National Roundup

Florida
Atheist group asks sheriff to reconsider slogan on cars
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A national association of atheists and agnostics wants a Florida sheriff to halt his plan to put the motto “In God We Trust” on the back of agency vehicles.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey defends his plan, saying it has the support of the community and that the change won’t cost taxpayers.

Florida Today reports that Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote to Ivey recently, saying it’s inappropriate and exclusionary for official county vehicles to be adorned with what the organization calls “a religious endorsement.”

Ivey feels the motto is appropriate for patrol vehicles.

He says federal courts have held that there’s nothing wrong with the slogan in that context. The new vehicle design also includes a U.S. flag on the front doors.

Illinois
Judge to rule in December on the fate of ex-officer
CHICAGO (AP) — A Cook County judge says he will rule in December on the fate of a former Chicago police officer accused of murder in the 2017 death of a man.

Prosecutors say Lowell Houser, then an off-duty Chicago Police Department officer, shot to death of 38-year-old Jose Nieves during an argument outside an apartment complex where the victim lived. The then 58-year-old Houser claims he acted in self-defense, saying Nieves made a threatening move.

In closing arguments, Assistant State’s Attorney Kenneth Goff told Judge William Gamboney he wished he had a dollar for every case that officers claimed the suspect was a gangbanger and “he reached for his waistband.”

Defense attorney Thomas Needham said the only person who knew details of the argument before the shooting was Houser. He noted prosecutors offered no one who contradicted Houser’s account.


Kentucky
State high court dismisses gay pride T-shirt case
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Supreme Court has sided with a print shop owner who refused to make a gay pride T-shirt because he says it was against his religious beliefs.

The state’s high court dismissed the claim after two lower courts also ruled in favor of Lexington print shop Hands-On Originals. The company declined a T-shirt order from Lexington’s Gay and Lesbian Services Organization for the city’s 2012 Gay Pride Festival. The design said “Lexington Pride Festival” on the front.

The high court ruled Thursday that the gay advocacy group lacked standing to make a claim against shop owner Blaine Adamson because the city’s gay rights law was written to protect individuals.

“While this result is no doubt disappointing to many interested in this case and its potential outcome, the fact that the wrong party filed the complaint makes the discrimination analysis almost impossible to conduct, including issues related to freedom of expression and religion,” the justices wrote in the ruling.

Adamson said after a hearing before the Supreme Court in August that the T-shirt “goes against my conscience.”

Lexington’s Human Rights Commission ordered Adamson in 2012 to print the shirts and attend diversity training. Adamson appealed and won rulings from the circuit court and state court of appeals. The appeals court said in 2017 the printing business was subject to the city’s fairness ordinance but nothing in that ordinance prohibits a private business “from engaging in viewpoint or message censorship.”

California
Court blocks immigration rules for LAPD safety grant
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court says the Trump administration can’t require Los Angeles police to cooperate with immigration agents in order to receive public safety grants.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling rejecting efforts to impose immigration enforcement requirements for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants.

The ruling is one of several that have blocked administration efforts to withhold money from sanctuary cities.

The administration sought to withhold the grant — a major funding source — unless the LAPD gave immigration agents access to city jails and advance notice of immigrants being released.

The city argued police shouldn’t have to enforce civil immigration policy and that immigrants who feared deportation would be less likely to cooperate with police or report crimes.

Maryland
Police: Man caught after robbing bank in front of officer
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Authorities in Maryland say a man suspected of several bank robberies was arrested after he robbed a bank in front of an off-duty police officer.

News outlets report 51-year-old Fletcher Dorsett was arrested Monday and charged with armed robbery, assault and theft.

Baltimore County police spokeswoman Jennifer Peach says Dorsett robbed a teller Monday by passing her a note demanding money.

Peach says an off-duty Baltimore County officer ran after Dorsett once the teller said she was robbed. Peach says the officer tackled Dorsett and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived.

Annapolis police said they were searching for Dorsett in connection with a Wells Fargo robbery on Oct. 16 and several other robberies nearby. He was released from prison last month for robbing a bank in 2007.

Washington
Rapist gets 17 years in federal prison for child pornography
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A convicted Spokane rapist has been sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison after a jury convicted him of possession and distribution of child pornography.

The Spokesman-Review reports 47-year-old Matthew L. Lane chose not to speak Thursday during the sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson.

Lane’s attorney, Karen Lindholdt, asked Peterson for a lesser sentence based on Lane having been abused as a child and because of his severe physical limitations caused by a serious collision in 2006.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Herzog said Lane’s criminal behavior and arrogance toward investigators warranted a tougher sentence.

According to court records, Lane used sophisticated electronic shredding software to delete the child pornography but the FBI was able to identify more than 600 images of known child pornography despite Lane’s efforts.