule. The rule was first suspended in February after President Trump issued a series of executive orders meant to curtail DEI efforts in the government, the private sector and in higher education.
A hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court is set to determine the admissibility of a recently completed parole report concerning the possible release of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are currently involved in resentencing proceedings. The judge will also hear arguments related to the defense’s motion to recuse the district attorney’s office from the case for alleged prosecutorial bias and conflict of interest.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

More top news

Industry insight

President Trump selected Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as D.C.'s interim U.S. attorney. Read more.
McDermott and Schulte plan to merge. Read more about the plan.
Apple and Amazon have asked for a combined $223,000 in sanctions against Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, accusing the law firm of dragging out litigation over the price of iPhones and iPads after the plaintiff in the case sought to drop out. More in this week's Billable Hours.
Former federal prosecutor and U.S. House candidate Will Rollins joined King & Spalding as a partner in Los Angeles.
In more moves: Former CFTC official Amanda Olear joined Milbank as a special counsel in D.C. … Foley added two partners to its technology and energy practice from Norton Rose Fulbright … Sheppard Mullin hired a healthcare partner from Polsinelli in Chicago … Christopher Lawrence returned to Morgan Lewis.

"When a court's contempt sanction in a civil matter is both overbroad in scope and undoubtedly punitive in nature, the judiciary risks appearing contemptuous"

—Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement, commenting on U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr's 2023 order requiring in-house lawyers at Southwest Airlines to attend "religious liberty training," after a jury sided with a flight attendant who had sued the airline over religious beliefs. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit on Thursday said Starr's ruling would do little to compensate the plaintiff or compel compliance with an order barring Southwest from engaging in discrimination. Read more

In the courts

A federal judge