In brief: New Jersey testing online gambling

Atlantic City, N.J. – New Jersey is allowing adults in the state to click a mouse or swipe a screen for a chance to win money, making it only the third state to offer online gambling.

A five-day trial period of Internet gambling began Thursday night when players invited by casinos to test their systems made real-money bets online.

If all goes well, Internet gambling will be available to gamblers in New Jersey starting Tuesday. The only other states with online gambling are Nevada and Delaware.

Utah AG resigning amid allegations

Salt Lake City – Utah Attorney General John Swallow announced Thursday that he is stepping down amid multiple investigations of bribery and misconduct that have hounded him ever since he took office at the beginning of the year.

Swallow discussed his resignation at a news conference as he vigorously denied breaking any laws and said the toll of the investigations had become too much for him and his family.

It marked a stunning fall for a politician who was elected with nearly two-thirds of the vote one year ago and seemingly had a bright political future. But within his first week in office, accusations surfaced that the Republican engaged in questionable financial dealings with a businessman under federal investigation for fraud.

‘Scottsboro Boys’ given pardons

Montgomery, Ala. – The Alabama parole board on Thursday granted posthumous pardons in the “Scottsboro Boys” rape case, seeking to correct one of the more infamous racist cases that scarred the Deep South in the 1930s and that has reverberated through the nation’s consciousness ever since.

The board unanimously approved a petition granting a posthumous pardon to three of the group who still had convictions on their records. The pardons had been expected since the Alabama Legislature passed a law in the spring to allow the board to grant pardons for crimes older than 75 years – a move specifically directed at closing the last part of the case.