National Roundup

Ohio
Judge ruled in contempt for barring paper
CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio appeals court has ruled a juvenile court judge in contempt for barring Cincinnati Enquirer reporters from covering the cases of six teens charged with beating a man.
The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals on Tuesday gave Hamilton County Juvenile Judge Tracie Hunter until Thursday afternoon to reverse her earlier order against allowing Enquirer coverage of proceedings. A message was left for her Wednesday morning.
The Enquirer reports that it considered Hunter’s earlier order against publishing the juveniles’ names a violation of the First Amendment press freedom rights. Editor Carolyn Washburn says The Enquirer is pleased that the judge has been required to comply with the law.
The juveniles were charged last summer with badly beating a man police said they targeted because they were bored.

Florida
Death row inmate to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The attorney for a man scheduled to die by lethal injection says he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
John Errol Ferguson is set for execution on Aug. 5.
Ferguson’s attorney Christopher Handman wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that his client has a “documented history of severe mental illness” and shouldn’t be executed.
Ferguson was convicted of killing eight people in South Florida in two separate incidents in 1977 and 1978.
Scott announced the new execution date for the 65-year-old Ferguson on Tuesday.
Scott initially signed Ferguson’s death warrant last fall, scheduling him to die Oct. 16. But appeals at the state and federal level kept the execution from moving forward.

Virginia
Norfolk couple challenges Va. gay marriage ban
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Norfolk couple is challenging Virginia’s gay marriage ban.
Timothy B. Bostic and Tony C. London say in a federal lawsuit that they were turned down when they tried to obtain a marriage license at the Norfolk Circuit Court on July 1.
Their lawsuit argues that Virginia’s unequal treatment of gays and lesbians denies them equal protection and liberties guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
The lawsuit names as defendants Gov. Bob McDonnell, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk George E. Schaefer. It was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

Tennessee
In God We Trust’ sign unveiled at courthouse
CLINTON, Tenn. (AP) — The first of four plaques bearing the national motto “In God We Trust” has been installed at an East Tennessee courthouse.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that about 175 people attended a ceremony Tuesday at the Anderson County Courthouse to see the black granite plaque unveiled.
Plans for the signs had attracted attention during earlier discussions with some people expressing concerns about the separation of church and state.
However, county commissions approved plans to move forward with the installation. Private funding paid for the cost to create and the install the plaques.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank says the other signs will be installed later this week.

Arizona
Court declines to hear election money case
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court is declining to consider a lawsuit aiming to block an increase in state campaign-contribution limits.
The justices without comment on Tuesday turned away the special-action suit filed last week by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, commissioner Louis Hoffman, the Arizona Advocacy Network and Democratic state Rep. Victoria Steele.
The plaintiffs can start over by filing the lawsuit anew with a lower court.
They said state lawmakers were wrong to raise campaign-contribution limits by up to 10 times the current caps without asking voters to approve the move.
Legislators who favored the bill argued Arizona’s contribution limits are too low.

Mississippi
Judge dismissed former deputy’s lawsuit over firing
ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former Lee County deputy who alleged he was fired because he talked to reporters about a New Year’s Eve bar fight.
Rodricus Carltez Hurst argued in his lawsuit that the firing violated his rights to free speech when he responded to a question from reporters on Jan. 1, 2012, that Mississippi State University football player Chad Bumphis of Tupelo had been arrested after the fight, then released on his own recognizance.
The sheriff’s department has a policy of employee termination for releasing information without authorization.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled Tuesday that as a matter of law that Hurst was a public employee in official duties when he engaged in the speech.
She said even if Hurst was a private citizen, the type of speech he engaged in does not qualify for First Amendment protection because it was not of great public concern.
“The case might have been a matter of public concern if the speech had been about a football player from Mississippi State being roughed up by jail employees,” Aycock said. “That wouldn’t be because he was a football player at Mississippi State but because it would expose alleged jail abuse.”

Washington
Charge dropped against man who shot pit bull
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gun charge has been dropped against a man who used an unregistered handgun to shoot a dog attacking a boy.
The Washington Post reports that a D.C. Superior Court judge accepted prosecutors’ motion Tuesday to dismiss the charge against Ben Srigley.
Srigley’s 9mm Ruger P90 was purchased legally in Virginia, but never registered in the District. In January, three pit bulls attacked a boy on the street outside Srigley’s home and he shot one to death. A police officer shot and killed the other two.
The boy’s life was saved, but Srigley was left with legal troubles. In a deal with prosecutors, Srigley agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and register his handgun and two long guns in storage after his planned move to Maryland.