National Roundup

New Hampshire Parents of tattooed teen sue NH school district CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- The parents of a New Hampshire teenager who was tattooed against his will have sued the school district. Michael and Tammy Austin are saying Concord School District officials could have prevented what happened to their son. Their son was a 14-year-old high school freshman in 2010. Police say four people were accused of luring him into a home's basement where they tattooed a lewd image and words on his backside. They pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the incident and served between several days and six months in jail. Three were high school students; they were expelled. The Concord Monitor reports the suit says the school knew the boy was being bullied and missed classes, but didn't help him. The parents say he has learning disabilities. An attorney for the school district couldn't be reached to comment. North Dakota Judge throws out tribes' lawsuit on Sioux nickname FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A judge has thrown out a federal lawsuit by a committee of tribal members trying to save the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname. The suit was filed against the NCAA by members of the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes. It asked for at least $10 million and a reversal of the NCAA policy banning the use of American Indian imagery. The NCAA filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the tribes lacked standing to bring the lawsuit and their claims were not supported by facts. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson ruled late Tuesday in favor of the NCAA. Erickson says, "The plain fact is that the committee and the other plaintiffs are not participants in the market alleged to be restrained by the NCAA." Pennsylvania Police: Waitress brought food, took jewelry AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a western Pennsylvania waitress swiped jewelry from the home of a widower under the guise of delivering food to the grieving man. Ambridge police charged 24-year-old Karri Kathleen Villella with burglary, theft and other crimes on Monday for allegedly stealing jewelry that belonged to the man's late wife. Investigators say Villella admitted taking two rings the man noticed missing and taking a house key she used to return and steal more items. Authorities say the victim thought Villella was bringing him food because he was a regular customer at the restaurant where she worked and often sat in her section. Villella is being held on $10,000 bail. Court records don't list an attorney for her. Pennsylvania Man gets 8 years for porn, not just 'viewer' PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A federal judge rejected a request for leniency in sentencing a western Pennsylvania man to eight years in prison for possessing child pornography, saying the defendant was "not simply a viewer" of such images. Instead, federal prosecutors say 51-year-old William Blumentritt, of Jeannette, was fixated on father-daughter sex and tried to encourage someone he thought was the mother of a 9-year-old girl during online chats to subject the child to abuses. The "mother" was really an FBI agent with whom Blumentritt traded some images online in 2009. Assistant public defender Thomas Livingston argued for a mandatory minimum sentence of just five years in prison, adding Blumentritt would be barred from using computers thereafter. But Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond refused Tuesday saying Blumentritt "was not simply a viewer" of child porn images, but actively traded them online. Pennsylvania 2 Muslim men sue over Pa. inmate strip searches JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Two Muslim men have sued the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections saying their beliefs were violated when they were strip searched at a western Pennsylvania prison in the presence of female staff and other inmates. The Philadelphia-area men, 58-year-old Pearlie Dubose Jr. and 57-year-old Elwood Small say in their federal lawsuit filed in Johnstown that Islamic law "prohibits a man from exposing his genitals to anyone but his spouse." A corrections spokeswoman declined comment. The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown says prison officials allegedly denied the men's requests to be strip-searched in a private area or behind a portable curtain during the lockdown in October 2009 at the State Correctional Institution-Laurel Highlands. Dubose has since been paroled after serving time for rape and other charges. Small is serving a life sentence for murder at the State Correctional Institution-Graterford. California Fed judge dismisses police excessive force lawsuit LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has dismissed an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a naked man who was shot to death during a confrontation with Los Angeles police officers. Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith says the officers were acting in defense of their lives during the January 2011 struggle with 25-year-old Reginald Doucet Jr. Doucet, a trainer who stood 6-feet-tall and weighed nearly 200 pounds, was nude when he confronted officers outside his Playa Vista condominium. The Los Angeles Times says a federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the excessive force lawsuit, saying police are shielded in certain circumstances from being held responsible for their official actions. The Los Angeles Police Commission ruled earlier that an officer was justified in shooting Doucet. Maine Ex-Maine border patrol agent sues DHS BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- A former border patrol agent says in a federal lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security that her supervisor created a hostile work environment by repeatedly demeaning women, discussing his conservative Christian views and treating her differently from her male colleagues. Rebecca Albert Carnot of Rangeley says she was illegally fired in January 2011 after working in the Coburn Gore Border Patrol Station in northwestern Maine for two years. Carnot alleges in the lawsuit that the supervisor said women should not be involved in law enforcement and had a duty to obey their husbands in accordance with the Bible. The 33-year-old Carnot is seeking reinstatement, damages, back wages and benefits and legal expenses. Published: Thu, May 3, 2012