Pennsylvania
Governor signing law in response to Abu-Jamal talk
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spurred by outcry over a recent commencement speech by a man convicted of killing a police officer, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is scheduled to sign a bill Tuesday designed to prevent people convicted of crimes from causing their victims additional “mental anguish.”
The measure won approval in the state legislature last week after Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer, delivered a pre-recorded commencement address to graduates of Goddard College in Vermont earlier this month.
“Nobody has the right to continually taunt the victims of their violent crimes,” Corbett said days after the speech.
Under the bill, prosecutors or victims of a personal injury crime would be able to file a lawsuit and seek an injunction or other court-ordered relief when an offender’s conduct “perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime.”
That conduct, the bill says, includes causing “a temporary or permanent state of mental anguish.”
Critics have called the measure vague, overbroad and a violation of constitutionally protected free speech.
Reggie Shuford, the executive director of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, said the bill leaves “unclear what behavior is prohibited.”
“Essentially, any action by an inmate or former offender that could cause ‘mental anguish’ could be banned by a judge,” Shuford said in a statement. “That can’t pass constitutional muster under the First Amendment.”
Abu-Jamal is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole in the death of Officer Daniel Faulkner, who had pulled over his brother in an overnight traffic stop.
Prosecutors dropped a bid to reinstate the former radio reporter and Black Panther’s death sentence three years ago.
Corbett, a Republican former attorney general facing a tough re-election fight, planned to sign the bill at the Center City intersection where Faulkner was killed. The officer’s widow, Maureen, was expected to join him.
Abu-Jamal attended tiny Goddard in Plainfield, Vermont, briefly in the 1970s and studied remotely through the institution from death row. He didn’t mention Faulkner or the shooting in his taped speech to 21 graduates.
In the past, Abu-Jamal has portrayed himself as a victim of a racist justice system, drawing international support.
Nevada
Fighters suing Mayweather over cable TV bout
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two fledgling professional fighters in Las Vegas are suing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and producers of a cable TV show, alleging they never consented to be part of a promotional training bout depicted as a “dog house” fight that was supposed to last until someone quit.
Hashim Rahman Jr. and younger brother Sharif Rahman accuse Showtime Networks and Mayweather of profiting at their expense.
The lawsuit filed last week in Nevada state court seeks unspecified monetary damages of more than $10,000 from the New York-based network and Mayweather, who goes by the nickname “Money.”
Mayweather’s attorney, Mark Tratos, declined to comment.
Showtime officials didn’t immediately respond to a message.
The lawsuit also accuses Mayweather of lying Sept. 23 in testimony before the Nevada State Athletic Commission about the “All Access” show at his gym.
Pennyslvania
Court suspends justice over role in porn scandal
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday suspended one of its members over his participation in a state government pornographic email scandal that involved employees of the attorney general’s office.
The court justices issued an order saying Justice Seamus McCaffery may not perform any judicial or administrative duties while the matter is reviewed by the Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct.
The main order also noted allegations about McCaffery’s actions related to a traffic citation received by his wife, who is a lawyer, and referral fees she obtained while working for him as an administrative assistant. It also noted he “may have attempted to exert influence over a judicial assignment” in Philadelphia.
The Judicial Conduct Board was given a month to determine whether there is probable cause to file a misconduct charge against McCaffery, a Philadelphia Democrat elected to the seven-member bench in 2007.
McCaffery’s lawyer, Dion Rassias, said they were confident he will be cleared and will soon return to the bench.
The court’s action followed disclosures last week by Chief Justice Ronald Castille, a Republican, that McCaffery had sent or received 234 emails with sexually explicit content or pornography from late 2008 to May 2012. McCaffery apologized, calling it a lapse in judgment, but blasted Castille for “a vindictive pattern of attacks” against him.
A third justice, Michael Eakin, also a Republican, on Friday went public with a claim McCaffery had threatened to leak “inappropriate” emails Eakin had received if he didn’t side with McCaffery against Castille.
McCaffery denied threatening Eakin, who reported the matter to the Judicial Conduct Board. Neither Eakin nor McCaffery participated in the court’s decision.
Castille was among the four justices voting to suspend McCaffery with pay, along with Max Baer, Corry Stevens and Thomas Saylor. Justice Debra Todd dissented, saying she would have referred the matter, including the question of suspension, to the Judicial Conduct Board.
An internal review of how state prosecutors handled a child molestation case involving former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky turned up the email exchanges of pornographic images and videos. Four former employees of the prosecutors’ office have left their government jobs as a result.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who promised the Sandusky review during her 2012 campaign, has said current employees of the attorney general’s office also sent or received the emails and could face discipline.
Castille, responding to news reports that judges were involved, demanded any information Kane had concerning the participation of any justice, judge or district judge. Kane, a Democrat, turned over the emails linked to McCaffery, and Castille disclosed the results last Wednesday, saying no other justices were involved.
Castille said McCaffery sent most of the emails to an agent in the attorney general’s office, who then forwarded them to others.
McCaffery said “coarse language and crude jokes” were simply a part of his life as a Philadelphia policeman and a Marine.
