VIRGINIA
Judge upholds much of new gun background check law
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge on Tuesday upheld much of a new state law that expands background checks for gun buyers but issued an injunction preventing it from being enforced on buyers between 18 to 20 years old.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring intends to appeal the injunction, his office said in a statement.
The law was one of seven gun control measures passed by the new Democratic majority at the General Assembly this year. It requires a background check for any gun sale, even between private individuals.
The judge wrote that the act was “facially valid,” “valid based on historical justifications” and “facially constitutional.” But he wrote that the state is currently unprepared to administer it in a way that does not infringe on the right of adults under 21 to buy a handgun.
That’s because federal law does not allow a federally licensed firearm dealer to sell a handgun to anyone under 21, or to run a background check on a person attempting to make such a purchase, Herring’s office said.
“Universal background check systems only work if they are truly universal, and we believe this potentially dangerous judicially created loophole is without basis in the law,” Herring said in a statement. “So while the judge agreed with nearly all of our arguments and largely upheld the law, we believe that this injunction, though limited and narrow, is worthy of higher review.”
The lawsuit was filed in late June in Lynchburg Circuit Court by the Virginia Citizens Defense League and five other plaintiffs.
WEST VIRIGINIA
Attorney general sues over alleged egg price gouging
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed suit Tuesday against an egg supplier for alleged price gouging during the coronavirus pandemic.
Morrisey said Green Valley Poultry Farms owner Dutt & Wagner of Virginia Inc. charged grocery stores more than 200% above normal prices for wholesale eggs earlier this year. In some cases, prices were raised nearly 300%, according to the attorney general.
The civil case accuses the company of violating the state’s consumer protection act and seeks restitution for consumers, civil penalties for violations of a price gouging statute and an injunction to prevent such conduct.
Dutt & Wagner of Virginia Inc. declined to comment on the suit.
IOWA
Judge denies request to delay drug kingpin’s execution
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has denied an Iowa drug kingpin’s requests to delay his execution, which is scheduled for Friday.
U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand wrote Tuesday that he would not intervene to delay Dustin Honken’s execution date due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said the Bureau of Prisons was in the best position to weigh the health risks against the benefits of carrying out the execution.
Strand also denied Honken’s motion to declare his execution void due to an alleged procedural error by the government. He affirmed the executive branch’s power to set the date for executions.
Honken, 52, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The government executed a federal inmate Tuesday for the first time in 17 years. A second execution is scheduled Wednesday.
Honken is facing execution for the 1993 slayings of five people in the Mason City area. Prosecutors say Honken killed them in an attempt to thwart an investigation into his methamphetamine trafficking business.
Also Tuesday, a federal judge in Indiana denied a request by Honken’s spiritual adviser to put the execution on hold. The adviser, a Catholic priest, had asked to delay the execution until after the pandemic recedes.
NEW JERSEY
Judge nixes theater chains’ challenge to closure, for now
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request by several national theater chains to issue an order allowing them to reopen in New Jersey.
AMC, Cinemark and others sued New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate the Democrat’s executive order keeping theaters closed due to concerns over COVID-19.
In the suit filed last week, they had argued that they were being treated unfairly because Murphy has allowed other large gatherings, such as religious ceremonies, to resume. The failure to allow theaters to reopen while houses of worship and other public entities are allowed to constitutes a violation of the theaters’ rights to free speech, equal protection and due process, the suit alleged.
The suit was the first of its kind brought against a state challenging COVID-19 restrictions.
The plaintiffs didn’t satisfy “the stringent standards for granting this extraordinary relief,” U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti wrote. He added that “it is noteworthy that, as Plaintiffs file this application, states that initially ordered the re-opening of indoor movie theaters have once again ordered their closure in response to rising COVID-19 infection numbers.”
Martinotti ordered the two sides to file briefs by the end of the month and scheduled a hearing for next month.
NEW YORK
Entrepreneur’s dismembered body found in luxury condo
NEW YORK (AP) — The dismembered body of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur was found inside his luxury Manhattan condo, police said Wednesday.
The victim, identified as Fahim Saleh, was found at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday inside his apartment on the Lower East Side.
Saleh was the chief executive officer of a ride-hailing motorcycle startup called Gokada that began operating in Nigeria in 2018.
The company confirmed his death on Twitter Wednesday and said, “Fahim was a great leader, inspiration and positive light for all of us.”
Authorities said a relative called police after going to check on Saleh and making the gruesome discovery. Police have made no arrests in the killing.
Apartments in the 10-story building where Saleh’s remains were found sell for more than $2 million. The building was completed in 2017 as part of a wave of gentrification in the once-gritty neighborhood.
