Missouri
Judge refuses to order school to put teen on soccer team
LADUE, Mo. (AP) - A federal judge has refused to order a Missouri high school to put a 16-year-old boy on a soccer team while his family sues for discrimination.
KSDK-TV reports that a federal judge denied the temporary restraining order Monday. The lawsuit is pending.
The lawsuit says the boy, identified as John Doe, didn't make the varsity soccer team at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, and was barred from returning to the junior varsity team because younger players are given precedence.
The lawsuit says that's discrimination, noting that the school lets female juniors play on the girls' junior varsity team.
In denying the restraining order, the judge said the school can set parameters for eligibility and success.
The Ladue School District said in a statement that it agrees with the judge's decision.
South Dakota
Judge dismisses challenge to tribal education services
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by two South Dakota American Indian tribes over the federal government's reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Education.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe argued that the Department of Interior failed to properly consult with them about the reorganization as required by federal law and that the decision violates the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. The treaty, in part, required the government to furnish teachers on the reservations.
The Argus Leader says Judge Karen Schreier has ruled that the department's consultation with the tribes was enough to meet federal law requirements. Twelve Bureau of Indian Education regional and individual consultation sessions were held in 2015 with tribes, including eight in South Dakota, which included individual consultations with Cheyenne River and Rosebud tribes.
New York
NY law takes 6-year-olds out of adult criminal system
NEW YORK (AP) - A state law that takes most 16-year-olds charged with offenses out of the adult criminal justice system went into effect on Monday, the first part of legislation that raises New York's age of criminal responsibility to 18.
New York passed the Raise the Age legislation last year, the next-to-last state in the U.S. to decide to stop automatically prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. The first part of the law went into effect this year, and it will expand to cover 17-year-olds in October 2019.
Under the legislation, 16-year-olds charged with misdemeanors would have their cases tried in family court proceedings. In the case of felony charges, nonviolent felony charges would start in a new section of criminal court known as the "youth part" and then get sent to family court unless there are "extraordinary" reasons to keep it in the criminal court.
Those charged with violent felonies could possibly get sent to family court, but would remain in criminal court if they caused significant physical injury to someone, used a weapon or took part in criminal sexual activity.
The law also impacts juvenile detention, no longer allowing these teens to be housed with adults. Instead they are to be housed in the same types of facilities as other juvenile detainees.
On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced all 16- and 17-year-olds had been moved off of Rikers Island, the city's jail, to dedicated juvenile facilities with access to social services.
"Kids will be treated like kids instead of adults," de Blasio said. "This is an historic moment for criminal justice reform."
The move hasn't come without contention, as the city's correction officer union protested against its members being sent to watch over teens in juvenile facilities, which is part of the city's transition plan for the next 18 months.
The state law came after several years of effort from criminal justice reform advocates, who said treating young people who are still growing up as adults for criminal justice purposes led to more recidivism.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state was "once again proving that we are the progressive beacon for the nation. In New York, we will never stop fighting for a more equal and more just society for all."
North Carolina was the last state to raise its criminal responsibility age to 18, with lawmakers voting to make the change in June of last year and the move taking effect in December 2019.
New Mexico
Lawyer wants priest in abuse case out of prison
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A lawyer for a former New Mexico priest who fled the U.S. decades ago amid allegations of child sex abuse is seeking his release from federal prison.
Defense attorney Samuel Winder filed an appeal late last week asking a federal judge to reverse a decision to detain Arthur Perrault until his trial on sexual abuse.
A federal magistrate ordered the 80-year-old Perrault held pending trial after deeming him a flight risk.
Court documents say Perrault vanished in 1992, just days before an attorney filed two lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging Perrault had sexually assaulted seven children at his parish. He was located last year in Morocco.
Winder wants the Connecticut-born Perrault released to an Albuquerque halfway house under strict conditions.
Winder says Perrault suffers from diabetes and chronic hypertension.
North Carolina
Man whose fraud bankrolled son's NASCAR career gets prison
HICKORY, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina businessman who authorities say defrauded investors while bankrolling his son's NASCAR career has been sentenced to prison.
The Charlotte Observer reports that 54-year-old Robert Boston was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday. According a release from U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray's office, Boston owes more than $27 million to victims after being found guilty of wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in December.
Boston founded electronic waste recycling firm Zloop in 2012. Prosecutors say he concealed a history of bankruptcy and past fraud issues from franchise owners and investors.
His son, Justin Boston, drove in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series in a truck emblazoned with Zloop's logo. According to court filings, Kyle Busch Motorsports terminated the two-year, $6 million contract in 2015 for missed payments.
Published: Wed, Oct 03, 2018
