A U.S. judge on Jan. 29 said Bank of America must face part of a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of knowingly aiding Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking by providing banking services to the disgraced late financier. The judge, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, also dismissed a similar lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon. Rakoff said Epstein's victims may pursue two claims accusing Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, of knowingly benefiting from Epstein's sex trafficking, and of obstructing enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The judge rejected four other claims in the lawsuit, including that Bank of America participated in and aided Epstein's sex trafficking, and that it negligently failed to protect victims or refrain from "non-routine" banking services. Bank of New York Mellon, the world's largest custodial bank, won dismissal of the same six claims. Rakoff plans to issue an opinion by Feb. 13 explaining his reasoning. A trial for Bank of America is scheduled for May 11. Bank of America said it was pleased that its case was narrowed, adding: "We look forward to a full review of the facts." BNY said its dismissal "reinforces that BNY had no involvement in Epstein's crimes." The lawsuits were filed in October by a Florida woman known as Jane Doe on behalf of herself and other Epstein accusers. Doe said that despite widespread knowledge of Epstein's misconduct, both banks did business with him until his arrest in July 2019 because they considered making money a higher priority than protecting victims. David Boies, a lawyer for Doe, said he looked forward to the Bank of America trial and planned to appeal the BNY decision. Bank of America's lawsuit included previously publicized accusations concerning Epstein's business ties with prominent people, while BNY's lawsuit included an accusation that the bank processed hundreds of millions of dollars of wire transfers on Epstein's behalf. The lawsuits also accused both banks of failing to file timely suspicious activity reports with the U.S. Treasury Department. In seeking a dismissal, Bank of America said that Doe "at best" alleged that it banked high-net-worth clients affiliated with Epstein, which it called "insufficient," and that she did not identify any law enforcement investigation that it intentionally obstructed. Doe's lawyers have brought other lawsuits on behalf of Epstein accusers. In 2023, they reached settlements of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank, two of his main banks. Neither bank admitted wrongdoing. Rakoff approved both settlements. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

A judge on Jan. 28 temporarily blocked a recently announced Trump administration policy targeting the roughly 5,600 lawful refugees in Minnesota who are awaiting green cards. In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis said federal agents likely violated multiple federal statutes by arresting some of these refugees to subject them to additional vetting. Tunheim issued a temporary restraining order blocking federal agents from arresting lawful refugees in Minnesota who have not been charged with immigration violations. The judge said the ruling would remain in place until he can hear additional legal arguments by civil rights groups challenging the policy. The Trump administration sent thousands of immigration agents to Minneapolis and Saint Paul beginning in December in what officials described as an operation to enforce immigration laws and stop fraud. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, criticized Tunheim's ruling on X, saying: "The judicial sabotage of democracy is unending." The order was a major setback to "Operation PARRIS," a program announced by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month and billed as "a sweeping initiative reexamining thousands of refugee cases through new background checks." Tunheim said his order does not affect DHS's ability to reexamine refugee applicants and that it "does not impact DHS’s lawful enforcement of immigration laws." Tunheim said the refugees impacted by his order are carefully vetted individuals who "have a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause." Kimberly Grano, a lawyer at the International Refugee Assistance Project, which is involved in the litigation, said in a press release the order will put in place "desperately-needed guardrails" on federal agents.

TikTok agreed to settle a landmark lawsuit on social media addiction on Jan. 27, according to one of the plaintiff's lawyers, the same day the trial was due to start against two remaining companies. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. TikTok is one of four companies, including Meta, Snap and YouTube, which is a unit of Alphabet-owned Google, facing allegations that their platforms are fueling a youth mental health crisis. The trial against Meta and YouTube was scheduled to begin with jury selection on Jan. 27 in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. The case involves a 19-year-old from California, identified as K.G.M., who said she became addicted to the companies' platforms at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design, according to court filings. She blames her depression and suicidal thoughts on the apps she used and is seeking to hold the companies that designed them responsible. K.G.M. "reached an agreement in principle to settle her case" with TikTok, said Joseph VanZandt, a lawyer for K.G.M. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for more details about the settlement. Snap settled with K.G.M. on Jan. 20. A Snap spokesperson and plaintiff’s attorneys declined to provide details about that agreement. K.G.M.’s case is one of three scheduled test cases, known as bellwether trials, chosen from hundreds of related lawsuits accusing the platforms of harming youth. The outcome of her lawsuit could help determine how the other cases are handled. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify as part of the trial.