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In brief: Democrats move to back gay marriage

From Wire Reports

WASHINGTON – The Democratic Party is moving to include support for gay marriage in the official party platform for the first time, a Democratic official said Monday, marking a key milestone for advocates of same-sex unions.

The party’s platform drafting committee voted to include language backing gay marriage during a weekend meeting in Minneapolis, the official said. Democratic delegates will formally approve the platform during the party convention in Charlotte, N.C., in early September.

The Democratic official would not comment on the exact language of the pro-gay marriage plank approved by the drafting committee. It was unclear if the party would call for any national action to legalize gay marriage.

LaTourette not running again

WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Steven LaTourette of Ohio, a nine-term lawmaker and a close confidant of House Speaker John Boehner, has decided not to seek re-election.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said Monday night that LaTourette had told him that he wouldn’t be a candidate in November.

LaTourette scheduled a news conference today at his district office in Painesville, his spokeswoman said.

Soldier not guilty of negligent homicide

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – A military jury on Monday found an Army sergeant accused of hazing a private due to his Chinese heritage not guilty of negligent homicide in the death of the private, who killed himself in Afghanistan.

The 10-member jury at Fort Bragg did find Sgt. Adam Holcomb guilty of two lesser charges, maltreatment of a subordinate and assault. Holcomb faces a maximum of 2  1/2 years in prison.

Holcomb was the first of eight soldiers to be court-martialed for the alleged racial hazing of Pvt. Danny Chen, who killed himself last October. Chen, 19, shot himself to death in a guardhouse Oct. 3. He was called names while in training, then was subjected to hazing after he was deployed to Afghanistan, his family has said. On the day of Chen’s death, he was forced to crawl about 100 yards across gravel carrying his equipment while his fellow soldiers threw rocks at him, the family said.