Pennsylvania: County wants judge to nix music church suit
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A southwestern Pennsylvania county wants a federal judge to dismiss as "frivolous" a civil rights lawsuit filed in October by a self-described church whose worship services consisted of jam band concerts.
William Pritts and his Church of Universal Love and Music sued Fayette County over an August 2009 drug raid in which 22 people were arrested and the church's zoning rights to hold the concerts was rescinded as a result. Pritts claims the drug raid violated the "good faith" of an earlier settlement allowing the church to hold 12 concerts a year, but the county says the current suit was filed to harass the county.
Pritts first sued in 2006 saying zoning restrictions that stopped the concerts violated his religious freedom. The county settled the suit for $75,000 and allowed Pritts to host 12 concerts a year -- provided illegal drugs weren't allowed.
Pennsylvania: Judge barred from contact with lawyer
YORK, Pa. (AP) -- The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office is investigating allegations against a central Pennsylvania judge that resulted in a public defender being granted a temporary protection from abuse order.
Assistant public defender Janan Tallo says York County Judge Thomas Kelley VI slammed her to the floor during an argument earlier this month. Tallo says she sustained a broken elbow and other injuries.
Kelley's attorney calls the allegations "unfounded and false."
A judge in neighboring Adams County granted the temporary order Monday afternoon. A spokesman for the attorney general's office says and investigation is under way.
Missouri: Parents sue over fatal stabbing at homeless center
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The parents of a 21-year-old man who was stabbed to death at a St. Louis homeless shelter are suing the shelter.
Jeremy Dunlap was stabbed by another homeless man on Feb. 12, 2008, at New Life Evangelistic Center. Robert Gamble was convicted of murder and is serving a 30-year sentence.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Dunlap's parents filed separate suits Monday in St. Louis Circuit Court. His mother claims the center failed to check or screen residents for weapons and did not have adequate security. His father's suit acknowledges security workers but claims they were negligent.
A New Life spokesman says the center has not seen the suit, but says additional security officers now work on the floor where the men sleep.
The petition seeking the order says Tallo and Kelley had a personal relationship.
North Carolina: Former Bragg soldier wants death sentence vacated
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- A former Fort Bragg soldier convicted of rape and murder wants his death sentence to be overturned.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that Ronald Gray has asked the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to strike down his convictions.
Gray was sentenced to death in 1988 after a military jury convicted him in the deaths of two women. The former 82nd Airborne soldier was also sentenced to eight life prison terms by civilian courts for two other deaths.
Gray's petition argues that he had ineffective lawyers and that his court-martial was unconstitutional.
Gray's execution has been delayed while he appeals.
Vermont: Court upholds cop's action on noisy preacher
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- An appellate court has upheld a Vermont ruling dismissing a First Amendment challenge by a sidewalk preacher who was given a warning by Burlington police for being too loud.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, ruled Monday against William Ray Costello, who was issued a warning by police in 2007 for yelling on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace, in violation of the city's noise ordinance.
A police officer told Costello to lower his voice, but Costello said he had a right to preach the gospel with a loud voice. After being given a written warning, he filed a civil suit challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance.
California: Suit challenges ban on paying bone marrow donors
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- A nonprofit organization that wants to offer money to people with rare bone marrow cell types is challenging a federal lawsuit that makes compensating such donors a crime.
Lawyers for MoreMarrowDonors.org, along with families seeking matching donors and medical expert on bone marrow transplants, are scheduled to argue their case Tuesday in front of a 9th U.S. Court of Appeals panel.
The plaintiffs want to change part of the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act, which prohibits the sale of body organs, including bone marrow cells. They contend Congress made a mistake when it passed the law, which was intended to prevent a marketplace for irreplaceable organs such as kidneys or livers.
They argue that unlike those organs, bone marrow cells replenish themselves a few weeks after they're donated.
The government is seeking to dismiss the case.
The nonprofit's lawsuit claims the federal law violates the plaintiff's constitutional right for equal protection, because it arbitrarily allows compensation for renewable or plentiful cells such as blood, eggs and sperm, but not bone marrow cells.
Those cells inside the bone marrow produce the blood cells needed to treat leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.
Minority and mixed-race patients have a lower likelihood than whites of finding a genetic match from the U.S. bone marrow donor registry.
The board members of MoreMarrowDonors.org, which include a black man suffering from leukemia who's had a difficulty finding a compatible donor, want to give $3,000 in scholarship, rent or mortgage payment or a donation to the charity of the donor's choice.
The nonprofit, however, has not given any money because it's worried that doing so could land its members in federal prison for up to five years.
An attorney with the Institute for Justice who is arguing for the plaintiffs said they're only trying to compensate those who are willing to donate marrow cells, a procedure similar to giving blood but requires several days of injections to push marrow cells into the bloodstream.
"We're not asking you to undergo some kind of dangerous surgery," Jeff Rowes said. "What we're paying for is the time and the inconvenience of coming in and doing something useful for somebody else. Because marrow cells are renewable, the donor is not giving anything up forever."
Published: Wed, Feb 16, 2011
