National Roundup

Minnesota
Judge dismisses lawsuit from assaulted teacher 
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a Minnesota high school teacher who was body-slammed by a student.

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports U.S. District Judge David Doty said Thursday that science teacher John Ekblad must instead go through the workers compensation system.

Ekblad was assaulted by a student while trying to break up a fight in the lunchroom at St. Paul Central High School in December 2015. He filed a lawsuit in March against the former superintendent and assistant superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools, saying they failed to protect him.

The school district says it has already paid Ekblad more than $65,000 in workers compensation and tens of thousands of dollars in medical benefits.

Ekblad’s attorney says they plan to appeal.

Wisconsin
Man sentenced for 13th drunken driving conviction
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — A 63-year-old Hobart man convicted of drunken driving 13 times has been sentenced to serve 7 1/2 years in prison.

WLUK-TV reports that Gerald Blasczyk admitted in court Thursday to being an alcoholic.

Assistant District Attorney Peter Hahn urged the judge to impose a harsh sentence, saying Blasczyk needs treatment in a prison setting.

Defense attorney Walter Piel asked the judge for leniency, saying his client’s alcoholism comes partially from a culture in northeastern Wisconsin that condones heavy drinking.

Judge Mitchell Metropulos told Blasczyk he was lucky he hadn’t killed himself or someone else and sentenced him to the maximum 12½ years, with five years suspended and credit for three years Blasczyk has been in prison while his case worked its way through the courts.

California
Judge considers contempt against anti-abortion group leader
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge said Thursday he will consider holding the leader of an anti-abortion group in contempt after links to videos that the judge had barred from release appeared on the website of the man’s attorneys.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered David Daleiden and his attorneys, Steve Cooley and Brentford J. Ferreira, to appear at a June 14 hearing to consider contempt sanctions.

A phone message at Cooley and Ferreira’s law firm number was not immediately returned. A representative for Daleiden said she expected to have a statement later.

Daleiden is a leader of the Center for Medical Progress, which has released several secretly recorded videos that it says show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. Planned Parenthood said the videos were deceptively edited to support false claims.

The videos stoked the American abortion debate when they were released in 2015 and increased Congressional heat against Planned Parenthood that has yet to subside.

Daleiden is facing felony charges in California accusing him of recording people without their permission in violation of state law.

Orrick issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the release of videos made by the Center for Medical Progress at meetings of the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers. He also blocked the release of any names of NAF members.

The National Abortion Federation argued releasing the videos and names would endanger their members.

A federal appeals court in March upheld Orrick’s ruling. Daleiden has criticized the injunction as an attack on the First Amendment.

Orrick said another attorney for Daleiden, Catherine Short, confirmed during a conference call with him on Thursday that links to barred videos and the names of at least 11 NAF members had appeared on Cooley and Ferreira’s website. Neither Daleiden nor Cooley or Ferreira participated in the call, Orrick said.

Orrick ordered any video links and references to the identities of any NAF members taken down.


California
Schools sued over plan to fight Islamophobia
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Six parents have sued the San Diego school district, alleging that its anti-Islamophobia campaign favors Islam over other religions and grants special protections to Muslim students.

Charles LiMandri, an attorney for the parents, called the campaign a “politically correct solution to a problem that does not exist.”

The plan drew little attention when the board approved it 4-0 on April 4, with one member absent. Public comments from staff and community members were uniformly positive. Pushback gradually spread in conservative media and on social media, with many critics calling it an unwanted intrusion of Muslim beliefs and culture.

The San Diego Unified School District said Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation but district officials have vigorously defended the plan in recent weeks, saying bullying of Muslim students was pervasive and vastly underreported. As criticism mounted, the district posted extensive explanations on its website, saying it wasn’t endorsing Islam and that its initiative responded to community concerns expressed last summer about the safety of Muslim students.

The multiyear plan includes ensuring staff calendars include Muslim holidays, reviewing library materials on Muslim culture, providing resources to teachers and engaging in partnerships with the Council on American Islamic Relations.

The district also plans to consider high school clubs that promote American Muslim culture, create “safe spaces” for students and train staff about Muslim culture. The district is reviewing internal staff calendars to make sure Muslim holidays are recognized.

A letter outlining the plans was expected to be sent to staff and parents of the district’s 132,000 students before the school year ends.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, says the policy violates the U.S. Constitution by endorsing a religion. It asks a judge to immediately halt the policy while the merits of the claim are considered.

LiMandri said he was open to settlement talks and that an attorney for the school district appeared open to revisiting its partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Hanif Mohebi, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations’ San Diego chapter, said the lawsuit “seems to be an attempt to have the courts enforce growing Islamophobia in our state and nation, and to strip away much-needed protection for Muslim students who face increasing bullying.”