Indiana
Man faces 10th civil suit for molesting children
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana man sentenced to 120 years in prison for molesting 20 children while working at a YMCA and an elementary school is facing a 10th civil lawsuit stemming from that abuse.
Michael Begin, 21, pleaded guilty in January 2019 to 20 counts of child molestation and was sentenced by a Clark County judge to the maximum 120-year sentence, with the final 20 years to be served on probation.
Prosecutors said the Jeffersonville man’s young victims ranged in age from 3 to 8.
The victims’ families filed nine civil lawsuits against Begin during 2018, with most also naming the YMCA and Greater Clark County Schools Corporation as defendants.
An attorney for one of the families filed a civil tort on March 24 that names just Begin and the YMCA as defendants, the News and Tribune reported. That suit requests a judgment against the YMCA in an amount to be proven at trial and also seeks attorney fees.
The new lawsuit alleges that the YMCA failed in not properly notifying the school district of the molestation allegations, or that Begin had been suspended in September 2017 due to an alleged child sexual assault, thereby allowing more children to be molested over the following month.
Of the nine civil cases filed in 2018, some have been closed due to agreements reached, but at least one is headed for a jury trial, set for June in Clark County.
Ohio
Planned Parenthood sues over telemedicine abortion ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Planned Parenthood has sued to block an Ohio law banning the use of telemedicine for medication abortions as unconstitutional, adding to a lengthening list of attempted restrictions on the procedure that are now tied up in court.
With the law set to take effect April 12, the organization asked for immediate relief from the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in a lawsuit filed late Thursday against the Ohio Department of Health, the state Medical Board and prosecutors in the state’s three largest counties.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of court challenges to additional abortion restrictions attempted by the Republicans who lead both chambers of the state Legislature.
Courts have blocked bans on dilation and evacuation, or D&E abortions; on abortions in cases where a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis is a factor; and on all abortions after detection of the first fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant.
A group of clinics and the ACLU of Ohio asked a judge March 9 to block a law that would require that fetal remains from surgical abortions be cremated or buried, arguing a lack of rules makes complying “impossible.” That law is set to take effect Tuesday.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the telemedicine abortion ban in January. It would prohibit administration of mifepristone to medically induce an abortion via a telehealth appointment. Doctors who violated the law would face a fourth-degree felony charge on the first offense and a third-degree felony charge for subsequent violations.
Iris Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said medication abortion is safe and effective and should be available remotely to Ohio women.
“Ohio is one of the most medically underserved states in the country, a problem particularly felt by Black communities, people of color, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in our state,” Harvey said in a statement. “Telemedicine is a key tool to address those disparities. When the Ohio Legislature and Governor DeWine enacted this unjust law, their intentions were clear — telemedicine is great, unless it is used in health care they don’t agree with.”
The use of telemedicine rose steeply when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, telehealth visits increased 154% during the last week of March 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.
Supporters of the law argued that it is important for a doctor to be physically present when women take mifepristone for a chemical abortion to assure safety and to answer questions.
Opponents contended that women seeking abortions are already required to visit a clinic for counseling and for an ultrasound a day ahead of the procedure under current Ohio law. They said taking the abortion medication from home on the second day, while connected online with the a clinician, is safe and permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
New Hampshire
Adultery definition to now include same-sex couples
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court has expanded the definition of adultery to include same-sex infidelity.
The court ruled Thursday in the case of a man who sought a divorce on the grounds of adultery alleging that his wife had an affair with another woman. A lower court dismissed his petition based on a 2003 state Supreme Court opinion that limited the definition of adultery to intercourse between people of the opposite sex.
But the Supreme Court overruled its earlier decision, saying the old definition is inconsistent with the Legislature’s enactment of same-sex marriage in 2009.
“It defies logic to suggest that our legislature and the Supreme Court recognized the rights of same-sex couples to enter into legally valid marriages without also intending that same-sex couples be endowed with all of the responsibilities, protections, and grounds for divorce that are associated with the legal status of marriage,” justices wrote in a unanimous decision.
The divorce case at issue was sent back to the lower court for further action.
Oklahoma
City sued for Race Massacre-related documents
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An attorney who has sued the city of Tulsa for reparations for victims and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre has filed a lawsuit for the release of records related to the massacre and the coming centennial of the attack.
The records request was made in January for documents that include references to the 1921 massacre and internment camps where Blacks were held following the massacre, and records referencing the Black Tulsa community between 1908-1921, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court by Tulsa attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons.
Also sought are records of destruction in the Greenwood District during the massacre; records of personal property taken from the area; insurance claims related to the massacre; and records related to the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission and a history center in the district.
“Plaintiff seeks these documents in connection with the upcoming Centennial” of the attack that killed an estimated 300 mostly Black people and wounded 800 more, the lawsuit states.
“The documents are crucial to provide an accurate public accounting of the Massacre, and will assist plaintiff in its research, writing, and responses to interview and public speaking requests to commemorate and memorialize the Massacre, its victims and its ongoing impact,” according to the lawsuit.
A city spokesperson said Thursday that the city does not typically comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit also claims Gerald Bender, the city’s litigation division manager, interfered with the city’s obligation to release the records because Simmons represents massacre survivors and others who are suing the city for reparations.
“(G)iven the fact that your firm currently represents parties adverse to the City in on-going litigation you are respectfully advised to immediately discontinue contact with our clients (the City Clerk),” the lawsuit states that Bender wrote.
Solomon-Simmons in September filed a lawsuit on behalf of victims and their descendants affected by the massacre seeking unspecified monetary damages and attorneys fees.
Texas
7 officers fired following death of Black jail inmate
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Seven officers involved in the in-custody death of a Black jail inmate in Texas whose family members say may have been suffering a mental health crisis have been fired, a sheriff said.
The detention officers violated sheriff’s office policies and procedures leading up to the death of Marvin Scott III, Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said in a news release Thursday. An eighth officer resigned.
Scott, 26, was arrested March 14 at an outlet mall in Allen on a marijuana possession charge, authorities have said. Allen officers took Scott to a hospital because he was reportedly acting erratically. Scott was released and police took him to the county jail.
While at the jail, Scott began to exhibit “some strange behavior,” Skinner said at a March 19 news conference. Detention officers placed Scott on a restraint bed, used pepper spray and covered his face with a spit mask. Scott became unresponsive at some point and later was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Law enforcement’s use of face coverings such as spit hoods on people — and the frequent reliance on police to respond to mental health emergencies — drew new attention last year following Daniel Prude’s suffocation in Rochester, New York. The mesh coverings have been linked to other deaths.
In Texas, the Collin County medical examiner’s office has not yet released a cause of death for Scott. The Texas Rangers were continuing to investigate Scott’s death, according to Skinner’s statement.
Family members have said that Scott had schizophrenia and may have been suffering a mental health crisis. Scott’s family has hired a forensic pathologist to conduct an independent autopsy.
Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who is representing Scott’s family, has said he thinks Scott was jailed for marijuana possession because he was Black and viewed as a criminal rather than as someone in crisis.
Names and races of the officers haven’t been released.
Texas
Mother accused of killing son, 6, for life insurance
HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston woman took out two life insurance policies on her 6-year-old son before giving him lethal doses of medications and over the counter drugs that caused him frightening hallucinations before he died, prosecutors said Thursday.
Prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office allege that Ashley Marks repeatedly drugged her son in June.
Marks, 25, has been charged with capital murder and was being held without bond. Court records did not list an attorney for her.
An autopsy ruled the boy’s death a homicide after finding toxic amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine and various antihistamines, according to court records.
The boy’s grandfather told Houston police that after Marks had given her son medicine, the boy started hallucinating and “believed there were bugs on his clothing” and that his grandson “became scared of his hallucinations,” according to court documents.
The grandfather, Adam Marks, told police that after he told his daughter that her son had hallucinated after taking his medicine, she told him to give him more. He told police he did not comply, according to court records.
Adam Marks told police that his daughter gave her son more medicine, Nyquil, a few hours before he died, police said. According to the manufacturer, Nyquil should not be given to children under 12 years old.
Investigators said they discovered that Ashley Marks had taken out two life insurance policies, each worth $50,000, for her son and she was the sole beneficiary, according to court documents. The policies were taken out about a month before the boy’s death. Marks is a licensed insurance agent, police said.
Nebraska
Court sides with state prison riot lawsuit
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday sided with state prison officials in a lawsuit brought by an inmate who alleged that a 2015 riot worsened his health conditions.
The court upheld a lower court’s ruling against inmate John Wizinsky, who sued the state for negligence.
Wizinsky argued at trial that he missed one of his insulin shots for diabetes during the May 2015 riot at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution. He was in protective custody at the time and testified that, during the riot, other inmates shouted threats at him and nearly beat to death another protective custody inmate. He said he was punched in the back of the head when he dragged the bloody inmate away from the attackers.
Wizinsky alleged that the riot worsened his existing health problems, including post traumatic stress disorder, depression, paranoia, anxiety and trouble sleeping.
The case went to trial and a district court judge ruled that state officials weren’t negligent and that Wizinsky had failed to prove he suffered a legal injury because of their actions. The judge also ruled that the state was shielded from the lawsuit by sovereign immunity.
