National Roundup

Mississippi: Seven hunters plead not guilty to hunting charges
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Seven Mississippi hunters have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they killed many more ducks than allowed earlier this year.

The seven entered the pleas Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oxford. If convicted, they face up to six months in prison on each count, and some are accused on as many as 11 counts.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that U.S. Magistrate David Sanders freed the men on their own recognizance after the hearing. He did not set a trial date.

The defendants, according to court records, are Christopher R. Groner, Thomas A. Cobb, Chad Russom, Robert Brian Jennings, Edward Payton Connor, Danny Joseph Hipp and Jesse Steelman, all of Oxford.

Prosecutors said the men are accused of killing as many as twice their daily legal limit of ducks during January near Crowder in Tallahatchie County. An indictment alleges the men killed about 70 game birds, including 62 mallards.

They also are accused of crippling or killing migratory game birds and leaving them.

Pennsylvania: Woman pleads guilty in teen’s death in 2000
CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania woman will spend the rest of her life in prison after pleading guilty to helping kill her boyfriend’s former lover.

Forty-four-year-old Beth Ann Markman had been awaiting a new trial when she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday in Cumberland County court. She was immediately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Markman had been convicted of first-degree murder but that was thrown out when her attorney argued a statement by her boyfriend shouldn’t have been allowed as evidence.

Thirty-four-year-old William Howard Housman is on death row for October 2000 slaying of 18-year-old Leslie Rae White. Prosecutors say Housman and Markman lured White to Housman’s home, then gagged and strangled her.

White’s body was discovered in an abandoned car in Virginia.

Louisiana: Lawsuit claims Houma church owes $500,000
HOUMA, La. (AP) — A Mississippi construction company has taken a Houma church to court over an alleged $500,000 in unpaid bills from a $3 million sanctuary built last year.

Associated Builders of Columbus, Miss., is seeking a judgment against Beacon Light Baptist Church for unpaid construction work on its new 23,000-square-foot building.

The Courier reports the lawsuit is also asking Synergy Bank, which is named in the suit and issued a $3 million loan for the building’s construction, to foreclose on the church.

The church hasn’t yet replied to the contractor’s lawsuit, but under an extension granted by the court it has until the end of this week to do so. No court date has been set.

California: Christian schools lose appeal bid in university case
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from two Christian high schools in Southern California that want the University of California to grant college-prep credit for courses with religious viewpoints.

The justices, without comment, denied a hearing to the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Association of Christian Schools International, which accused UC of violating freedom of speech and religion for refusing to honor some Christian high school courses when considering UC admissions eligibility.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld a Los Angeles federal judge’s ruling that the university did not discriminate against Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta and Calvary Baptist School in La Verne.

In 2008, federal Judge S. James Ortero said the schools had failed to prove that religious intolerance, rather than academic merit, led to rejection of Christian course credit.

Pennsylvania: County won’t settle in racy teen pics case
TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. (AP) — Officials in a northeastern Pennsylvania county will let a court decide a lawsuit filed by a high school student who says she was threatened with charges after racy photos were found on her cell phone.

The Wyoming County commissioners on Tuesday decided they won’t settle the suit filed by a former Tunkhannock High School student.

The student filed the federal lawsuit in May, naming the district, the county, it’s former district attorney and others. The teen claimed a school principal had illegally searched her phone then turned it over to prosecutors.

The district settled with the student last month.

Wyoming County solicitor James Davis said the county and district are in different positions in terms of liability.

Texas: State high court considers county ballot dispute
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has been asked to allow a challenge to the Travis County electronic voting system to proceed.

The 2006 lawsuit by the Texas Civil Rights Project also names the secretary of state’s office.

The suit alleges the electronic system violates state law because it does not produce paper ballots, so voters have no way of knowing whether their picks are properly recorded.

Appeals lawyer Kristofer Monson, representing Secretary of State Hope Andrade, says voters cannot show they have been harmed and the lawsuit should be dismissed.

Attorney Timothy Herman, for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, says a paper record is necessary to protect voting rights.

New York: Transgender woman sues LPGA for birth rule
NEW YORK (AP) — A transgender woman is suing the LPGA over a requirement which states all competitors must be “female at birth.”

The New York Times is reporting Wednesday that Lana Lawless, a 57-year-old who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2005, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claiming the policy violates California civil rights laws.

Lawless won the women’s world championship in long-drive golf in 2008, but was barred from competing this year because Long Drivers of America — which oversees the event — had changed its policy to mirror that of the LPGA.

She is seeking to prevent the LPGA from holding events in California until the policy is changed, as well as an unspecified amount in damages from Long Drivers of America and two of its title sponsors.