**The criminal case against the Southern Poverty Law Center in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama remains in pretrial proceedings as of late September 2026.** A federal grand jury returned an 11-count indictment in April 2026 charging wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering tied to the group’s informant payments from 2014–2023. Superseding indictments followed in June and August, adding a former SPLC official as a defendant. Judge Emily C. Marks denied the SPLC’s motion to dismiss on vindictive-prosecution grounds in August and set a joint trial for April 19, 2027. The organization has pleaded not guilty and contests the charges. With no trial or verdict scheduled before year-end, traders assign high probability to no conviction occurring in 2026.