NYC jail routinely violates rights of teen inmates: DOJ
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York City Department of Correction has routinely violated the constitutional rights of male teenagers at the Rikers Island jail complex through a “culture of violence” that relies on beatings, the federal government said in…
Man killed, homes damaged in Southern California mudslides
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mudslides and flash floods that raged through Southern California mountains following heavy rains killed one man, damaged homes and cut off a foothill community, leaving rescuers clearing blocked roads and residents cleaning up …
Illinois lawmaker pleads guilty to tax charge; faces up to a year in prison
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois state Representative La Shawn K. Ford, who was charged two years ago with bank fraud, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to a substantially less serious misdemeanor charge of filing a false 2007 tax return.
N.J.’s high court rejects rap lyrics as evidence in attempted murder trial
(Reuters) – The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new trial for a man whose attempted murder conviction was challenged because prosecutors used rap lyrics the man had authored as evidence against him.
Pennsylvania mother smells foul odor, finds son died 4 days earlier
HARRISBURG Pa. (Reuters) – A mother, alerted by a foul odor, found out her son died four days earlier in their Pennsylvania home, and on Monday an autopsy was under way and the boy’s father remained jailed in the case.
Guantanamo judge refuses to recuse himself in warship bombing trial
FORT MEADE Md. (Reuters) – A military judge refused on Monday to recuse himself from the death penalty case of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of organizing the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship Cole.
Syracuse, University of Iowa crowned as U.S.’s top party schools
BOSTON (Reuters) – New York’s Syracuse University edged out the University of Iowa for the crown of top party school in the United States, according to an annual ranking released on Monday by test-prep company the Princeton Review.
Florida same-sex marriage ban struck down in third case
TAMPA Fla. (Reuters) – A Florida judge on Monday struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban in a ruling centered around whether a woman who entered into a civil union in another state could get divorced.
A dozen Washington homes burn in aggressive West Coast wildfire season
SEATTLE (Reuters) – A newly sparked wildfire was burning unchecked on Monday in central Washington state, charring about a dozen homes and threatening wide evacuations as crews scrambled to contain the blaze in an unusually destructive fire season on t…
California’s new state budget emphasizes funding for education
(Reuters) – California’s newest budget package of $152.3 billion in state spending emphasizes large increases for education, pays down debts, and proposes a 32-year plan to fully fund the teachers’ pension system, the state’s nonpartisan fiscal and pol…
