From the NYT:<\/p>\n
Florida: Lawsuit Alleges That Arrests Are Retaliation for Atheism. <\/strong>An atheist in Central Florida filed suit in Federal District Court in Tampa on Friday, accusing the Polk County sheriff, an evangelical Christian, of harassing and unnecessarily arresting her as retaliation for not believing in God and for her efforts to keep prayer out of public meetings. The suit, by EllenBeth Wachs, the legal coordinator for the group Atheists of Florida, said actions by the sheriff, Grady Judd, including two arrests and searches of her house, violated her First Amendment rights and her right to due process. The sheriff’s office declined to comment.<\/em><\/p>\n OK, so I’ll comment: good for Wachs. Second comment: once again I’m SO glad I live in NYS and not the South. Third comment: what is going on down there? Is every other person in Florida stupid?<\/p>\n Indiana: Immigration Law Blocked.<\/strong> United States District Judge Sarah Evans Barker granted a request for an injunction blocking provisions of Indiana’s new immigration law, which was approved this year by Republicans who control the Statehouse. Judge Barker called the provisions “seriously flawed.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and the National Immigration Law Center sued the state in May, contending that the law gives the police sweeping arrest powers against immigrants who have not committed crimes …”Today’s ruling can be seen as an indictment of the federal government on their failure to enact and enforce immigration policy,” Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n And from the Daily News:<\/p>\n He<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>gropes maid, but avoids jail.<\/strong> An Egyptian businessman pleaded guilty to sex abuse yesterday for smooching and pawing a hotel maid inside his $900-a-night room at the Pierre\u00a0\u2014 and scored a no-jail deal.<\/em><\/p>\n But Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar isn’t off the hook:The maid slapped a $5 million federal lawsuit on the 74-year-old former head of the Bank of Alexandria.<\/em><\/p>\n A lawyer for Omar said he won’t settle.<\/em><\/p>\n Oh he’ll settle.<\/p>\n Finest sues NYPD over beating by cops, sez he may have to retire. <\/strong>An NYPD officer claims in a lawsuit that he may be forced to retire due to a hand injury he sustained during a brutal beatdown by fellow officers outside his Queens home.<\/em><\/p>\n Larry Jackson contends the cops \u2014 who responded to a 911 call from his wife about a gun-wielding man who had crashed their daughter’s birthday party \u2014 mistook him for the perpetrator because he’s black.<\/em><\/p>\n Jackson was beaten with police batons, kicked and doused with pepper spray by unidentified cops from the 113th Precinct last summer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the NYT: Florida: Lawsuit Alleges That Arrests Are Retaliation for Atheism. An atheist in Central Florida filed suit in Federal District Court in Tampa on Friday, accusing the Polk County sheriff, an evangelical Christian, of harassing and unnecessarily arresting … Continue reading