National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Lawsuit filed on behalf of fallen female firefighter
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The family of the first female firefighter to die in the line of duty in Philadelphia is suing 30 fire equipment manufacturers in connection with her December 2014 death.

Attorneys representing the estate of Lt. Joyce Craig filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages in excess of $50,000 in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas last week.

The suit alleges that the 11-year fire department veteran would’ve survived the Dec. 9, 2014 house fire that caused her death if the equipment that she was using was working properly.

Attorney David Kwass says Craig “literally went into the heat of battle without the proper resources to come out alive.”

The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health inspected Craig’s equipment following her death. The result of that inquiry remains unclear.

Illinois
Atheist who fought laws dies in plane crash
MARENGO, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois man who was one of the better-known atheists in the country and an activist for keeping religious and government affairs separate died in a plane crash last week, officials said Monday.

The McHenry County coroner said an autopsy Monday revealed that Robert I. Sherman, 63, of Poplar Grove, died from multiple crash injuries. Authorities said Sherman was piloting a small plane that crashed into a cornfield either Friday night or Saturday morning. The crash is under investigation.

Sherman was an outspoken atheist and critic of using state money for religious purposes and having religious displays in public spaces. He also hosted a radio show and ran for public office several times.

Legal challenges he filed included a 1989 lawsuit over an Illinois law requiring public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He said the words “under God” contained in the pledge were unconstitutional.

In 2007, he and his daughter, Dawn, sued over a state law requiring schools to have a moment of silence.

Sherman also took a case to the U.S. Supreme Court involving a 2008 state grant that went toward restoring an 11-story cross in southern Illinois known as the Bald Knob Cross of Peace.

Sherman was behind a 2002 federal lawsuit complaining that it was unconstitutional to read a prayer at a Sept. 11 memorial service hosted by Chicago’s mayor. A federal judge ruled against him.

In 2008, Sherman sued to stop then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to give a $1 million state grant to help Pilgrim Baptist Church, a historic landmark on Chicago’s South Side that had been badly damaged by fire.

Massachusetts
Lawyer demands college apologize after ban lifted
WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — A lawyer for one of two college students barred from their campus for taunting students at Hillary Clinton’s alma mater in Massachusetts is demanding an apology after the ban was removed.

Babson College students Edward Tomasso and Parker Rand-Ricciardi were accused of driving around the nearby all-women’s Wellesley College the day after the election, shouting racial and homophobic slurs and waving a Donald Trump flag.

The Boston Herald reports Babson told the students Sunday the ban had been lifted.

Rand-Ricciardi’s lawyer, Jeffrey Robbins, is calling on Babson to retract its statements questioning the duo. Robbins also wants an apology and internal harassment and disorderly conduct charges withdrawn.

Attorneys for Rand-Ricciardi and Tomasso declined to comment. Babson says it doesn’t comment on specific student conduct matters.

Florida
Judge asked to block part of abortion law
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge is being asked to block additional parts of a contentious Florida abortion law.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a lawsuit late Monday on behalf of several ministers, rabbis and organizations that provide abortion counseling services to women.

The lawsuit contends the law violates constitutional rights by requiring groups to register with the state and pay a fee if they advise or help women seek abortions. The lawsuit also challenges a provision requiring groups to tell women about alternatives to abortion.

Legislators passed the sweeping abortion measure during their 2016 session. A federal judge already blocked two parts of the law this past summer and the administration of Gov. Rick Scott didn’t appeal the decision. One part of the law required increased abortion clinic inspections.


Ohio
Court upholds death sentence of 72-year-old’s killer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a killer who strangled a 72-year-old man.

The court ruled 6-1 Tuesday to reject arguments raised by attorneys for Steven Cepec, sentenced to die for killing Frank Munz in Munz’s Medina County home in 2010.

The 47-year-old Cepec unsuccessfully argued that some of his statements to police should have been disallowed and that he had poor legal help.

The court also rejected arguments that a prosecutor improperly said a jury could consider the amount of force used during the crime.

The court set an execution date in 2021 but an actual execution is several more years away because of appeals and uncertainty over Ohio’s supply of lethal injection drugs.

Pennsylvania
Prosecutors seek death penalty in woman’s 2013 kidnap death
SCIOTA, Pa. (AP) — Prosecutors say they’ll pursue the death penalty against a man charged with kidnapping and killing a co-worker whose bones were found buried in his eastern Pennsylvania yard.

Monroe County District Attorney David Christine wants 49-year-old Michael Horvath killed if he’s convicted of first-degree murder.

Horvath has pleaded not guilty but was ordered to stand trial last month on charges of homicide, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse in the death of 41-year-old Holly Grim.

Grim was last seen in Lehigh County’s Lower Macungie Township in November 2013. She and Horvath had worked together at a company that makes church organs.

Police say bone fragments unearthed at Horvath’s Ross Township property were consistent with a gunshot wound to the chest, and say Horvath owned DVDs dealing with murder, sexually deviant behavior and “hunting humans.”