Trayvon Martin’s mother asks Senate to curb ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws
(Reuters) – The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin urged a Senate panel to help rescind “Stand Your Ground” laws that have proliferated in state legislatures, granting gun owners wider latitude to use their weapons in self-defense.
U.S. adoptive mother gets 37 years for Ethiopian girl’s death
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – A U.S. woman was sentenced to 37 years in prison on Tuesday for starving her Ethiopia-born adopted daughter and leaving her to die outside in the cold in Washington state.
Rights groups say reach settlement with Alabama on immigration law
(Reuters) – Members of a coalition of civil rights groups said on Tuesday they reached a settlement with the state of Alabama to end a lawsuit challenging the state’s immigration law.
Five dead at four locations after shooting spree in Texas town
TERRELL, Texas (Reuters) – A man suspected of shooting to death his mother, aunt and three others in four locations was charged with murder on Tuesday after a manhunt and high-speed car chase through the Texas town of Terrell, law enforcement authoriti…
U.S. lawmakers call for action to curb Internet child trading
CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers called Tuesday for federal action to prevent parents from giving unwanted adopted children to strangers met on the Internet, and the Illinois attorney general urged Facebook and Yahoo to police online groups where chi…
Florida death row inmates challenge execution drug
MIAMI (Reuters) – Seven Florida death row inmates on Tuesday sued the state, saying a new three-step lethal injection procedure could inflict “cruel and unusual punishment” and called on a court to halt executions until the procedure is reviewed.
Lesbians seek class action against Virginia gay-marriage ban
HARRISONBURG, Virginia (Reuters) – Lawyers for two lesbian couples suing the state of Virginia in an effort to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday asked the federal judge hearing the case to certify it as a class action representing all ga…
Slow Obamacare site repairs may limit coverage, savings
(Reuters) – If technical problems with the U.S. government’s new healthcare website are not fixed in November, hundreds of thousands of Americans could lose easy access to lower-cost coverage, jeopardizing the Obama administration’s goal of making affo…
Body parts found at L.A. treatment plants thought to be murder victim
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Human body parts found at two separate waste treatment plants 20 miles apart in Los Angeles likely belong to the same dismembered murder victim, authorities said on Tuesday.
Justice presides over gay wedding ceremony at Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four months after the Supreme Court issued two major rulings on gay marriage, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Tuesday presided over a same-sex wedding ceremony at the court building.
