National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Judge allows lawsuit against student loan servicer Navient
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a lawsuit alleging widespread abuse by student loan servicer Navient Corp. can go forward.

Navient is one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers. It had filed a motion to dismiss the majority of the counts in the lawsuit. It had claimed federal laws prohibit states from filing claims when a federal consumer protection lawsuit is pending regarding the same conduct.

Among the state’s claims is that Navient steered borrowers into repayment options that were not in their best interests.

A judge ruled Monday to let the suit proceed. Navient is facing similar lawsuits in at least four other states.

Pennsylvania’s attorney general’s office says the average debt for new graduates with student loans in the state is about $37,000, the second highest in the country.

North Carolina
Women filmed helping children smoke pot sentenced to jail
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Two women seen on social media video helping three children smoke marijuana in North Carolina have now been sentenced to jail time.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that 18-year-old Candice Little was found guilty of misdemeanor child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile on Monday. With time served and a partially suspended sentence, she’ll serve one day in jail.

Last month, 21-year-old Michaela Pearson pleaded guilty to the same charges, and was sentenced to serve less than a year in jail.

The pair were originally charged with felonies, but prosecutors reduced the charges because there wasn’t evidence their babysitting charges were seriously injured from smoking the marijuana.

Winston-Salem police say they got calls from as far as Louisiana regarding the video posted to Facebook.

South Carolina
No charges for woman who killed escapee in her home
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a South Carolina woman who shot and killed an escaped inmate who kicked in her door won’t be charged.

News outlets report the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that the homeowner wouldn’t face criminal charges in the shooting death of 30-year-old Bruce McLaughlin Jr. earlier this month.

The decision was made with guidance from the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Assistant Solicitor J. Baker Cleveland III said in the release that the homeowner’s actions “are a textbook example of what type of actions the Protection of Persons and Property Act seek to provide absolute criminal immunity for.”

Authorities haven’t released the homeowner’s identity. Sheriff Rick Clark previously said she had a concealed weapons permit and was home alone when McLaughlin broke in, armed with a knife.

Alabama
Woman, man get 30-year sentences in torture slaying
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A woman and a man convicted in the kidnapping and torture death of an Alabama woman three years ago have been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The Tuscaloosa News reports 25-year-old Alyssa Watson and 38-year-old Marcus George were sentenced Monday by a Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge. The two among the defendants convicted in the 2015 slaying of 29-year-old Samantha Payne maintained their innocence.

Attorney Steve Money represented Watson and said that she and George were not present when Payne was killed and took no part in the kidnapping. A jury had found both guilty of kidnapping and murder.

The capital murder case of David Belcher, who authorities believe is the main suspect in Payne’s killing, is set for trial next year. He could get the death penalty if convicted.

Oregon
Inmates sentenced for stealing ATV to escape from jail
BEND, Ore. (AP) — Two Oregon jail inmates have been incarcerated longer following an escape attempt that Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge A. Michael Adler says was “one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a while.”

The Bulletin reports 30-year-old Christopher Turre was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail, and 34-year-old Shawn McCallister was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office says the two men stole an all-terrain vehicle while on a work detail at the county’s horse rescue ranch in early November.

They drove through a gate and led police on a pursuit before crashing on a field.

Prosecutor Steve Gunnels says both men “were visibly intoxicated and admitted to drinking hand sanitizer.”

He says Turre was one week from release before the escape attempt.

Maryland
Settlement orders ‘anti-hate training’ for internet troll
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — An internet troll who harassed a black college student with racist messages on social media has agreed to a court settlement requiring him to get “anti-hate training,” apologize in writing and on video and publicly renounce white supremacy.

Tuesday’s settlement agreement would resolve Taylor Dumpson’s claims against one of the defendants she sued in April over an online harassment campaign orchestrated by a neo-Nazi website publisher.

The “troll storm” started after she became the first black woman to serve as American University’s student government president. Her suit says The Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin directed his site’s readers to cyberbully her.

Dumpson sued Anglin and two people who harassed her. Her settlement agreement is with Evan James McCarty, who posted online under a pseudonym. Anglin hasn’t responded to the suit.