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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Explicit video games face limits in Illinois

Compiled from wire reports The Spokesman-Review

Springfield, Ill. Lawmakers voted Saturday to ban the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors in Illinois.

The measure goes to Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who proposed the ban after hearing of the video game “JFK Reloaded,” which puts players in the role of President Kennedy’s assassin.

The legislation leaves it to stores to decide which games are too violent or explicit for minors. Retailers argue it turns them into violence and sensitivity police.

A federal judge last summer struck down a Washington state ban as a violation of free speech because it prohibited selling to minors video games depicting violence against police officers but not other depictions of violence. The judge ruled the ban was too broad because it was unclear which games would be banned.

Subpoena is opposed in academy rape case

Denver An arrest warrant has been issued for a rape counselor who refused to turn over records of her sessions with a former Air Force Academy cadet, one of the women whose allegations touched off a scandal that toppled the academy’s top leaders.

Jennifer Bier is fighting a subpoena in the court-martial of airman Joseph Harding, accused of sexually assaulting two women at the academy. His attorneys say their client’s right to a fair trial overrides the alleged victim’s right to privacy. The woman is among dozens saying they were ignored or punished when they reported assaults to academy officials.

Man who stole TV free after 35 years

Hillsborough, N.C. After 35 years in prison for stealing a black-and-white TV, Junior Allen is a free man.

Allen, 65, walked out of prison Friday, ending a case that attracted attention because he remained in jail while other inmates convicted of murder, rape or molestation were released.

Allen was a 30-year-old migrant farmworker from Georgia with a criminal history that included burglaries and assault when he sneaked into an unlocked house and stole the TV worth $140.

He was released several months early – on his 26th try at parole.

State senator resigns amid bribery charges

Nashville, Tenn. State Sen. John Ford, a member of one of Tennessee’s most powerful political families, has resigned after being placed under house arrest facing charges from a two-year FBI sting, the lieutenant governor said Saturday.

Ford, a Democrat and member of the Senate for more than 30 years, was arrested Thursday following a sting operation. He is charged with four other current and former state lawmakers with taking payoffs and is accused of threatening to kill a witness.

Prosecutors played a video Friday of Ford watching an agent count out $10,000 and an audiotape of him allegedly threatening a potential witness. His lawyer says the purported threat was meant as a joke.

Life-sentence bill sent to governor

Austin, Texas A bill that would give jurors in the No. 1 death-penalty state the option of sentencing murderers to life in prison without parole is headed to the governor’s desk.

The state Senate on Saturday approved the measure on a 25-6 vote. Republican Gov. Rick Perry has said the issue was ripe for debate among lawmakers but has not indicated whether he would sign the measure into law or veto it.

Death-penalty opponents hope the proposal reduces executions in Texas. They say prosecutors use the prospect that a killer will someday be back out on the streets to scare juries.

Of 38 states with the death penalty, only Texas and New Mexico do not give jurors the life-without-parole option.