National Roundup

Oklahoma: State Supreme Court justice  Marian Opala dies
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Court officials say Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marian Opala has died at age 89.

An official with the Oklahoma Administrative Office of the Courts says Opala died about 1:30 a.m. Monday at an Oklahoma City hospital after suffering a stroke over the weekend.

Deputy Administrator Mike Mayberry says Opala was discovered unconscious at his Warr Acres home on Saturday by police after he didn’t respond to telephone calls and knocks at his door. He underwent surgery on Sunday.

The vacancy left by Opala’s death will provide outgoing Gov. Brad Henry a fifth appointment to the nine-member court.

Then-Gov. David Boren appointed Opala to the state Supreme Court in November 1978.

Iowa: Sioux City pastor campaigns against justices
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A pastor in Sioux City says he will urge his congregation to vote against retaining three Iowa Supreme Court justices who joined last year’s unanimous decision that legalized gay marriage in the state.

The Rev. Cary Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach says he hopes the Internal Revenue Service looks into his church so he “can take them all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.” The Des Moines Register reports Monday that Gordon has invited more than 100 church leaders to speak against the justices on three Sundays before the Nov. 2 general election.

Churches are banned from advocating for or against specific candidates. However they can lobby for or against measures and talk about political issues. The justices have said they won’t launch a counter-campaign.

Washington, D.C.: D.C. paid $50M over 2 years to settle lawsuits
WASHINGTON (AP) — The D.C. government has paid out more than $50 million in legal settlements between 2007 and 2009 as dozens of disputes were settled out of court.

Records obtained by The Washington Post show payouts from $5,500 to a high school student purportedly struck by a coach to $650,000 to a psychiatric patient who gouged his eyes out after staff failed to monitor him.

The police department draws the most lawsuits.

In comparison, San Francisco paid nearly $60 million in legal settlements during the same period.

Attorneys for plaintiffs say D.C. spends more than needed because it prolongs lawsuits for months and years.

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles says his policy is to be “very tough” about spending taxpayers’ money but that settlements are unavoidable.

Mississippi: U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear Simoneaux appeal
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a McComb man sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying on and assaulting nursing home residents.

Richard A. Simoneaux pleaded guilty in 2004 in Pike County to attempted burglary, two counts voyeurism, sexual battery, sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult and burglary of a dwelling.

Prosecutors said Simoneaux broke into the room of a 76-year-old woman at McComb Extended Care on March 4, 2004, and assaulted her. Three weeks later, authorities said he tried to break into a female resident’s room at another home, spied on the woman, then spied on two female residents at McComb Nursing and Rehab.

The trial judge sentenced Simoneaux to a total of 30 years without parole with five years suspended. The judge also ordered Simoneaux to leave Mississippi once he is released from prison.

In a post-conviction petition, Simoneaux contended his pleas were not voluntary, that his attorney could have done a better job and banishment was too harsh, among other issues.

The Mississippi Court of Appeals in 2009 upheld Simoneaux’s conviction but overturned the banishment order.

The nation’s high court declined to hear Simoneaux’s appeal this past week.

Mississippi: Guard case won’t be heard by U.S. Supreme Court
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a former Mississippi Air National Guard colonel who alleged other officers retaliated against him for revealing corruption.

A federal judge in Mississippi dismissed the lawsuit in 2008. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision earlier this year. The Supreme Court this past week declined to take up the case.

Retired Col. Joe H. “Jody” Bryant Jr. had claimed more than a dozen current and former members of the 186th Air Refueling Wing in Meridian tried to intimidate him after he went public with accusations of racism, fraud and favoritism.

Bryant sued in 2005, claiming members of the unit vandalized his cars, pilfered his computer bag and filed a slander lawsuit in retaliation.

The defendants denied the allegations. Bryant seeks to have his lawsuit reinstated.

Bryant also contended the defendants violated the federal Whistleblower Protection Act by filing a slander lawsuit over comments Bryant made during a radio interview in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee ruled that even if the motivation behind the slander lawsuit was retaliation against Bryant, the others had a First Amendment right to sue as long as their claims were not “objectively baseless.” The slander suit had already been thrown out of court.

Lee also dismissed other portions of Bryant’s whistleblower lawsuit, including claims that the defendants cut the fuel line on his wife’s car.

The allegations of misconduct in the 186th, which Bryant said he first brought to the attention of Guard officials in 1998 and detailed in a letter signed by dozens of officers in 2000, included racial bigotry, records falsification and misuse of funds.

The military concluded in 2004 that there were problems in the 186th, including findings that its leaders misrepresented training levels in order to qualify for an overseas mission for which the unit was not qualified.

Air National Guard officials said disciplinary actions were taken depending on the severity of the substantiated allegations. Citing personnel rules, officials have not identified any of the personnel involved.

They said the actions included letters of reprimand, counseling and dismissal.