Ohio
Judge weighs in on lollipop lawsuit between candy rivals
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge is siding with the makers of Dum-Dums lollipops in its lawsuit against a rival candy maker.
A preliminary injunction handed down in Ohio says Tootsie Roll Industries must at least temporarily stop using its new packaging for its Charms mini-pop lollipops.
Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co. is suing Tootsie Roll because it says the Chicago-based company's new mini-pops packaging too closely resembles the Dum-Dums packaging.
Tootsie Roll disputes those claims. A message seeking comment was left Wednesday with Tootsie Roll.
The judge says in a decision issued last week that Tootsie Roll is using packaging nearly identical to the Dum-Dums packaging, right down to the red bag and white lettering.
The Blade reports Spangler believes the packaging is so similar that customers would easily confuse the two products.
Georgia
City fires judge over bullying allegations
SOUTH FULTON, Ga. (AP) - The recently formed city of South Fulton, Georgia, has fired its first municipal judge over allegations that she bullied workers and approved filming a reality TV show in her courtroom.
News outlets report the South Fulton City Council voted Tuesday to fire Tiffany Sellers, whose $135,000-per-year contract was set to end in 2021.
Sellers entered the public eye last year when a photo of her by The Atlanta Voice was widely shared online with the hashtag "BlackGirlMagic." The photo showed that black women made up the entire criminal justice system of South Fulton, which was established in 2017.
Sellers denies the allegations and says she plans to appeal. She says the process that led to her firing was improper, noting that she wasn't allowed to enter evidence to defend herself.
Missouri
State Supreme Court strikes down jail time for jail debts
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that local courts can't throw people back in jail for not paying previous jail debts, a practice that critics said led to modern-day debtors' prisons.
At issue are boarding costs for time spent in county jails, which are commonly referred to as board bills. Judges wrote in a unanimous decision that while inmates are responsible for those costs, "if such responsibilities fall delinquent, the debts cannot be taxed as court costs and the failure to pay that debt cannot result in another incarceration."
The ruling was lauded by critics of the policy including Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who in a statement said Missourians "shouldn't be forced into a cycle of incarceration and used as an ATM simply for being unable to pay jail debts."
ACLU of Missouri Legal Director Tony Rothert praised judges for reaffirming that "people cannot be imprisoned for being poor."
"We know several counties have abused the court process for years to lock up Missourians because they could not afford their freedom," Rothert said in a statement. "That ends today."
The case stems from two Missouri men who fell behind on paying the cost of their own imprisonment in county jail and were ordered to return to court repeatedly regarding their bills.
One of the men, George Richey, was ordered to pay $3,150 after serving time in the St. Clair County jail for violating an order of protection. When he didn't pay, he was sent back to jail for another 65 days and charged another $2,275.
Judges in the decision wrote that the lower courts were wrong to intervene because "express statutory authority permitting jail board bills to be taxed as court costs does not exist."
"The courts should not have required them to repeatedly appear to account for debts the courts could not legally designate as court costs, and, in Richey's case, the circuit court should not have sent him back to jail for failing to make those payments," judges wrote in the ruling.
Attorney Josh Jones defended the practice in court proceedings. On Tuesday, he said the ruling could mean taxpayers shoulder more of the burden for county jail costs.
"The practical reality is it's going to reduce the amount paid by the people that actually committed the offenses, and practically it's going to increase the amount paid by taxpayers for feeding and housing prisoners," Jones said.
Tennessee
State House panel kills anti-birthright citizenship resolution
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A resolution that commends President Donald Trump for wanting to end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship has suffered defeat in Tennessee.
A state House panel voted 5-2 Wednesday to reject Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey's resolution. Four Republicans and a Democrat voted against the resolution.
Griffey's resolution claims birthright citizenship is illegitimate, unauthorized and illegal.
Democratic Rep. Bo Mitchell said "God help us" if lawmakers were to advance the resolution and tell people born in the U.S. that they aren't citizens.
Republican Rep. Michael Curcio helped vote it down after saying that birthright citizenship is a "worthwhile debate," but had problems with the resolution's wording and said the discussion should happen at the federal level.
The ACLU of Tennessee and the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition opposed the resolution.
Maine
Bail denied for man who's fighting extradition to Alaska
AUBURN, Maine (AP) - A Maine man who is wanted in Alaska for killing a woman more than two decades ago will continue to be held without bail.
A judge on Wednesday denied bail for Steven Downs, who's fighting extradition. His next hearing will be held later this spring.
Downs is charged with the sexual assault and murder of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993, when Downs was a student and Sergie was a former student. The case went unsolved for years before DNA evidence led to Downs' arrest.
The defense has said Downs completely denies any involvement with the crime. Downs, of Auburn, Maine, was arrested on Feb. 15.
Published: Thu, Mar 21, 2019
