National Roundup

Missouri
Court: Worship act violates First Amendment
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that the House of Worship Protection Act, which bans anyone from intentionally disturbing the order or solemnity of a house of worship through profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior, is a violation of the First Amendment.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis-based court ruled against the state law Monday after the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit challenging the law in 2012.

The lawsuit was on behalf of various groups, including the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The groups argued that the First Amendment protects their freedom to protest, pray and distribute literature outside places of worship.

Under the law, which took effect in 2012, anyone who violated the act is guilty of a misdemeanor and faces months of jail time. Third and subsequent charges are felonies.

When the lawsuit was filed, American Civil Liberties legal director Tony Rothert cited the severe sentences that were handed down to members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot for their political protest inside a Russian Orthodox Church.

“In Missouri, Pussy Riot wouldn’t have to set one foot inside a church to land in jail because the House of Worship Protection Act makes it a criminal act simply to protest on a sidewalk near a church,” Rothert said.


Hawaii
Former justice endows UH scholarship
HONOLULU (AP) — A retired state Supreme Court justice and his wife have endowed a new scholarship at the University of Hawaii’s law school.

The university announced Monday the scholarship by Simeon Acoba Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Acoba, will go toward tuition payments at the law school, with a preference for students who attended public high schools.

The Acobas are products of Hawaii public schools. The retired judge is a Farrington High School graduate, while his wife is an alumna of Roosevelt High School. They both attended the University of Hawaii.

Acoba retired last year from the Hawaii Supreme Court, where he served since May 2000.


Washington
Order bars man from smoking inside his home
WASHINGTON (AP) — A temporary order by a Superior Court judge is keeping one man from lighting up inside his home in the District of Columbia.

WJLA-TV reports that Edwin Gray’s next door neighbors in northeast Washington have filed a civil suit claiming that they are being harmed by smoke that sneaks into their home through a hole in the basement. They are seeking an injunction and $500,000 in damages.

Now Gray, who loves a cigarette to relax, must smoke outside.

A judge issued a temporary injunction last week saying neither Gray nor any family or guests may smoke in the home the family has owned for 50 years.

In court filings and a statement given to WJLA-TV, the neighbors said they tried to work with Johnson and Gray, and filed suit when mediation attempts failed. The plaintiffs are listed in court records as Brendan and Nessa Coppinger.

Johnson said they will fight.

“If this judge has done this, who will be next? What other neighbor will be next?” Johnson asked.

D.C. real estate attorney and Washington Post columnist Benny Kass said he was surprised to learn of the injunction.

“I think it’s an excellent precedent to start, so people can realize you can’t just ignore your neighbor,” Kass said. “Your home is no longer your castle.”

Kass believes this decision may set a precedent for public nuisances in the District.

“I think this is going to open the door to a lot of thinking, a lot of cases,” Kass said. “I gotta believe once this comes out there’s going to be 100 cases filed in Superior Court tomorrow.”

New Mexico
Ex-cop may claim self-defense in fatal shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A former Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputy accused of killing another deputy may argue he acted in self-defense.

A court document filed Monday by an attorney for former Deputy Tai Chan said Chan’s defense needs Sheriff’s Department employment and psychological records for the deputy who was killed because they’d be essential for a self-defense claim.

Chan is charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty. He’s accused of fatally shooting 29-year-old Jeremy Martin last October after they went drinking in Las Cruces where they were staying after transporting a prisoner.

Defense attorney John Day said he might argue that Martin had “a “proclivity to violence.”

The Sheriff’s Department is fighting release of the records.

Indiana
Judge rejects bid to set aside in vitro verdict
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a Roman Catholic diocese’s request that he set aside a jury’s finding that it discriminated against a former teacher fired for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

The Journal Gazette reports  U.S. District Judge Robert Miller said in Monday’s ruling that “the evidence supports” December’s verdict favoring former diocese teacher Emily Herx.

Jurors found the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend violated Herx’s civil rights when it declined to renew her contract after she underwent in vitro fertilization in hopes of having a second child.

The diocese says the Catholic Church teaches the medical procedure which involves mixing eggs and sperm and transferring the resulting embryo into the womb, is an intrinsic evil that no circumstances can justify.


Illinois
Indictment sought against school head
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (AP) — Authorities in Cook County say grand jury indictments will be pursued against the head of a suburban Chicago Islamic school who is charged with sexual assault.

Assistant State’s Attorney David Shin tells the Chicago Tribune that he will present evidence to a grand jury later this week in the case of 75-year-old Mohammad Abdullah Saleem of Gilberts. Separately, Saleem is due in court Tuesday on charges of sex abuse and battery of a female school employee. The charges were filed last month.

Shin said Saleem posted bond and was released. Saleem’s attorney has denied the allegations. Shin says Saleem was ordered not to have contact with the victim or anyone under age 18, and surrender his passport.

Saleem also faces a civil lawsuit in connection with the case.