House passes new surveillance law
The House, in an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Friday, approved a sweeping new surveillance law that extends the government’s eavesdropping capability and effectively would shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits for cooperating with the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.
Ending a yearlong battle with President Bush, the House passed, by a 293 to 129 vote, an overhaul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill provides a legal avenue for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other telecommunications firms to ward off about 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers’ privacy by helping the government conduct a warrantless spying program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The plan is expected to clear the Senate next week.
San Francisco
Gay rights activists seek to block ban
Supporters of gay rights have asked the California Supreme Court to block a November ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriages.
In a legal brief filed late Friday with the court, the gay rights groups argue that the initiative is a “revision” of the state constitution, which would require involvement of the Legislature, rather than simply an amendment, which can be approved by a majority vote in an election.
Legal experts said the supporters of same-sex marriage face a difficult task in getting the justices to block a vote on the initiative. Typically, courts allow initiatives to proceed to a vote and then consider constitutional arguments on them if they pass. The court indicated it would rule on the petition later this summer.
Columbus, Ohio
Teacher accused of preaching fired
The school board of a small central Ohio community voted unanimously Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and using a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms.
School board members voted 5-0 to fire Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher John Freshwater.
Freshwater denies wrongdoing and will request such a hearing to challenge the dismissal, the teacher’s attorney, Kelly Hamilton, told the Mount Vernon News.
The dismissal came a week after a family filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on a child’s arm that remained for three or four weeks.
Freshwater used a science tool known as a high-frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students’ arms in December, a consultant’s report on the case said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on several students and described the images as an “X,” not a cross. But pictures show a cross, the report said.