Maine
High court dismisses appeal of judge’s decision on Donald Trump’s ballot status
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s top court has declined to weigh in on whether former President Donald Trump can stay on the state’s ballot, keeping intact a judge’s decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar case in Colorado.
Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows concluded that Trump didn’t meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution, but a judge put that decision on hold pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the similar case in Colorado.
In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed Bellows’ appeal of the order requiring her to await the U.S. Supreme Court decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep Trump off the primary ballot on Super Tuesday.
“The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case,” the court said.
Bellows’ decision in December that Trump was ineligible made her the first election official to ban the Republican front-runner from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. In Colorado, the state supreme court reached the same conclusion.
The timelines are tight as Maine’s March 5 primary approaches. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the Colorado case on Feb. 8, and Maine has already begun mailing overseas ballots.
The nation’s highest court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Some legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies to Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and encouraging his backers to storm the U.S. Capitol after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump contends Bellows should have recused herself, and that she was biased against him. Trump said her actions disenfranchised voters in Maine, and were part of a broader effort to keep him off the ballot.
Bellows, who was elected by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, said she was bound by state law to make a determination after several residents challenged Trump’s right to be on the primary ballot. She put her decision on Trump’s ballot eligibility on hold pending judicial proceedings, and vowed that she would abide by a court’s ultimate ruling.
Alaska
Charter company pays $900k after guide caused wildfire by not properly putting out campfire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska fishing guide company has paid $900,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. government alleging one of its guides started a wildfire in 2019, the U.S. attorney’s office for Alaska said in a statement Wednesday.
Court documents said the Groves Salmon Charters’ guide, Joshua McDonald, started a campfire July 8, 2019, at a campground around Mile 16 of the Klutina River near Copper Center, located about 160 miles (258 kilometers) northeast of Anchorage, to keep fisherman warm. Later that day, a large forest fire along the Klutina River was reported near that area.
The government alleges McDonald started the fire despite knowing there was a high fire danger at the time. Investigators determined the fire started when he failed to properly extinguish the camp fire, according to the statement.
Messages were sent to three email accounts and a voicemail was left at one phone number, all believed to belong to McDonald.
Stephanie Holcomb, who owns the guiding service, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that it’s not certain that others may be to blame, but in a civil case, the preponderance of evidence favors the plaintiff, in this case the government.
“Even in the settlement report, one of the last sentences was it cannot be substantiated that there wasn’t other users at the site after Josh, so that’s why I say life isn’t always fair,” Holcomb said. “I’m more than willing to take responsibility and to face this, but it’s only a 51% chance — maybe, which seems like an awful lot of wiggle room to like really ruin someone’s business.”
A copy of the settlement was not available on the federal court online document site, and a request for a copy was made to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The $900,000 will help cover the costs incurred by state and federal firefighters to extinguish the fire, which burned about 0.28 square miles (0.71 square kilometers).
“As we experience longer fire seasons and more extreme fire behavior, we will hold anyone who ignites wildland fires accountable for the costs of fires they cause,” S. Lane Tucker, the U.S. Attorney for Alaska, said in the statement.
Escaped campfires like this one are the most common for human-caused wildfires on Bureau of Land Management-managed lands in Alaska, the federal agency said.
Iowa
Liberal blogger granted press credentials in State House days after filing lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A liberal journalist who blogs about Iowa politics was granted press credentials for the Iowa House of Representatives Wednesday, days after she filed a lawsuit alleging the Republican-controlled House was denying her First Amendment rights.
The result brings an end to a yearslong fight by Laura Belin, who operates the Bleeding Heartland blog, to gain access to the House floor as a member of the press. Belin called it a “victory for press freedom” and said she hoped it would make public officials “reluctant” to deny access to reporters.
The lawsuit was brought Friday in federal court by the Institute for Free Speech on her behalf against House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson, though the rejection dates back to 2019 and Nelson’s predecessor, Carmine Boal.
Nelson declined to comment.
Belin has covered Iowa’s state government on the blog for more than a decade and now works as a reporter for a radio station based in Ames, about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of the state capital Des Moines. She is open with her liberal views, often posting opinionated critiques that target Republican lawmakers and policies.
“This case underscores the First Amendment principle that public officials cannot manipulate press credential policies to play favorites or suppress critical coverage,” Courtney Corbello, an attorney with the Institute for Free Speech, said in a statement.
In 2019, the Iowa House and Senate adopted policies related to press access after scrutiny over the handling of Belin’s case. Those policies have been revised year after year, and the Senate has since reduced press access by denying reporters work space on the chamber floor in 2022 for the first time in a century.
New Jersey
State Supreme Court rules against Ocean casino in COVID business interruption case
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an Atlantic City casino is not entitled to payouts from business interruption insurance for losses during the COVID-19 outbreak, determining that the presence of the virus did not constitute the kind of “direct physical loss or damage” required for such a payout.
The case involved the Ocean Casino Resort’s claims against three insurance companies — AIG Specialty Insurance Co., American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co. and Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. Those insurers largely denied payouts to the casino, saying it did not suffer direct physical loss or damage because of the virus.
The casino sued and defeated an attempt by the insurers to dismiss the case. But that decision was reversed by an appellate court.
The high court agreed to take the case in order to resolve the legal question of what constituted loss or damage.
“Based on the plain terms of the policies, we conclude that in order to show a ‘direct physical loss’ of its property or ‘direct physical . . . damage’ to its property under the policy language at issue, (parent company AC Ocean Walk LLC) was required to demonstrate that its property was destroyed or altered in a manner that rendered it unusable or uninhabitable,” the court wrote in a unanimous decision.
“At most, it has alleged that it sustained a loss of business during the COVID-19 government-mandated suspension of business operations because it was not permitted to use its property as it would otherwise have done,” the opinion read.
It concluded that the casino’s pleadings “do not support a finding that it is entitled to insurance coverage.”
The casino declined comment Wednesday.
The ruling is similar to others reached in state and federal courts around the country, including cases where payouts were denied involving a chain of California movie theaters; a Los Angeles real estate firm; a group of hotels in Pennsylvania; and a group of hotels and a law firm in New Jersey.
During arguments in September before the Supreme Court, Stephen Orlofsky, a lawyer for Ocean, said the casino took several steps to respond to the virus, including employing air filtration systems and using “industrial-strength” cleaning supplies.
But David Roth, a lawyer for American Guarantee, said the policies require there to be physical damage to the property, which he said did not occur at the casino. He said 14 state Supreme Courts around the nation have held that the mere interruption of business activity during the pandemic does not constitute physical losses.
Ocean maintained that in addition to an order by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy closing the casinos for 3 1/2 months in 2020, it also shut down because of “the concern that the virus was having on the physical surfaces and the air” inside the casino.
Indiana
State seeks to dismiss death penalty for man accused of killing Indianapolis cop
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors sought Wednesday to dismiss death penalty charges against a man charged with fatally shooting an Indianapolis police officer in 2020 because doctors have found him to be mentally ill.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to dismiss its request for a death sentence against Elliahs Dorsey, who is accused of fatally shooting Officer Breann Leath of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department while she responded to a domestic violence call.
The motion came after the prosecutors reviewed psychiatric evaluations of Dorsey from two court-appointed doctors, the office said.
“The United States Constitution forbids the execution of mentally ill defendants. Based on all the available evidence, the State has determined that it is constitutionally prohibited from seeking the death penalty,” it said in a news release.
Leath, 24, and three other officers were responding to a domestic violence call involving Dorsey when she was shot twice in the head through the door of an Indianapolis apartment, police have said.
Dorsey faces charges of murder, four counts of attempted murder, criminal confinement and battery resulting in bodily injury.
A telephone message seeking comment on the prosecutor’s motion was left with Dorsey’s attorney.
Jury selection already has begun for the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 12.
High court dismisses appeal of judge’s decision on Donald Trump’s ballot status
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s top court has declined to weigh in on whether former President Donald Trump can stay on the state’s ballot, keeping intact a judge’s decision that the U.S. Supreme Court must first rule on a similar case in Colorado.
Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows concluded that Trump didn’t meet ballot qualifications under the insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution, but a judge put that decision on hold pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the similar case in Colorado.
In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed Bellows’ appeal of the order requiring her to await the U.S. Supreme Court decision before withdrawing, modifying or upholding her decision to keep Trump off the primary ballot on Super Tuesday.
“The Secretary of State suggests that there is irreparable harm because a delay in certainty about whether Trump’s name should appear on the primary ballot will result in voter confusion. This uncertainty is, however, precisely what guides our decision not to undertake immediate appellate review in this particular case,” the court said.
Bellows’ decision in December that Trump was ineligible made her the first election official to ban the Republican front-runner from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. In Colorado, the state supreme court reached the same conclusion.
The timelines are tight as Maine’s March 5 primary approaches. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the Colorado case on Feb. 8, and Maine has already begun mailing overseas ballots.
The nation’s highest court has never ruled on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. Some legal scholars say the post-Civil War clause applies to Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and encouraging his backers to storm the U.S. Capitol after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump contends Bellows should have recused herself, and that she was biased against him. Trump said her actions disenfranchised voters in Maine, and were part of a broader effort to keep him off the ballot.
Bellows, who was elected by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, said she was bound by state law to make a determination after several residents challenged Trump’s right to be on the primary ballot. She put her decision on Trump’s ballot eligibility on hold pending judicial proceedings, and vowed that she would abide by a court’s ultimate ruling.
Alaska
Charter company pays $900k after guide caused wildfire by not properly putting out campfire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska fishing guide company has paid $900,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. government alleging one of its guides started a wildfire in 2019, the U.S. attorney’s office for Alaska said in a statement Wednesday.
Court documents said the Groves Salmon Charters’ guide, Joshua McDonald, started a campfire July 8, 2019, at a campground around Mile 16 of the Klutina River near Copper Center, located about 160 miles (258 kilometers) northeast of Anchorage, to keep fisherman warm. Later that day, a large forest fire along the Klutina River was reported near that area.
The government alleges McDonald started the fire despite knowing there was a high fire danger at the time. Investigators determined the fire started when he failed to properly extinguish the camp fire, according to the statement.
Messages were sent to three email accounts and a voicemail was left at one phone number, all believed to belong to McDonald.
Stephanie Holcomb, who owns the guiding service, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that it’s not certain that others may be to blame, but in a civil case, the preponderance of evidence favors the plaintiff, in this case the government.
“Even in the settlement report, one of the last sentences was it cannot be substantiated that there wasn’t other users at the site after Josh, so that’s why I say life isn’t always fair,” Holcomb said. “I’m more than willing to take responsibility and to face this, but it’s only a 51% chance — maybe, which seems like an awful lot of wiggle room to like really ruin someone’s business.”
A copy of the settlement was not available on the federal court online document site, and a request for a copy was made to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The $900,000 will help cover the costs incurred by state and federal firefighters to extinguish the fire, which burned about 0.28 square miles (0.71 square kilometers).
“As we experience longer fire seasons and more extreme fire behavior, we will hold anyone who ignites wildland fires accountable for the costs of fires they cause,” S. Lane Tucker, the U.S. Attorney for Alaska, said in the statement.
Escaped campfires like this one are the most common for human-caused wildfires on Bureau of Land Management-managed lands in Alaska, the federal agency said.
Iowa
Liberal blogger granted press credentials in State House days after filing lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A liberal journalist who blogs about Iowa politics was granted press credentials for the Iowa House of Representatives Wednesday, days after she filed a lawsuit alleging the Republican-controlled House was denying her First Amendment rights.
The result brings an end to a yearslong fight by Laura Belin, who operates the Bleeding Heartland blog, to gain access to the House floor as a member of the press. Belin called it a “victory for press freedom” and said she hoped it would make public officials “reluctant” to deny access to reporters.
The lawsuit was brought Friday in federal court by the Institute for Free Speech on her behalf against House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson, though the rejection dates back to 2019 and Nelson’s predecessor, Carmine Boal.
Nelson declined to comment.
Belin has covered Iowa’s state government on the blog for more than a decade and now works as a reporter for a radio station based in Ames, about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of the state capital Des Moines. She is open with her liberal views, often posting opinionated critiques that target Republican lawmakers and policies.
“This case underscores the First Amendment principle that public officials cannot manipulate press credential policies to play favorites or suppress critical coverage,” Courtney Corbello, an attorney with the Institute for Free Speech, said in a statement.
In 2019, the Iowa House and Senate adopted policies related to press access after scrutiny over the handling of Belin’s case. Those policies have been revised year after year, and the Senate has since reduced press access by denying reporters work space on the chamber floor in 2022 for the first time in a century.
New Jersey
State Supreme Court rules against Ocean casino in COVID business interruption case
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an Atlantic City casino is not entitled to payouts from business interruption insurance for losses during the COVID-19 outbreak, determining that the presence of the virus did not constitute the kind of “direct physical loss or damage” required for such a payout.
The case involved the Ocean Casino Resort’s claims against three insurance companies — AIG Specialty Insurance Co., American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co. and Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. Those insurers largely denied payouts to the casino, saying it did not suffer direct physical loss or damage because of the virus.
The casino sued and defeated an attempt by the insurers to dismiss the case. But that decision was reversed by an appellate court.
The high court agreed to take the case in order to resolve the legal question of what constituted loss or damage.
“Based on the plain terms of the policies, we conclude that in order to show a ‘direct physical loss’ of its property or ‘direct physical . . . damage’ to its property under the policy language at issue, (parent company AC Ocean Walk LLC) was required to demonstrate that its property was destroyed or altered in a manner that rendered it unusable or uninhabitable,” the court wrote in a unanimous decision.
“At most, it has alleged that it sustained a loss of business during the COVID-19 government-mandated suspension of business operations because it was not permitted to use its property as it would otherwise have done,” the opinion read.
It concluded that the casino’s pleadings “do not support a finding that it is entitled to insurance coverage.”
The casino declined comment Wednesday.
The ruling is similar to others reached in state and federal courts around the country, including cases where payouts were denied involving a chain of California movie theaters; a Los Angeles real estate firm; a group of hotels in Pennsylvania; and a group of hotels and a law firm in New Jersey.
During arguments in September before the Supreme Court, Stephen Orlofsky, a lawyer for Ocean, said the casino took several steps to respond to the virus, including employing air filtration systems and using “industrial-strength” cleaning supplies.
But David Roth, a lawyer for American Guarantee, said the policies require there to be physical damage to the property, which he said did not occur at the casino. He said 14 state Supreme Courts around the nation have held that the mere interruption of business activity during the pandemic does not constitute physical losses.
Ocean maintained that in addition to an order by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy closing the casinos for 3 1/2 months in 2020, it also shut down because of “the concern that the virus was having on the physical surfaces and the air” inside the casino.
Indiana
State seeks to dismiss death penalty for man accused of killing Indianapolis cop
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors sought Wednesday to dismiss death penalty charges against a man charged with fatally shooting an Indianapolis police officer in 2020 because doctors have found him to be mentally ill.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to dismiss its request for a death sentence against Elliahs Dorsey, who is accused of fatally shooting Officer Breann Leath of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department while she responded to a domestic violence call.
The motion came after the prosecutors reviewed psychiatric evaluations of Dorsey from two court-appointed doctors, the office said.
“The United States Constitution forbids the execution of mentally ill defendants. Based on all the available evidence, the State has determined that it is constitutionally prohibited from seeking the death penalty,” it said in a news release.
Leath, 24, and three other officers were responding to a domestic violence call involving Dorsey when she was shot twice in the head through the door of an Indianapolis apartment, police have said.
Dorsey faces charges of murder, four counts of attempted murder, criminal confinement and battery resulting in bodily injury.
A telephone message seeking comment on the prosecutor’s motion was left with Dorsey’s attorney.
Jury selection already has begun for the trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 12.
