National Roundup

Oregon High court gets 3rd appeal from serial killer SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Once again, the case of an Oregon serial killer is going to the state Supreme Court. Dayton Leroy Rogers has three times been sentenced to death for the killings of six women in 1987. They were tortured, stabbed and mutilated. Their bodies were dumped in a Molalla forest. The court has twice overturned death sentences. In 2006 Rogers was again sentenced to death. That sentence will be in front of the court on Jan. 12. The case will be heard by three members of the current court, a recently retired justice and an appeals court. Four of the seven current members of the Court have worked for the state Justice Department, so they have stepped away from the case. Rogers once repaired lawn mowers in Canby. He is now 58. Nevada Court gets top honors for educational program CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The Nevada Supreme Court has won top national honors from the American Bar Association for an educational program teaching middle school and high school students about the rights of the accused to be represented by lawyers. Nevada's Law Day Live was an interactive Internet forum created by the Nevada Supreme Court that emphasized the legacy of President John Adams. Panels in three Nevada courtrooms and a film producer in Washington D.C. were video-linked in a public webcast May 5 to discuss the rights of those charged with crimes to have legal counsel. That's a position Adams had advocated when he represented the British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre. During Law Day Live, students were allowed to pose questions to panelists or make comments through Twitter and Facebook. Maryland Trial starts in Maryland black schools suit BALTIMORE (AP) -- A federal lawsuit alleging that state policies that can be traced to segregation hurt Maryland's historically black state colleges and universities is going to trial. Opening statements began Tuesday morning in the bench trial expected to last six weeks. The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education alleges that practices carried over from the days of segregation at the state's higher education commission put historically black schools at a competitive disadvantage. The coalition says there is unnecessary duplication of specialized programs offered at historically black schools, as well as funding disparities. U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake ruled last year that the coalition failed to show inequity in the state's capital funding formula and discrimination against a particular school. Alabama State trying to avoid mass release of inmates FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama prison officials are trying to avoid a mass release of state inmates in 2012 because the state's prisons are jammed with almost twice the number of inmates they were designed to hold. Prison Commissioner Kim Thomas told the TimesDaily of Florence this will be a challenging year for the Department of Corrections, but he and other officials are working to avoid any court order for a mass release of inmates to reduce overcrowding. Thomas said the department will announce a plan soon to reduce crowding in state prisons. "I am very optimistic that we will be able to find a solution to the problem that will not jeopardize public safety," Thomas said. "Public safety is ultimately everyone's concern, including my own." The U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce 30,000 inmates from its prison system in May. The order was in response to lawsuits filed by inmates that contend the overcrowding violated their rights and deprived them of needed medical care and other services. The 30,970 inmates housed in Alabama prisons are 190 percent of the designed capacity of the facilities, according to state data. Lauderdale Circuit Court Judge Mike Jones worries that some of the inmates he is sentencing to prison might be headed back home earlier than expected. "California's prisons were not as overcrowded as Alabama's are right now," Jones said. "I'm afraid that all it's going to take is for someone to take some of the California lawsuits and change the names of the defendants to Alabama officials instead of California officials and a group of federal judges is going to order that Alabama reduce a bunch of prisoners to reduce overcrowding." Colbert County District Attorney Bryce Graham Jr. is among those concerned about public safety problems if a federal court orders a prisoner release. "The people who are in prison are there because they need to be," Graham said. "You've got to be pretty mean or just keep getting in trouble again and again to wind up going to prison. We use community corrections and other alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent and first-time offenders to keep what little prison space that is available for the really, really bad people that need to be there. "It's scary to think what will happen if Alabama has to release thousands of prisoners at once to reduce overcrowding." Miriam Shehane, executive director of Alabama Victims of Crime and Leniency, said the organization will be monitoring the state's plans for reducing prison overcrowding. She, too, said a mass release of inmates would be mistake. "People who commit violent crimes or keep committing crimes need more than a slap on the wrist for their punishment," Shehane said. "They need to go prison to pay for their crime. The state of Alabama must make sure that we have enough space in our prisons to punish the people who need to be there." Besides finding ways to reduce the number of people in custody, Thomas said the Department of Corrections will step up its efforts this year to better prepare those being released for life outside prison. Inmates must learn skills they can use after their release to help them secure jobs and reduce the potential to become repeat offenders, he said. Arizona Ruling on execution processes to be appealed PHOENIX (AP) -- Lawyers for five Arizona death row inmates are appealing a federal judge's ruling that how the state conducts injection executions doesn't violate the inmates' rights. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the prisoners claimed the state has deviated from court-approved processes by using unvetted personnel to administer lethal injections under a sheet, away from witnesses' view. U.S. District Judge Neil Wake dismissed the lawsuit. He ruled that he didn't find evidence that Arizona's practices violate constitutional protections for due process and equal protection and against cruel and unusual punishment. A brief notice filed Friday with the District Court says the inmates will appeal Wake's decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Published: Wed, Jan 4, 2012