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Amanda Stewart’s long-delayed quest for justice — already more than a decade in the making — is being pushed back yet again. The reason: the defense attorney is going on vacation.

Stewart, 40, says she’s the victim of wrongful gender reassignment treatment and surgery that she says ruined her life. Her lawsuit says Dartmouth specialist Dr. John Turco and others pushed her into “gender-affirming” hormone treatments and irreversible surgeries without proper evaluation or consent, destroying her health and her future.

Her lawsuit was finally scheduled for a jury trial this coming May.

But that trial is now off the calendar because Turco’s attorney, Michael Pignatelli, has a scheduling conflict.

“The May 2026 trial dates present an irreconcilable conflict for defense counsel Pignatelli, who is scheduled for a prepaid vacation,” a defense motion states.

Another defense attorney, Greg Peters — representing Monadnock Family Services in Keene — joined the request, citing a separate May trial followed by his own planned vacation.

Judge Jacki Smith of Hillsborough Superior Court – South granted the delay. For Stewart, who says she has already suffered irreversible harm for years, the postponement means more waiting.

Her lawsuit describes lifelong consequences from the care she received.

“(Stewart) will never be able to conceive and bear a child. Even if she could conceive a child, she would never be able to breastfeed her child. She lives in daily pain from the effects of the unnecessary surgeries and years of taking enormous amounts of cross-sex hormones… She cannot get back the life that was stolen from her.”

Stewart claims Turco and other providers ignored established medical guidelines for gender-affirming care, disregarded her significant mental-health struggles, and pushed irreversible interventions beginning in 2007, when she was 22.

The lawsuit states the providers knew she was “mentally fragile and suffering,” and not an appropriate candidate for gender-transition medicalization. It cites a December 2007 letter in which Turco acknowledged his concern that Stewart’s “psychological issues” were more significant than any gender-identity questions.

Stewart, who is autistic, lost her mother at age 14 and struggled with anxiety, depression and isolation through her teens, according to the lawsuit.

After beginning treatment with Turco, Stewart was allegedly placed on extremely high doses of testosterone — at levels above those of biological men — and later underwent a double mastectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, and a procedure to close her vagina.

The lawsuit says those surgeries were performed without the required psychological referrals under the Benjamin criteria. That standard of care requires patients to undergo thorough psychological assessment, demonstrate persistent gender dysphoria, and show emotional and mental stability before any medical intervention.

Instead, both surgeons allegedly noted concerns about Stewart’s mental state before operating.

Stewart experienced multiple mental-health crises while taking testosterone, including hospitalizations at New Hampshire Hospital. Her lawsuit says Turco repeatedly documented that her symptoms improved when she stopped taking the hormone — yet he continued prescribing it at high doses.

Turco did not begin seriously questioning her competency to make decisions about gender treatment until 2016, after nearly a decade of hormone use and surgeries. By then, Stewart had stopped identifying as male.

Psychologist Dr. Carey Bluhm was the first clinician to raise formal concerns in 2019, expressing reservations about further surgeries and noting Stewart’s Asperger’s diagnosis and “delusional events,” according to the lawsuit.

By 2021, Turco began acknowledging that Stewart is a woman despite her surgeries. In 2022, after she was hospitalized for suicidal ideation, he noted that testosterone treatment had caused “complications.”

Stewart is represented by the Texas law firm Campbell Miller Payne.

It’s been five months since the reputed leader of a fringe group linked to the murder of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont was indicted by a federal grand jury, but Jack “Ziz” LaSota has still not appeared before a judge.

LaSota, identified as the leader of an online transgender-vegan-AI-doomsday cult known as the Zizians, was indicted in June on one count of possession of firearms and ammunition by a fugitive. Since then, LaSota has not been arraigned or made any court appearance, according to defense attorney Gary Proctor. He said the only development in the case has been his appointment to represent LaSota in August.

“Since then, nothing has happened. Ms. LaSota has not had an initial appearance. This is despite the fact that the government has, at all times, known where to find Ms. LaSota. She has been, and continues to be, incarcerated at the Allegany County Detention Center,” Proctor wrote.

LaSota, a biological male, identifies as female. The government brought the indictment under LaSota’s birth name, Jack LaSota, and not one of the defendant’s female aliases.

LaSota was arrested in Maryland in February along with Zizians Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank following a nationwide manhunt. LaSota is considered a person of interest in the 2023 murders of Zajko’s parents, Richard and Rita Zajko.

Zajko is facing her own federal gun charges for allegedly buying the firearms used by Zizians Teresa Youngblut and Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt during a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol Agent David “Chris” Maland, 44. Bauckholt and Maland were killed in the exchange. Youngblut now faces the death penalty.

The shootout occurred near the Vermont border in the Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector, which includes all of New Hampshire’s boundary with Canada.

Proctor filed a motion Wednesday demanding a speedy trial, arguing that the government is violating LaSota’s constitutional rights by allowing the case to stagnate. Under the Sixth Amendment and federal law, a defendant is entitled to a trial within 70 days of indictment. Proctor said he has not even received the evidence the government is using to support the charge.

“The government is, in effect, thwarting this right. Had Ms. LaSota promptly appeared before this court, the 70 days mandated by the Speedy Trial Act would have already long since passed,” he wrote. “Over the past five months government counsel have done nothing to ensure that Ms. LaSota appears before a judicial officer. The undersigned has received no discovery. The undersigned called one of the government’s counsel on Oct. 31, 2025, asking to discuss the case; almost two weeks later, no return call has been made.”

Proctor also criticized prosecutors for using LaSota’s “deadname” and male pronouns.

“The government also doubles down on offensively labeling Ms. LaSota by using male pronouns such as ‘he was a fugitive from justice.’ It is well known, and widely reported, that Ms. LaSota is transgender,” he wrote.

LaSota’s cult was born out of an online discussion about a Harry Potter fan-fiction book exploring rationalist philosophy and artificial intelligence. LaSota turned a circle of tech acquaintances into a militant vegan-rationalist-transgender-techno group that believes a super-powerful artificial intelligence known as the Basilisk is coming into existence to punish those who do not help create it.

Followers were subjected to sleep deprivation in an effort to “unlock” a separate personality, often a different gender identity under LaSota’s direction. At least one suicide has been linked to the practices.

LaSota faked a death in 2022, reportedly staging a boating accident in the waters between Alameda and South San Francisco.

Federal Judge James Bredar granted Proctor’s motion for a speedy trial and ordered the government to respond by Nov. 19.

Former Democratic lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton, who made history as the nation’s first transgender state representative, is set to make history again as the state’s first legislator to spend decades behind bars on federal child pornography convictions.

Laughton, 41, born Barry Laughton, took a plea deal last week in the sickening case that’s kept him behind bars since 2023. Laughton could now get up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child sex abuse images — images provided by ex-girlfriend and co-defendant Lindsay Groves, 40.

Groves entered into her own plea agreement last month, admitting to sending Laughton explicit photos of children she was supposed to be minding at the Massachusetts daycare where she worked. The couple is now set to be sentenced in February in the federal court in Boston.

Laughton and Groves share a messy history as a couple, along with their horrific sexual tastes. According to court records, Laughton repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her daycare job during a 2022 breakup, claiming Groves was a pedophile. Laughton reported Groves to the police and additionally used his social media and radio program to accuse Groves of pedophilia, according to court records.

Those 2022 accusations were deemed false and ended up being part of the November 2022 stalking case against Laughton that landed the Nashua politician behind bars weeks after his election to the House. Democrats waited weeks to finally push Laughton to resign his seat that December.

But a year after Laughton’s accusations were seemingly discounted, the pair were arrested for actual pedophilia. According to court records, Groves had been texting Laughton nude photos of children from her daycare in the spring of 2022 as Laughton mused about child rape.

“I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids and it is against the law …” Laughton texted to Groves.

Laughton and Groves are unlikely to see each other again for some time. Groves is a biological woman and has been held in women’s facilities during the pre-trial incarceration. Laughton, on the other hand, has been held in men’s facilities since his 2023 arrest.

The convictions effectively close the possibility of a third act for the Nashua Democrat. First elected in 2012, Laughton was forced to resign when his criminal past was uncovered. At the time of the 2012 election, Laughton was still on probation for a 2008 felony credit card fraud conviction, and therefore ineligible for office under New Hampshire law.

But Laughton returned to politics in 2019 after finally paying the court-ordered $2,000 restitution in the credit card fraud case, and was again elected to the House in 2020. State Democrats and voters seemed willing to overlook Laughton’s 2015 conviction for making bomb threats against Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. 

Laughton’s second act ended with the 2022 stalking case, which resulted in a suspended jail sentence. 

The attorney for the Bow, N.H., school district compared free speech to “poison” in his argument before a federal court Wednesday.

Jonathan Shirley, attorney for SAU 67, is defending the district’s decision to ban parents from wearing pink wristbands marked with “XX” in a silent protest of biological males in girls sports.

The district’s actions were upheld by United States District Court Judge Stephen McAuliffe in a controversial ruling that appeared to defend the government’s right to discriminate against speech based on viewpoint. In his ruling, McAuliffe labeled wearing the pink XX wristbands as a form of “assault” on people who identify as transgender. 

Parents Anthony Foote, Kyle Fellers, Nicole Foote, and Eldon Rash are appealing the decision, which was heard by a three-judge panel at the federal courthouse in Boston.

The Bow High School principal and the school’s athletic director ordered the protesting parents removed. They were later issued no-trespass orders, barring them from school property.

The parents want to be able to engage in silent protests at high school games. But Shirley told the court the potential danger presented by middle-aged parents wearing wristbands is too great.

“You know, poison is often determined by the dose,” Shirley said of their right to protest. “We’re talking about future events where we don’t have an understanding of how many people are going to be showing up with these wristbands.”

Del Kolde, the lawyer with the Institute for Free Speech representing the parents, promptly replied: “Your Honors, free speech is not poison.”

The judges were clearly puzzled by — if not outright hostile to — the district’s claims that speech that offended others or hurt their feelings should not be protected by the First Amendment.

The school district has openly engaged in viewpoint discrimination, acknowledging that pro-LGBT messaging would be allowed, but not the pink wristbands. It argues that its policy is legal due to its fear that the protest would get out of control and lead to players feeling bad about themselves.

“The school district should have the ability to step in and say, ‘Listen, we think we know where this is going. We need to stop you now,” Shirley told the justices. 

While schools have a legal obligation to protect students from harassment, they cannot be given the authority to stop protests in case they might become disruptive and lead to harassment, Kolde argued. That would allow government entities to shut down any speech they dislike.

“It essentially becomes a get out of jail free card for viewpoint discrimination,” Kodel said. “People are just going to complain and say, ‘I feel harassed by that message’ when they disagree with the message, when they don’t want it to be heard. And that will lead to much more censorship in the First District.”

The wristband protest took place a week after a federal court judge ruled in favor of transgender Plymouth High School student Parker Tirrell. Tirrell challenged the 2024 New Hampshire law banning biological boys from playing on girls’ sports teams and, on Sept. 10, 2024, won the right to play soccer on the Plymouth girls’ team. The Foote’s, Rash, and Fellers were protesting at the Bow game against Plymouth as Tirrell was on the field. 

Case records show that SAU 67 Superintendent Marcy Kelley and other officials were not concerned about a disruptive protest; they simply did not want any protest of any kind against transgender athletes, Kolde said. Kelley testified last year that she believes the XX wristbands convey an “exclusionary” message against transgender athletes competing with girls, something she could not allow. At the same time, Kelly said pro-LGBTQ symbols like rainbow flags are fine since she deems them to be “inclusionary.” But Kelley isn’t allowed to pick and choose what people say in public, Kodel told the justices.

Justices Sandra Lynch, Julie Rikelman, and Jefferey Howard seemed to accept Kolde’s argument that SAU 67 overstepped the constitution when officials directed the parents to take off the armbands. They also questioned if the district’s fear that the protests would get out of hand is enough legal justification to curb free speech rights.

Lynch pointed out that school officials actually caused a disruption when they confronted the parents at the game, but Shirley tried to blame the parents.

“The disruption was their refusal to follow the directive (to remove the armbands),” Shirley said.

“If the directive was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, then you have a problem,” Lynch responded.

The parents should be allowed to engage in silent, non-disruptive protests, Kodle said, even if school officials do not like the message.

“We don’t all have to agree on transgender issues, but if we’re going to get along in a pluralistic society, people have to be allowed to quietly express their views on terms equal to other parents. We all know that if they had worn pride flags and wristbands, we wouldn’t be here today,” Kolde said.

New Hampshire’s first elected transgender-identifying state House member, Democrat Stacie Marie Laughton of Nashua, won’t have a happy Halloween this year.

Laughton, 41, born Barry Laughton, is set to appear in the United States District Court in Boston on Friday for a change of plea hearing in the child sex abuse image case that’s had him locked up for more than two years.

The Friday court date will likely see Laughton plead guilty to at least one of the three serious felony indictments against him.

The Halloween plea hearing comes weeks after his accomplice and lover, Lindsay Groves, 40, pleaded guilty for her role in the couple’s sick scheme. Groves used her position at a Massachusetts daycare to take explicit photos of the children she was supposed to be watching. Some of the victims were as young as three. Those photos were then shared via text message between the couple, who discussed raping children and hiding their crimes from the parents in thousands of grotesque notes.

Court records give a hint of the horrific Groves and Laughton Laughton relationship. In one text message, Laughton said there is nothing wrong with sexually abusing children.

“Oh, I know, but I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean, I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it, but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids, and it is against the law …” Laughton wrote in one exchange.

In another message, Laughton seems to admit to raping a child with Groves.

“I was asking because I know we’ve had some back-and-forth, and I know we initially said we do nothing with kids ever again, and you said you were afraid that if we had kids if they would go back and tell the parents the same with the kids you work with,” Laughton texted to Groves.

Earlier this month, Groves pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a possible 15 to 30 years prison sentence. Groves could get another 20 years for the distribution of child pornography charge. Groves has a sentencing hearing set for February. 

Laughton is supposed to go on trial next week on three felony charges of the sexual exploitation of children. If the case does go to a jury, Groves would likely be a prosecution witness under her plea deal.

Groves took the plea deal after failing in her quest to be deemed too incompetent to stand trial. Groves and her legal team fought for more than a year to get her diagnosed as too mentally impaired to understand the charges or help in her own defense. But United States District Court Judge Dennis Saylor rejected that argument after hearing from defense and prosecution mental health experts. While Groves is mentally and emotionally handicapped, she knows what she is doing, Saylor ruled.

“In short, (Groves) has repeatedly shown that despite her many limitations, she is capable of ordered thinking and rational communication, and that she has the ability to navigate reasonably complex situations, including obtaining higher education and holding employment for extended periods. She understands the essential nature and potential consequences of the alleged crime, and can provide meaningful assistance to her defense,” Saylor wrote. 

Though Laughton was accepted by the New Hampshire Democratic Party as transgendered when he ran for office — state party chair Ray Buckley celebrated him as part of “the backbone of New Hampshire” — he does not seem to be living as a female in any other aspect of his life. Away from his political persona as a transgender woman, Laughton was married for many years to biological woman Lisa Laughton, his alleged co-conspirator in a 2008 fraud case. Laughton additionally conducted a long-term sexual relationship with Groves, also a biological woman.

The criminal justice system seems to agree with the gender Laughton maintains in his private life. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Laughton as a male who was last in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as of this month. He was also kept with other men inside Valley Street Jail immediately after the June 2023 arrest.

The woman who used her job at a daycare to create thousands of child sex abuse images for former New Hampshire Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton (D-Nashua) has entered into a plea agreement just weeks before Laughton’s own trial is set to begin.

Lindsay Groves, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography in federal court in Boston on Tuesday. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a possible 15- to 30-year prison sentence, and Groves could receive another 20 years for the distribution charge.

By entering into a plea agreement that requires her to testify against Laughton, Groves could get considerably less time in prison once the former state representative’s case is complete.

Groves is due for a sentencing hearing in February, when her fate will be determined.

Stacie Laughton

The stomach-churning details of the alleged crimes involve Groves and her partner, Laughton — a biological male who identifies as female — sending some 10,000 texts to each other between May 2022 and June 2023 in which the two discussed having sex with children. Groves also sent numerous explicit photos of children, many of whom were in her care at the Massachusetts daycare where she worked.

Some of the victims were as young as three years old, according to court records.

The pair has been in federal custody since their arrests in June 2023. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Laughton as male and last in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as of this month.

The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for federal prisoners detained pretrial, and the agency may send prisoners to various state and federal facilities as necessary. It’s not clear where Laughton is currently held, though he is likely closer to Boston with the trial looming. Groves also remains in the custody of the U.S. marshals pending her sentencing. The Marshals Service, like many federal agencies, is limited in its ability to respond to media inquiries during the government funding shutdown.

Laughton is a history-making Democrat in New Hampshire, though ultimately not in a good way. He was elected to the House in 2012 as the state’s first transgender lawmaker but had to resign within weeks when his criminal past came to light. Laughton was still on probation for a felony conviction, barring him from holding office.

He stuck around, however, and was elected to the House again in 2020 once his legal issues appeared to be resolved. But Laughton’s appearance of good behavior was short-lived.

In 2022, Laughton was charged with harassing Groves and her family, costing him his seat in the legislature. He was arrested in November 2022 for stalking Groves, shortly after winning reelection to the House. Laughton was jailed for weeks but remained in office until the House Democratic Caucus finally forced his resignation.

It came out during the stalking case that Laughton had called police to report that Groves was abusing children at the daycare — allegations that were then believed to be part of the ongoing harassment. Laughton is alleged to have repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job, claiming she was a pedophile. He reportedly made those accusations to police, on social media, and on his radio program, according to court records.

According to records in the federal case, Laughton and Groves began sharing the explicit photos and texts after the resolution of the stalking case.

Born Barry Laughton, his use of a female identity has never been complete. Laughton was housed as a male at the Valley Street Jail immediately after the June 2023 arrest and has appeared to be treated as male by federal authorities.

He was married to Lisa Laughton for many years, his alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that led to his removal from the House in 2012. Laughton has also maintained a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women.

The woman who allegedly sent thousands of child sex abuse photos to her lover, former Democratic State Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton, is set to change her plea in federal court.

Lindsay Groves, 40, is accused of exploiting children at the Tyngsborough, Mass., daycare where she worked for Laughton’s sick gratification. She is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on Oct. 14 in the United States District Court in Boston.

Groves and Laughton, 41, are currently on track for separate November trials. Both Groves and Laughton are indicted on three counts each of sexual exploitation of children. Groves is also charged with one count of distribution of child pornography. 

Former state Rep. Stacie-Marie Laughton (D-Nashua)

Groves’ plea hearing comes after Judge Dennis Saylor ruled in August that the Hudson woman is competent to stand trial on the charges. Her defense lawyers tied up the case for more than a year, trying to prove Groves is not mentally competent to face justice.

Dr. Tina Adams, an independent clinical and forensic psychologist hired by the defense, found Groves is severely limited intellectually, easily manipulated, and unable to understand the charges against her. But Dr. Lauren Schumacher, a forensic psychologist employed by the Bureau of Prisons, reported that despite her limitations, Groves obtained an associate’s degree in early-childhood education from New Hampshire Community College, held down steady jobs, and was able to understand how the court system works. 

After Saylor reviewed the reports from Adams and Schumacher, he ruled that Groves could indeed go on trial.

“In short, (Groves) has repeatedly shown that despite her many limitations, she is capable of ordered thinking and rational communication, and that she has the ability to navigate reasonably complex situations,” Saylor wrote in his August order.

Groves apparently also understands the criminal justice system well enough to know when it’s time to roll on her former lover. If Groves enters into a plea agreement on Oct. 14, as seems likely, she would be required to testify against Laughton.

Laughton and Groves have a long-standing, volatile, and odd relationship. In 2022, Laughton was charged with harassing Groves and her family, costing Laughton a seat in the state legislature.

Laughton has been in and out of jail since at least 2008 after being convicted of credit card fraud. Four years later, Laughton was charged with a crime after calling in a bogus bomb threat at the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua. Those charges were later dropped as Laughton claimed to be suffering from a mental health crisis.

On Organization Day in 2022, Laughton was unable to participate due to being incarcerated at the time. Only after Democrats realized Laughton would not help them close the narrow GOP majority did the House Democratic Caucus finally force a resignation.

It came out in the stalking case that Laughton had called police to report Groves was abusing children at the daycare, though that was believed to have been part of the ongoing harassment at that time.

Laughton is alleged to have repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job at the daycare, claiming Groves was a pedophile. Laughton reported Groves to police, as well as making the accusation on social media and on Laughton’s radio program, according to court records.

However, according to the federal case, Laughton and Groves were simpatico after the stalking case was resolved without a jail sentence. Groves started sending the sick photos to Laughton, and the two had disturbing conversations via text about the images and their own sexual desires. 

Laughton and Grove discussed raping the children at the daycare facility. In one chilling exchange, they discussed how to get away with the horrific crime. Laughton maintained there was nothing wrong with sexually abusing children.

“Oh, I know, but I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean, I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it, but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids, and it is against the law …” Laughton wrote in one exchange.

In another message, Laughton appears to admit to raping a child with Groves.

“I was asking because I know we’ve had some back-and-forth, and I know we initially said we do nothing with kids ever again, and you said you were afraid that if we had kids if they would go back and tell the parents the same with the kids you work with,” Laughton texted to Groves.

Born Barry Laughton, the Democrat’s gender identity as a transgender woman has never been straightforward. It was unclear how far Laughton’s medical transition had progressed, if at all. Laughton appears to be balding with many masculine features, though the convicted felon wears makeup and clothing traditionally identified with women. 

Laughton was married for many years to Lisa Laughton, the alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that resulted in the felony conviction that temporarily derailed Laughton’s political career. Laughton has also conducted a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women. 

Both Laughton and Groves have been held since their arrests in 2023. Initially, they were kept at the Valley Street jail in Manchester, but have since been transferred into pre-trial federal custody. Federal officials decline to disclose their current location.

 The parents punished by SAU 67 administrators for wearing pink “XX” wristbands to a Bow High School girls’ soccer game have an appeal hearing scheduled before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

Anthony Foote, Kyle Fellers, Nicole Foote, and Eldon Rash are appealing U.S. District Court Judge Stephen McAuliffe’s ruling in favor of the district. McAuliffe ruled that SAU 67 has the legal authority to restrict its protest to protect a biological male playing on a girls’ soccer team.

“Because gender identities are characteristics of personal identity that are ‘unalterable or otherwise deeply rooted,’ the demeaning of which ‘strikes a person at the core of his being,’ and because Bow school authorities reasonably interpreted the symbols used by plaintiffs, in context, as conveying a demeaning and harassing message, they properly interceded to protect students from injuries likely to be suffered,” McAuliffe wrote in his April ruling.

Del Kolde, a lawyer with the Institute for Free Speech representing the parents, argues McAuliffe’s ruling gives the district permission to engage in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

“Bow school officials violate this rule by banning adult spectators from silently protesting against biological males competing in girls’ sports by wearing XX wristbands on the sidelines or displaying signs in a parking lot, while allowing other spectators to display Pride flags or ‘inclusionary’ sociopolitical messages at those same events and in the same places. In a limited public forum like a school sporting event, such restrictions amount to textbook viewpoint discrimination,” Kolde wrote.

The appeal is scheduled for a Nov. 5 hearing in Boston.

Fellers, the Footes, and Rash were disciplined by school officials during a game last September when Bow played Plymouth High School, which featured male student Parker Tirrell, who identifies as female.

Bryan Cullen, SAU 67’s attorney, said the district has the authority to curtail the parents’ right to silently protest because a transgender athlete was on the field.

“While plaintiffs cast their conduct at the Sept. 17 [2024] game as ‘silent protest,’ the district reasonably viewed it as intimidation aimed at [transgender student] 15-year-old Parker Tirrell,” Cullen wrote in his brief filed Friday.

The parents were ordered to remove the wristbands or leave the field. Anthony Foote and Fellers were later served with no-trespass letters banning them from all future after-school activities.

McAuliffe overturned the ban on Fellers and Foote attending games or other activities, but sided with the district by allowing school officials to ban any protest that could be deemed as targeting transgender players.

Tirrell, the central figure in both Cullen’s argument and McAuliffe’s ruling, made headlines last year with a high-profile lawsuit against the state of New Hampshire. Tirrell successfully challenged the 2024 law preventing biological boys from playing on girls’ teams. With help from GLAAD and the ACLU of New Hampshire, Tirrell and fellow transgender student Iris Turmelle won the right to try out for and play on their respective girls’ teams.

Bow officials anticipated a disruption at the game after Foote and Fellers made their concerns known about biological boys competing against their daughters. Cullen argued that Bow had a duty to protect Tirrell from potential harassment, including protests involving the pink wristbands.

Even if Tirrell was not on the field, Cullen argued that protests such as wearing XX wristbands need to be banned at essentially every game because a transgender student could be participating without school officials’ knowledge.

“As the district explained at the preliminary injunction hearing, it is not always known to school officials who may identify as transgender or whether transgender students will or will not be attending a given event. The district needs the leeway to restrict plaintiffs’ message from all school events because school officials are unable to know which students will be attending which events,” Cullen wrote. “Plaintiffs have no constitutional right to ‘silently protest’ school-sponsored events, whether it is the girls’ varsity soccer games or other events throughout the academic year.”

Bad news for former state Democratic Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton and romantic partner Lindsay Groves, as a federal judge cleared the way for the pair to go on trial in their shocking child sex abuse images case.

In an order issued last week, Massachusetts District Court Judge Dennis Saylor rejected defense arguments that Groves, 40, is mentally incompetent to stand trial. With questions about Groves’ intelligence and her ability to understand the charges now out of the way, the trials are scheduled for November.

Both Laughton and Groves have been in federal custody since their arrests more than two years ago. Groves is alleged to have used her position as a daycare center employee to take nude photos of young children and text them to Laughton for their shared sexual gratification. 

Groves was deemed incompetent to stand trial last year by Dr. Tina Adams, an independent clinical and forensic psychologist hired by the defense. According to Adams, Groves is severely limited intellectually, easily manipulated, and unable to understand the charges against her to assist in her own defense.

But Dr. Lauren Schumacher, a forensic psychologist employed by the Bureau of Prisons, reports that despite her limitations, Groves obtained an associate’s degree in early-childhood education from New Hampshire Community College, held down steady jobs, and was able to understand how the court system works. 

Schumacher’s report additionally found that Adams scored Groves incorrectly in one of the key assessment exams, which led to her incompetent decision. 

Saylor reviewed the reports done by Adams and Schumacher earlier this year before ruling that Groves can indeed go on trial.

“In short, [Groves] has repeatedly shown that despite her many limitations, she is capable of ordered thinking and rational communication, and that she has the ability to navigate reasonably complex situations, including obtaining higher education and holding employment for extended periods. She understands the essential nature and potential consequences of the alleged crime, and can provide meaningful assistance to her defense. Accordingly … the Court concludes that, notwithstanding her limitations, she is competent to stand trial,” Saylor wrote.

Laughton, 41, of Nashua, became a star attraction in the state Democratic Party as New Hampshire’s first transgender person elected to the legislature. State party chair Ray Buckley even gave Laughton a shoutout as one of the “LGBTQIA+ Democrats who are the backbone of the Granite State,” despite the legislator’s criminal record at the time.

Born Barry Laughton, the historic 2012 election win was short-lived as past criminal convictions soon came to light. Laughton was forced out of office weeks after the 2012 election when it was revealed he was still on probation for a felony theft charge. Laughton was subsequently charged with stalking and making bomb threats.

Laughton’s gender identity as a transgender woman has never been straightforward. It was not clear how far Laughton’s medical transition had progressed. Laughton appears to be balding with many masculine features, though the convicted felon wears makeup and clothing traditionally identified with women. 

Laughton was married for many years to Lisa Laughton, the alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that resulted in the felony conviction that temporarily derailed Laughton’s political career. Laughton also conducted a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women. 

Laughton and Groves have a long-standing and volatile relationship. In 2022, Laughton was charged with harassing Groves and her family, costing Laughton a seat in the legislature. Laughton was arrested in November 2022 for stalking Groves, shortly after winning reelection to the House. Laughton was jailed for weeks until the House Democratic Caucus forced a resignation.

It came out in the stalking case that Laughton had called the police to report that Groves was abusing children at the daycare, though that was believed to have been part of the ongoing harassment.

Laughton is alleged to have repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job at the daycare, claiming Groves was a pedophile. Laughton reported Groves to police, as well as making the accusation on social media and on Laughton’s radio program, according to court records.

However, according to the federal case, Laughton and Groves were simpatico after the stalking case was resolved without a jail sentence. Groves started sending the photos to Laughton, and the two had disgusting conversations via text about the images and their own sexual desires. 

Laughton and Grove discussed raping the children at the daycare facility. In one chilling exchange, they discussed how to get away with the horrific crime. Laughton maintained there was nothing wrong with sexually abusing children.

GROVES: “You mentioned how I said I was afraid that the kids will run to the parents if we do it with them I wasn’t being serious.”

LAUGHTON: “OK because like I get concerned about that, cause I don’t wanna get caught if we do.”

GROVES: “I was joking anyway, and you took me serious.”

LAUGHTON: “Oh, I know, but I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean, I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it, but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids, and it is against the law …”

In another exchange, Laughton seems to admit to raping a child with Groves

“I was asking because I know we’ve had some back-and-forth, and I know we initially said we do nothing with kids ever again, and you said you were afraid that if we had kids if they would go back and tell the parents the same with the kids you work with,” Laughton texted to Groves.

Laughton and Groves were being held pre-trial at the Valley Street Jail in Manchester on state charges soon after their original arrests. But the pair have since been moved into federal custody. Representatives with the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston declined to confirm their present location.

Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a 21-year-old Seattle woman accused of fatally shooting a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a January traffic stop in Vermont, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

A federal grand jury in the District of Vermont returned a four-count superseding indictment charging Teresa Youngblut with the murder of a federal law enforcement officer, the assault of two additional agents with a deadly weapon, and related firearms offenses.

Youngblut is part of the “Zizians,” whose members practice strict veganism, “unihemispheric sleep” deprivation, and abandonment of conventional careers — embrace an extreme interpretation of the AI thought experiment known as Roko’s Basilisk, which posits that a future superintelligent AI could punish those who fail to help bring it into existence.

“As alleged, this defendant shot and killed a United States Border Patrol Agent while he was performing his duties,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “We will not stand for such attacks on the men and women who protect our communities and our borders.”

The case stems from the Jan. 20 killing of Agent David “Chris” Maland during a stop on Interstate 91 in Coventry, near the Canadian border in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector. It covers the U.S.–Canada border across northern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

According to court documents, Maland had pulled over a Toyota Prius driven by Youngblut. Her passenger, Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt, a German citizen whose immigration status was in question, was also armed. Authorities said Youngblut stepped out of the vehicle and, without warning, opened fire, striking Maland and killing him. Another agent returned fire, wounding Youngblut and fatally shooting Bauckholt as he allegedly reached for a weapon.

Days before the shooting, police said the pair had drawn attention when a hotel employee reported seeing them in tactical gear and possibly armed. On the day of the killing, officers spotted them in Newport, Vt., where Bauckholt was observed wrapping unknown objects in aluminum foil.

Prosecutors allege that both weapons used in the attack were supplied by Michelle Zajko, 32, another member of the Zizian group, a fringe vegan, transgender, techno-rationalist cult led by Jack “Ziz” LaSota. Zajko is being held in Maryland on state charges and faces a federal gun charge in Vermont.

LaSota, 33, was arrested in Maryland in February alongside Zajko and fellow member Daniel Blank after a nationwide manhunt. She is being held on federal gun and drug charges.

It remains unclear why Youngblut and Bauckholt were in Vermont, though investigators say they were under surveillance and had been seen walking in black tactical gear with firearms. Zajko owns a small parcel of land in northern Vermont near the Canadian border.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has authorized federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against Youngblut. If convicted, she could face execution or life in prison without parole.

“The murder of a federal agent is more than a tragic loss,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “It’s an attack on the security of our nation and the safety of our communities. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will not rest until those responsible are held accountable.”