A Mississippi law that requires social media users to verify their ages can go into effect, a federal court has ruled. A tech industry group has pledged to continue challenging the law, arguing it infringes on users' rights to privacy and free expression. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a decision by a federal district judge to block the 2024 law from going into effect. It's the latest legal development as court challenges play out against similar laws in states across the country. Parents — and even some teens themselves — are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Supporters of the new laws have said they are needed to help curb the explosive use of social media among young people, and what researchers say is an associated increase in depression and anxiety. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch argued in a court filing defending the law that steps such as age verification for digital sites could mitigate harm caused by "sex trafficking, sexual abuse, child pornography, targeted harassment, sextortion, incitement to suicide and self-harm, and other harmful and often illegal conduct against children." Attorneys for NetChoice, which brought the lawsuit, have pledged to continue their court challenge, arguing the law threatens privacy rights and unconstitutionally restricts the free expression of users of all ages. The industry group, which has filed similar lawsuits in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Utah, represents some of the country's most high-profile technology companies, including Google, which owns YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat; and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. In a written statement, Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said the group is "very disappointed" in the decision to let Mississippi's law go into effect and is "considering all available options." "NetChoice will continue to fight against this egregious infringement on access to fully protected speech online," Taske said. "Parents — not the government — should determine what is right for their families.”

A Minnesota state senator convicted of burglary for breaking into her estranged stepmother's house plans to resign by early August, her lawyer said Monday. Democratic state Sen. Nicole Mitchell has faced calls from fellow lawmakers for her immediate resignation since her conviction on Friday. The jury deliberated for three hours before finding her guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. The lawmaker, 51, needs two weeks to wrap up her legislative duties and secure health insurance for her son by the time of her Aug. 4 resignation, her lawyer wrote in the statement. Mitchell represents a Democratic-leaning suburban district outside the Twin Cities in a closely divided state Senate. After the verdict last week, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy Mitchell said that Mitchell told colleagues that she planned to resign if convicted, "and I expect her to follow through on that pledge." Senate Republican leader Mark Johnson released a statement Monday pushing for Mitchell to resign immediately instead of waiting two weeks. "Senator Mitchell was convicted of two felonies; she doesn't get to give the Senate two weeks' notice," he wrote in the statement. "The only reason Mitchell is still in office is because Democrats needed her vote to pass their agenda and refused to hold her accountable during session." Mitchell was arrested April 22, 2024, and told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because the stepmother refused to give her items such as her late father's ashes and other belongings. Mitchell's father and stepmother, Carol Mitchell, had been married for 40 years. Later on the stand, the lawmaker backtracked her statement and said she had not intended to take anything and wanted to check on the well-being of her stepmother, who has Alzheimer's disease.

DARIEN, Ga. — Black landowners from a tiny island community returned to a Georgia courtroom Friday urging a judge to let them move forward with a lawsuit that accuses local officials of illegally weakening protections for one of the South's last Gullah-Geechee communities founded by freed slaves. Residents and landowners of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island have yet to see a judge weigh the merits of their discrimination case nearly two years after they first sued McIntosh County. They say county commissioners targeted a mostly poor, Black population with 2023 zoning changes that benefit wealthy white land buyers and developers. So far, the case has been bogged down by technicalities. A judge last year dismissed the original lawsuit, citing legal errors unrelated to its alleged rights violations. On Friday, a lawyer for McIntosh County asked a judge to also throw out an amended version of the suit, saying it failed to state a legal conflict within the court's jurisdiction and missed critical deadlines set by state law. Residents fear unaffordable tax increases The zoning rules being challenged doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock, one of a dwindling number of small communities started by emancipated island slaves — known collectively as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia — scattered from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say these peoples' separation from the mainland caused them to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets. Hogg Hummock's few dozen remaining residents and their advocates say the changes will bring unaffordable tax increases, threatening one of America's most historically and culturally unique Black communities. "We're in limbo," said Richard Banks, who owns the Sapelo Island home of his late father, built on land passed down in his family for generations. "You don't know what decisions you have to make in regard to your property." The lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center asks a judge to declare the zoning changes violate the landowners' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection by discriminating against them "on the basis of race." It also accuses the county of violating Georgia laws governing zoning procedures and public meetings. County lawyers say the lawsuit was filed too late McIntosh County's lawyers deny commissioners violated anyone's rights. But they argue the lawsuit should be dismissed without getting into those claims. They say fears of hypothetical tax increases don't present a valid legal conflict for a judge to decide. "There's no allegation that existing businesses must close," attorney Patrick Jaugstetter said in court Friday. "There's no evidence that any current use of a property must cease." Jaugstetter also said the refiled lawsuit came too late, well beyond Georgia's 30-day deadline for challenging zoning decisions and its six-month deadline for alleging violations of the open meetings law. Malissa Williams, a lawyer for the Black landowners, said those deadlines were met by the original lawsuit filed in 2023. "They should be allowed to challenge the (zoning) amendments because they will have a ripple effect on every aspect of their lives," Williams said. Discrimination case is one of two pending lawsuits by Black residents Senior Judge F. Gates Peed did not rule from the bench Friday. He asked both sides to submit proposed orders by the end of August. A second legal battle between Sapelo Island residents and county officials is pending before the Georgia Supreme Court. A decision is expected by mid-November on whether residents can attempt to repeal the 2023 zoning changes by forcing a special election. A scheduled referendum last fall was halted by a lower court judge, who ruled the vote was illegal.