Massachusetts: Justice Souter to speak at Harvard commencement
BOSTON (AP) — Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter will return to his alma mater this week to speak at Harvard’s commencement.
Souter will speak Thursday at Harvard’s 359th commencement, during the afternoon exercises, which serve as the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Souter graduated from Harvard College in 1961 and received a degree from Harvard Law School in 1966.
The 70-year-old Souter retired last year after nearly two decades on the Supreme Court. Since then, he has pushed to help New Hampshire promote civics education in the public schools.
Souter was born in Massachusetts and moved to New Hampshire at age 11.
Indiana: High school won’t screen students’ grad speeches
GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) — A central Indiana high school that was the subject of a lawsuit over a graduation prayer says it is breaking with tradition and will not screen speeches by speakers at its May 28 commencement.
In the past, Greenwood High School’s principal has required student speakers to submit their speeches in advance to review the content, grammar and length. Most schools in the nation follow similar practices.
But Greenwood is lifting the practice this year, and school officials say speakers will not be stopped even if they use profane language or deliver politically charged speeches.
School officials would not comment on the reason for the change.
“It’s the First Amendment, freedom of speech,” Superintendent David Edds said.
School board president Joe Farley said in a statement that the board expects the students to be “responsible and respectful of others” while giving their speeches. The speeches typically last three to four minutes each.
The decision comes after a federal judge ruled in favor of valedictorian Eric Workman, who filed a lawsuit against the district saying a school-sanctioned prayer at graduation and a student poll leading to it were unconstitutional. A majority of students voted in favor of a prayer.
Workman is one of the commencement speakers.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker on April 30 issued a preliminary injunction against the school, saying the process in which students voted to have the prayer violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
The school did not appeal.
Barker’s ruling addresses only this year’s ceremony, and school officials have not discussed how to handle prayer at future school events.
Tennessee: Estate of inmate sues jail over last year’s death
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The estate of a deceased inmate has sued the Davidson County jail claiming a failure by the facility’s staff to meet the inmate’s medical needs led to his death.
Lawyer David Randolph Smith filed the federal lawsuit Friday on behalf of the estate of 52-year-old Roy Glenn Hall Jr., who died last year.
The Tennessean reported that Hall’s estate are suing Metro, Davidson County, the Sheriff’s Office, Correct Care Solutions, which has the contract for medical care, the sheriff’s officers involved and the nurses individually.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment. Efforts to reach representatives of Correct Care Solutions were unsuccessful.
Hall was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell at the Criminal Justice Center on May 24, 2009.
McTigue’s attorney told jurors he feared for his life and had no choice.
Prosecutors sought second-degree murder charges, saying McTigue was looking for a fight and deadly force wasn’t necessary.
Florida’s 2005 “Stand Your Ground” law allows the use of deadly force if someone is in fear for his or her life.
Massachusetts: New trial date to be set in Craigslist killing
BOSTON (AP) — A new date is expected to be set this week for the trial of a former Boston University medical student charged with killing a masseuse he met on Craigslist.
Philip Markoff has pleaded not guilty in the April 2009 fatal shooting of Julissa Brisman, of New York City, and the armed robbery four days later of a Las Vegas woman, both at Boston hotels. He has also been charged in an alleged attack on a stripper in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Markoff’s trial was expected to begin in June, but a new trial date is expected to be set Tuesday during a pretrial conference in Suffolk Superior Court.
Florida: Jury acquits shooter under ‘Stand Your Ground’ law
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A jury has acquitted under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law a Boynton Beach man who fatally shot an unarmed 23-year-old.
Timothy McTigue killed Michael Palmer in May 2007 after the two argued and fought at a boat dock. A witness said the fight spilled into the 12-foot water.
McTigue shot Palmer in the side of the head as Palmer, whose blood alcohol content was 0.29, got out of the water.
