North Carolina
U.S. judge won’t let 2nd group of voters fight Cawthorn suit
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A second group of voters opposing the candidacy of North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn — through a section of the Constitution addressing insurrection — has been barred by a federal judge from participating in litigation filed by Cawthorn.
U.S. District Judge Richard Myers denied the request of five voters from 11th Congressional District to enter Cawthorn’s lawsuit against the State Board of Elections, saying in his ruling Wednesday that they waited too long to ask to intervene.
Voters from a now-defunct 13th District that Cawthorn had previously filed to run in before redistricting maps were redrawn had filed candidate challenges with the state board and later filed a similar motion to enter Cawthorn’s lawsuit against him. Myers said at the time that state government attorneys were adequately representing their interests and denied their request.
These voters have asked the the elections board to investigate whether the first-term Republican congressman should be disqualified from seeking reelection because of his involvement with the rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot in January 2021.
T hey cite a section of the 14th Amendment that says no one can serve in Congress “who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” The section states Congress can pass laws removing such restrictions.
Cawthorn said he never participated in an insurrection and the section didn’t apply to him. His lawsuit in part sought to block candidacy investigations by the state board, saying the process violated his due process rights. Myers announced a preliminary injunction favoring Cawthorn on March 4, declaring that the board couldn’t hear the voters’ challenges on the 14th Amendment claim because an 1872 law removed the disqualifcations.
Two weeks ago, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then told Myers to consider a new motion by voters to intervene since “circumstances may have changed.” Myers wrote Wednesday that permitting intevention after a final order is issued is rare, and that the voters failed to file in a timely manner their motion once they realized their interests and those of the state elections board had diverged.
The State Board of Elections has until April 11 to decide whether to appeal Myers’ preliminary injunction.
Ohio
State high court weighs caps on damages in child rape cases
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman repeatedly raped as a child suffered injuries so severe that she’s owed millions in compensation despite a state cap on pain-and-suffering awards, an attorney told the state Supreme Court Wednesday.
At issue before the court is a Cuyahoga County judge’s 2020 decision to cut a portion of a $20 million jury verdict to $250,000. That decision was based on a 2005 law meant to limit the size of awards in lawsuits.
More than five years ago, the state Supreme Court cited that same law, sometimes known as tort reform, when it threw out a $3.6 million jury award to a woman raped by her pastor at age 15. The court reduced the award to about $385,000 based on the 2005 law.
The high court heard arguments Wednesday that such limits are unconstitutional when they involve underage victims of sexual assault. The court also heard an overall challenge to the caps on damages created by the 2005 law.
The 2005 law did allow for exceptions to the caps, such as the loss of a limb or an injury from an accident that prevents a person to live independently. That exception should apply to the woman raped as a child, her attorney, Robert Peck, told the justices.
“The consequences here are so catastrophic that they are certainly more than a permanent scar on the hand or the loss of a finger or the types of things that the statute carves out as exceptions,” he said.
A lawyer representing the man who raped the woman noted that the same jury awarded the woman $114 million — $14 million for pain-and-suffering for rapes that occurred before the 2005 took effect, and $100 million in punitive damages. That amount stands, attorney Marion Little told the court.
“You cannot say she was denied her day in court,” Little said. “You cannot suggest she was denied a meaningful remedy.”
He added that lawmakers crafting the 2005 law anticipated “facts of this nature” by allowing punitive damages without caps.
A court decision isn’t expected for months.
House Democrats have successfully proposed legislation targeting the issue that would lift caps on pain-and-suffering awards for child rape victims.
Vermont
Man gets 27 years in murder for hire, abuse case
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man was sentenced to 27 years in prison following his guilty plea to federal charges that he commissioned a woman in Venezuela to make videos of the torture of a boy and the torture and killing of a man, records show.
Sean Fiore, 38, of Burlington, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Burlington.
In October Fiore pleaded guilty to four counts — conspiracy to kidnap, maim or murder a person in a foreign country; murder for hire; conspiracy to produce child pornography; and possession of child pornography.
Fiore’s attorneys did not immediately respond Thursday to an emailed request for comment.
Court records say that in September 2018 Fiore used a secure messaging app to communicate with a woman in Venezuela.
Prosecutors say the communications were about Fiore’s interest in purchasing a video depicting the torture of a kidnapped child. Fiore ultimately paid $600 and received a hyperlink to a video file depicting what prosecutors describe as the “sadistic abuse of a prepubescent boy consistent with Fiore’s specifications.”
In December 2018, prosecutors say Fiore agreed to pay $4,000 for a second video that showed the torture and killing of a man in Venezuela. In April 2019, Fiore received a hyperlink to a 58-minute video file depicting the abuse and possible death of an adult male.
The woman who allegedly arranged the videos for Fiore is in custody in Colombia awaiting extradition to the United States to face charges in the case, prosecutors say.
