A mother and daughter accused of operating an unlicensed daycare facility in California were charged with involuntary manslaughter after a 3-month-old child in their care died, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.
Authorities were dispatched Friday morning to an address in Royal Oaks, a community near Salinas, where a child was not breathing, the sheriff’s office said. The infant was given life-saving efforts at the scene and was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead a short time later, authorities added.
As many as 30 children of various ages were under the care of Maria Marquez, 62, and daughter Johanna Marquez, 35, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives “were able to gather sufficient details to arrest the two operators of the unlicensed day care business for involuntary manslaughter believed to have resulted in the death of the three-month-old infant,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The suspects remained booked Monday in the Monterey County Jail, and also face charges of felony child endangerment and operating a child day care facility without a license. Their bail was set at $50,000 each. It was not immediately clear if they have legal representation.
The sheriff’s office said Monday its investigation remains ongoing.
The California Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing Division regulates the number of children permitted at a daycare site and sets certain requirements for staff, including pediatric CPR and first-aid training and child development courses.
Child fatalities in licensed childcare centers in California are rare, with three reported from 2017 to 2023, according to state social services data.
“There are certain trainings that the individuals that work and operate those facilities have to go through, and they’re constantly being inspected by the state licensing board,” Sheriff’s Commander Andres Rosas told NBC affiliate KSBW in Salinas. “So those standards that they have to meet are what give you a little bit more peace of mind that your child is safe at this particular location.”
As thousands of people lined the streets to celebrate Liverpool Football Club’s English Premier League title win, a car collided with a number of pedestrians in thecenter of Liverpool, a city in northwest England, police said Monday.
Describing it as a “major incident” on X, Merseyside police said the car “stopped at the scene and a male detained.”
In separate statement, police said “the incident happened as thousands of fans lined the streets of the city to celebrate Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League title victory.
Footage of the scene showed police cordons in place around a heavily littered road and emergency vehicles in place.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes “appalling” in a post on X. “My thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” he said, adding that he was “being kept updated on developments.”
The Northwest Ambulance Service said in a statement that it was “assessing the situation and working with other members of the emergency services.”
“Our priority is to ensure people receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible,” the statement added.
An eyewitness, Natasha Rinaldi, told the British broadcaster Sky News that “people sounded desperate” and she saw the car had “run over people.” (Sky News is owned by Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.)
“Then people started rushing to go after the driver and they tried to break the car. The police did everything to block and to push people away,” Rinaldi said. “We could just hear screams and screams. We were very confused.”
“Some of my friends were down there and the car was so near them. It was a horrible scene, nobody was expecting it.”
Harry Rashid, 48, from Solihull, told Britain’s Press Association news agency that he was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters when he witnessed the collision.
“It happened about 10 feet away from us,” he said. “We were just in a crowd and we had no control over where we would be, because it was a very narrow street.”
“The vehicle came to our right. It emerged from just right next to an ambulance, which was parked up. This gray people carrier just pulled up from the right and just rammed into all the people at the side of us,” he added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
PARIS — Naomi Osaka still wore the pink accessories in her hair inspired by “sakura” — cherry blossoms — and there were streaks on her cheeks where tears had rolled, when she sat down for a French Open news conference after her first-round loss to Paula Badosa on Monday.
Osaka’s red eyes welled as she answered a few questions before needing a break and briefly leaving the interview room following the 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 exit against the 10th-seeded Badosa.
“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people,” said Osaka, who owns four Grand Slam trophies from the hard courts of the U.S. Open and Australian Open but never has been past the third round on the red clay of Roland-Garros.
Then, referring to her current coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with Serena Williams, Osaka said: “He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the (expletive) is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”
Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the United States as a young child, was undone Monday by 54 unforced errors. That was twice as many as Badosa, whose best showing at a major was a semifinal run at the Australian Open in January and who reached the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros in 2021.
After taking the opening set, Osaka was treated by a trainer for hand blisters and also took time to clip her sakura-themed fingernails on the sideline.
She attributed the blisters, which also bothered her at the Italian Open this month, to “the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface.”
Osaka’s powerful serves and groundstrokes are dulled by the clay, and that showed against Badosa. Osaka was broken five times and finished with nearly as many double-faults, five, as aces, seven.
Once ranked No. 1 and currently No. 49, Osaka withdrew from the French Open in 2021 before her second-round match, explaining that she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealing she had dealt with depression. She then took multiple mental health breaks away from the tour.
She helped usher in a change in the way athletes, sports fans and society at large understood the importance of mental health.
On Monday, after taking a break from questions, she returned to field one query from a Japanese journalist with an eye to the next major tournament, Wimbledon, which begins on grass on June 30.
“I don’t necessarily know my grass-season schedule right now,” Osaka said. “I wasn’t really expecting to lose in the first round.”
Billy Joel’s wife shared a message from the iconic musician’s Instagram page on Monday, thanking fans for their love and support amid her husband’s brain disorder diagnosis.
Joel canceled his upcoming concert dates on Friday and shared he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain.
Alexis Roderick Joel said Monday the family is “so grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received.”
The condition has been “exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance,” a statement posted on Joel’s Instagram Friday said. It is most commonly diagnosed in older adults, usually around age 70.
Joel, 76, is receiving treatment for the condition, including “specific physical therapy,” the statement said. Doctors told NBC News that NPH is often treatable and can even be reversed.
“Bill is beloved by so many, and to us, he is a father and husband who is at the center of our world,” Roderick Joel continued. “We are hopeful for his recovery. We look forward to seeing you all in the future.”
The message accompanied a photo of the couple with their two young daughters, Della and Remy.
Joel’s diagnosis comes after a February fall during a show in Uncasville, Connecticut. A video posted to TikTok showed Joel throwing his microphone and microphone stand into the crowd before losing his balance and falling onto his side. He then rolled onto his back, paused, and attempted to stand up on his own.
It is not clear if this fall was related to the NPH diagnosis, and doctors said no one knows what causes the condition.
NPH can cause memory loss, bladder control issues and trouble walking. Oftentimes, patients are diagnosed after seeing a doctor over concerns that they are developing dementia.
Joel’s ex-wife, Christie Brinkley, also shared her well-wishes for the “Piano Man” singer over the weekend in an Instagram post featuring videos of Joel and their shared daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, at a recent concert.
“You turn an arena of strangers into a living room full of friends as we all sway in unison,” Brinkley wrote in the post. “I’m sure I’m speaking for everyone in that room when I say, please take good care of yourself, we all want you back in that white hot spotlight, you’re OUR piano man. And we’re always in the mood for your melodies. And we all hope you’re feeling alright!”
Charles Rangel, the former Democratic congressman from New York who championed his Harlem community on Capitol Hill for almost five decades, died Monday at 94.
The family confirmed his death in a statement provided by City College of New York spokesperson Michelle Stent. He died at a hospital in New York, Stent said.
Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War, defeated legendary Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell in 1970 to start his Congressional career. During the next 40-plus years, he became a legend — a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, dean of the New York Congressional delegation, and in 2007, the first Black chair of the influential Ways and Means Committee.
He stepped down from that committee amid an ethics cloud, and the House later censured him. However, he was reelected and served in Congress until 2017.
According to the statement provided to the City College of New York, Rangel sponsored 40 bills and resolutions that became law throughout his tenure. His significant legislative accomplishments include championing the national Empowerment Zone program, the Affordable Care Act, and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Anna Grace Phelan, a young TikTok star who documented her stage 4 brain cancer journey, died Friday, according to a message posted to her TikTok account.
She was 19.
“It is with great sadness to announce that our beautiful daughter, Anna Grace Phelan, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” a statement from her family read.
Phelan, of Jefferson, Georgia, shared updates on her health with more than 100,000 followers, garnering millions of views on her videos.
“So many of you have followed her journey through a difficult battle with cancer and bore witness to her powerful testimony of faith,” the post read.
Phelan graduated from high school in May 2024, and days before starting her freshman year of college, was diagnosed with an inoperable stage four malignant brain tumor, a GoFundMe for her states.
She first took to TikTok in August to share a medical update, saying in a video she began having a myriad of symptoms, starting with numbness in the left side of her face and right leg for several weeks. An MRI revealed a lesion on her brain that was biopsied to determine if it was cancerous.
Phelan posted an update video stating that on September 5, she was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain tumor.
“This is definitely the hardest news I’ve ever received by all means,” she said in the video. “This is not easy. I’m just going to trust in the Lord and try to keep pushing forward.”
She continued to post about her medical journey, from her radiation and steroid treatments to physical therapy.
On May 14, in one of her last update videos, Phelan said her health had taken a turn for the worse, and her tumor had grown, making her unable to be operated on.
“It would take a miracle to fix me here on earth, but I’m not giving up yet,” she said.
Phelan was working as a receptionist at Georgia Skin Cancer and Aesthetic Dermatology, according to her obituary.
She is survived by her parents, William “Buddy” and Nadine Phelan, a brother, Harper David Phelan, and other family members. A funeral service will be held Thursday at Galilee Christian Church, of which Anna Phelan was a member.
“Thank you for the countless thousands of prayers for healing and peace,” her family said in a statement.
Memorial Day is here, and many of our favorite brands and retailers are offering major deals sitewide. The holiday’s typically a good time to save on home and kitchen appliances, mattresses and seasonal products, according to experts in our Memorial Day shopping guide. Experts also say that now might be a “pivotal moment” to get discounts on your favorite items before shrinking inventory and impending tariffs increase prices.
I’ve reported on holiday and daily sales at NBC Select for years — below are some of the best deals I’ve found so far. I’ll update this list with new deals, especially as prices and inventory change throughout the day.
Want more from NBC Select? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter.
The best Memorial Day 2025 deals to shop now
All of our recommendations are based on our previous coverage and reporting. We also included products we tried and tested ourselves, including expert-recommended products and NBC Select Award winners.
This is a noncomedogenic, mineral-based sunscreen so it’s particularly good for those with sensitive skin.
NBC Select updates editor Mili Godio loves EltaMD face sunscreen for sensitive skin because it’s free of heavy moisturizers that can clog pores or flare her rosacea-prone skin. Pair it with a body sunscreen like the EltaMD UV Sport SPF, and you’re ready for beach day.
This tablet is lightweight and the perfect travel and entertainment companion.
This is Apple’s most affordable iPad at the lowest price we’ve seen. I use my iPad for all things entertainment, mostly streaming (TV and movies), and for recipes and books. This model gets up to 10 hours of battery life, and has speakers on each side for a stereo audio feel.
This is a huge discount for a year of Peacock Premium.
You can get one year of Peacock Premium for $24.99, that’s 68% off the usual $79.99 price. Peacock is a streaming service with some of our favorite classic sitcoms like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”, newer original programming like “Poker Face” and breakout movies like “Wicked”. You can also watch select live sports as well as NBC and Bravo programming. This plan has ads, however.
This 430 piece Lego set is best for ages eight and up.
These cute Lego Cherry Blossoms are a fun alternative to flowers, especially if you aren’t exactly known for your green thumb. The set has two buildable cherry blossom twigs that are a little over 14 inches long, each with pink and white buds.
These are Oeko-Tex certified, which means it’s been independently tested for harmful substances.
This NBC Select Bed & Bath Award winner is our top pick for hot sleepers, and with summer right around the corner, it might be a good time to pick up a set. They are made from 100% long-staple cotton and come in sizes ranging from twin to California King. A set includes a top sheet, a fitted sheet and two pillowcases.
It’s easy to set up, simple to use, and small enough for most spaces.
This is one of our favorite air purifiers for small spaces. NBC Select commerce editor Lindsay Schneider received this unit from the brand and it’s been the clear favorite of all the air purifiers she’s tested. One great feature is the built-in light — it changes color depending on the air quality detected in your space, and it can act as a warm-colored night light. The filters last a full year before needing replacement.
Buying this through Lessa’s website gives you two pillows and a sheet set at no additional cost.
I purchased this mattress on sale during Memorial Day 2023, and it’s the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever owned. It’s a hybrid mattress with six distinct layers, including a breathable top foam layer and supportive wrapped spring layer towards the bottom. It’s firm, plush, supportive and quiet.
This fully-featured lightweight vacuum also comes in two colors.
Levoit is better known for its air purifiers, but this cordless vacuum from the brand checks a lot of boxes and is on sale for less than $150. It’s super lightweight at 3.2 pounds, easy to convert into a smaller handheld vacuum, and has headlights on the main cleaning brush to better see dust and debris. It also gets up to 50 minutes of run time, longer than most other vacuums at this price.
Vivid image quality and wide viewing angles make this an excellent TV for movies, sports and games.
Don’t let the 7% off Amazon tag fool you, this is the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the LG C4, one of the best TVs you can buy. This 65-inch version originally launched in 2024 for $2,699.99 — you can grab it today for almost half that price. I always recommend buying last year’s TVs, like this one, as you can get a much better deal than buying current models (the 2025 65-inch LG C5, for example, costs more than $2,000 right now).
You’ll get the best deals on the clear and light blue colors.
Lifestraw makes some of our favorite water pitchers, but they’re best known for on the go filtration like this Go Series water bottle. The membrane microfilter protects from contaminants like bacteria, parasites, microplastics, sand and dirt, and lasts for about 1,000 gallons of water, or about five years of daily use, according to the brand.
This is the best running watch for beginners on a budget.
If you’re looking to run your first race or build a consistent running routine, this is the best fitness tracker you can get. It has a ton of fitness and training features like daily exercise recommendations, race coaching plans, daily energy score and advanced running statistics. Plus, I averaged 10 days of use before needing to recharge it. You can learn more in my Garmin Forerunner 165 review.
This has a maximum weight capacity of up to 64 pounds.
Brands are increasing prices due to tariffs, and one big category we’re seeing price hikes in is baby gear. Thule has not announced price increases at this time — instead, we’re seeing up to 25% off sitewide, including on popular items like this Thule Spring stroller. It’s the most lightweight and compact stroller from the brand, with a three-wheel design that takes up less spaces when folded.
Traeger’swood pellet hopper can supply fuel for up to 20 hours of grilling.
This electric pellet grill uses wood pellets instead of gas or charcoal to create heat, and infuses a smoky, woody flavor to food. It has a large main cooking area plus an extra grill rack toward the back to keep cooked food warm (but not overcooked). It also has a small screen and dial that lets you adjust the temperature of the grill and view the temperature of the built-in food probe. The larger Traeger Pro 34 is also on sale, but is currently out of stock.
This is not the best deal we’ve seen for AirPods Max, but it matches its lowest price in three months.
The AirPods Max are the nicest (and priciest) Apple headphones you can buy, which is why any discount is worth highlighting. NBC Select editorial projects manager Rebecca Rodriguez has used her pair for more than two years — they’re the best headphones she’s ever owned, with excellent sound quality and noise cancelling features, plus a class-leading transparency mode.
More Memorial Day 2025 sales to shop now
Below are the best Memorial Day sales across categories you can shop now.
Best retailers sales
Amazon: Up to 35% off bestsellers, home, kitchen, beauty and more
I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology, fitness and deals. To round up the best Memorial Day sales, I found discounted products and retailer sales across the web, including products and brands recommended from previous NBC Select coverage.
Disclosure: Peacock is the streaming service of NBC News parent company NBCUniversal.
When Jeremiah Chamberlain and his wife, Harriet, started their 3D-printing business in March last year, tariffs weren’t high on their list of challenges to prepare for.
“We didn’t expect to have this type of panic arise,” said Chamberlain, the owner-operator of Corvidae Creations in Hammond, Louisiana. But in the months since President Donald Trump took office and kicked off a freewheeling global trade war, Chamberlain has spent a few thousand dollars more on 3D printers from China. Chinese-made goods currently face a U.S. tariff rate of at least 30%, down temporarily from 145% just weeks ago.
Chamberlain has already ditched a Chinese supplier after it raised the cost of bulk filament orders from $14.99 to $17.99 per roll. Leaning only on American and Canadian filament vendors has actually saved money, Chamberlain said, allowing him to lower some prices — and the Chinese firms wound up walking back some of their own price hikes anyway. But he’s had to do without certain color options since making the switch.
Corvidae Creations makes colorful toys using 3D printers imported from China.Courtesy Jeremiah Chamberlain
“The whole point of it, when we went into the toy production, was to make a durable, affordable toy for families and children,” he said, referring to his lineup of dragons, possums and dinosaurs. “Nothing’s going to make me raise prices unless it’s a matter of me having to shut the business down totally.”
The company is one of many across the country promising not to raise prices on customers despite Trump’s import taxes.
Some large corporations, like Home Depot, have ruled out price hikes for now, saying they have the flexibility to adapt. Others, including Nike and Walmart, plan to raise some prices, while Target this week called doing so a “very last resort.” Many other businesses are trying to hold firm, too, as consumers grow more pessimistic and hunt harder for bargains. The online clothing and home goods seller Quince recently told customers it’s committed to keeping prices steady “for as long as we can,” despite sourcing many items from China.
A White House spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Main Street shops and other small operators say they feel boxed in by the trade war. Some have been trying in the meantime to leverage “anti-tariff” promotions and other sales gambits. Many see the ever-changing U.S. duties as an existential threat that they’ll need customers’ help to survive. In a Main Street Alliance survey of small-business owners this spring, 81.5% said they’d have to raise prices to handle tariffs, and 31.5% said they’d lay off workers.
“When you go back and forth from 10% to 140% to 30%, and now you’ve got a blanket ambient tariff regime, it is impossible to plan,” said Richard Trent, executive director of the advocacy group, which represents over 30,000 small businesses. “Small-business owners are operating on such thin margins. The least that we could do is give them a modicum of stability.”
Some entrepreneurs see their duty to customers much the same way.
“I won’t be raising prices,” said Carla Minervini, who runs All Fired Up, a pottery studio in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. “I cannot do that to my community.”
Carla Minervini said she would rather close down her South Carolina pottery studio than raise prices.Courtesy Carla Minervini
Like Chamberlain, Minervini is doing her best to adapt. She has reassessed her product assortment and is working to sub in smaller versions of certain pieces or find alternatives in different shapes.
She also stocked up on materials earlier this year, anticipating price increases from tariffs. Her main supplier — which is based in the U.S. but imports items from China — announced a 7.25% across-the-board price hike starting in June, she said. Another supplier flagged coming increases, too, but hasn’t indicated when or by how much.
I would sell everything off and close my business and make a new life for myself before I would increase my prices.
Carla Minervini, owner of All Fired Up pottery studio, Pawleys Island, S.C.
Minervini is unwavering, though. “I would sell everything off and close my business and make a new life for myself before I would increase my prices,” she said.
For Dan Jones and his wife, Ashley, tariffs have meant fewer hands helping with Jeans Day Apparel, the clothing company they co-own in McCordsville, Indiana. The business — currently a side gig alongside the Joneses’ full-time jobs — sells custom tees, pants and accessories for schools, sports teams and events.
Jeans Day Apparel let go of the high schoolers who were helping out part time after materials costs rose.Courtesy Dan Jones
Jones said costs for supplies like ink, printing paper and clothes have gone up 3% on average since March. But rather than raise prices, he and Ashley let go of the handful of high schoolers who typically help out part time to make apparel for $12 to $15 an hour.
“We have to be able to cut costs somewhere, and labor is the easiest place,” he said. The trims mean more work for Dan and Ashley, eating into their family time and pushing back plans to move the company out of the garage and into a storefront.
“We just don’t know what the future looks like,” he said. “It’s the unknown that’s very scary.”
Amy Grows, a retired U.S. Forest Service forestry technician and owner of Camas Creek Soap Company in Sagle, Idaho, doesn’t want to impose across-the-board price hikes.
Soapmaker Amy Grows is narrowing her product offering to head off impending cost increases.Courtesy Amy Grows
“I don’t think I need to do that to people,” she said. “It’s just soap.”
To keep her bars at about $6 apiece for as long as she can, Grows joined the wave of businesses and consumers that stockpiled goods earlier this year, hoping to get ahead of tariffs. But her suppliers have already warned of potential price increases, so she plans to reduce the varieties of soap she makes by around 25%, focusing on top-selling items. She’s also swapping out palm and olive oils for cheaper alternatives wherever she can.
“I’m trying to make a little money for me and give people a good product that they can afford,” Grows said.
Recognitions Awards and More in Aviston, Ill., plans to raise prices after suppliers hiked costs by 20%.Courtesy Amelia Morgan
Last month, all four of Amelia Morgan’s U.S. suppliers announced 20% price hikes on the plaques, trophies and other components her awards business depends on. Recognitions Awards and More, based in Aviston, Illinois, can’t eat the added costs of those materials for long, Morgan said.
She has held off on raising her own prices for weeks but expects she’ll need to finally give in sometime next month.
“We’ve got people who depend on us to be able to pay the mortgage, be able to buy groceries, make car payments,” Morgan said of the six workers she and her husband employ. “We have to make sure that we stay profitable.”
VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. — A British-South African endurance athlete is closing in on the finish line of his 62-mile (100-kilometer) multi-day swim around Martha’s Vineyard on Monday, aiming to become the first becoming the first person to swim all the way around the island.
Lewis Pugh began swimming multiple hours a day in the 47-degree (8-degree Celsius) water on May 15 to raise awareness about the plight of sharks as the film “Jaws” nears its 50th birthday. He wants to change public perceptions and encourage protections for the at-risk animals — which he said the film maligned as “villains, as cold-blooded killers.”
“It was a film about sharks attacking humans and for 50 years, we have been attacking sharks,” he said before plunging into the ocean near the Edgartown Lighthouse. “It’s completely unsustainable. It’s madness. We need to respect them.”
Pugh, 55, said this would be among his most difficult endurance swims, which says a lot for someone who has swum near glaciers and volcanoes, and among hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. Pugh was the first athlete to swim across the North Pole and complete a long-distance swim in every one of the world’s oceans.
But Pugh, who often swims to raise awareness for environmental causes — he’s been named a United Nations Patron of the Oceans — said no swim is without risk, and that drastic measures are needed to get his message across: Around 274,000 sharks are killed globally each day — a rate of nearly 100 million every year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Jaws,” which was filmed in Edgartown, renamed Amity Island for the movie, created Hollywood’s blockbuster culture when it was released in summer 1975, setting new box office records and earning three Academy Awards. The movie would shape views of the ocean for decades to come.
Both director Steven Spielberg and author Peter Benchley expressed regret that viewers of the film became so afraid of sharks, and both later contributed to conservation efforts as their populations declined, largely due to commercial fishing.
Day after day, Pugh has entered the island’s frigid waters wearing just trunks, a cap and goggles, enduring foul weather as a nor’easter dumped 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain on parts of New England and flooded streets on Martha’s Vineyard.
Pugh’s endeavor also coincides with the New England Aquarium’s first confirmed sighting this season of a white shark, off the nearby island of Nantucket. Just in case, he’s accompanied by safety personnel in a boat and a kayak, whose paddler is using a “Shark Shield” device to create a low-intensity electric field in the water to deter sharks without harming them.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the next few weeks in a high-stakes case that could affect transgender people’s access to transition-related care nationwide.
The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, concerns a law in Tennessee that prohibits certain care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and whether the restrictions are discriminatory on the basis of sex and transgender status.
A new documentary, “Heightened Scrutiny,” follows Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, as he represents trans youth, their families and a doctor who filed suit against the law in April 2023.Strangio became the first openly trans person to argue in front of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in December. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will show at NewFest, a queer film festival in New York, on May 29, and then at other film festivals across the country.
The film’s director, Sam Feder, said it is a follow-up to another documentary he directed called “Disclosure,” which was released in 2020 and evaluated how trans people are depicted in film and television.
“The motivation to make that film was to explore how the rise in visibility could lead to backlash,” Feder said. “I did not know it would be as terrifying as it is now.”
“Heightened Scrutiny” features interviews with trans activists including actress Laverne Cox, and with journalists including Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a writer for The New Yorker; Lydia Polgreen, a New York Times opinion columnist; and Gina Chua, one of the most high-profile trans media executives.
Much of the documentary focuses on the effects of increasing media coverage, particularly from The New York Times, on minors’ access to transition-related care.
Julie Hollar, a senior analyst at the media watchdog group FAIR, says in the documentary that she evaluated the Times’ front page coverage for 12 months, and during that time, she said, the Times “actually published more front page articles that framed trans people, the trans movement, as a threat to others than they did articles about trans people being threatened by this political movement.”
The New York Times did not respond to a request for comment.
Amy Scholder, who produced both “Heightened Scrutiny” and “Disclosure,” said that while researching media coverage of trans people over the last few years, she was astonished by how quickly much of the public appeared to go from celebrating trans visibility after “Disclosure” to questioning it.
“It was disconcerting how many avowed feminists were questioning health care for trans adolescents and questioning the participation of trans people in sports, and especially adolescents in sports — things that just seemed so against my understanding and experience of what it means to be a feminist,” she said.
She compared the public response to laws targeting trans youth to what she experienced during the AIDS epidemic, when people distanced themselves from the crisis because they didn’t think it affected them or didn’t want it to.
“Then the irony is,” Feder said, “people thought it didn’t affect them, but you chip away at anyone’s bodily autonomy and you’re chipping away at everyone’s bodily autonomy.”
The documentary shows that media coverage that is critical of transition care for minors has been referenced by state legislators trying to pass laws to restrict the care, and by states that are defending those laws in court, with Strangio saying at one point during the film that he had never previously seen news articles referenced so regularly as evidence in lawsuits.
Feder said the film was originally going to focus entirely on media coverage, but Strangio’s story allowed them to show viewers the real-world consequences of that coverage. They followed Strangio from July, just after the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the Skrmetti case, to Dec. 4, the day Strangio argued the case.
The film shows Strangio the day after the election, a month before his oral arguments at the high court, when he says he’s “had moments of ‘I can’t do this again,’ but then I wake up this morning and I think, ‘F— it, we fight.’”
“That’s part of what is so extraordinary about him — he has that fight in him,” Scholder said. “He knows how to be strategic, and he’s such a brilliant legal mind and has always reminded us that we’re going to take care of each other, and that these laws, for better or worse, will never actually take care of us.”
Feder said that going forward, he hopes the film provokes conversations about how laws restricting transition-related care could have widespread effects outside of the trans community. He also said he hopes people will “examine and understand how they want to be able to make decisions about their own body.”
“We’re seeing state after state ban abortion, and soon it’s going to be all contraception, and then it’s who are you going to be able to marry, do you have any privacy in your own home? It’s going there. This is one example of how we are a moment of complete civil liberty freefall,” he said.
