An 87-year-old man accused of soliciting a prostitute in Michigan will not be prosecuted: "87 years without involvement in the criminal justice system has, in my opinion, earned him a pass"

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The 87-year-old man police say was soliciting an undercover cop posing as a prostitute will not be prosecuted.

"What would be the purpose in prosecuting him? " Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth said Tuesday, Sept. 1. "He wouldn't and shouldn't go to jail and 87 years without involvement in the criminal justice system has, in my opinion, earned him a pass."

Howard Arthur Klein, likely the oldest person ever charged with this crime, was arrested by Grand Rapids Police around 10 p.m. June 26 near Broadway Street NW and Leonard Avenue, not far from his home.

Klein was arrested along with two other men and two women, the rest of whom were booked into the Kent County Jail. Klein was not taken into custody, due to his age, and was arraigned July 8.

Related: 87-year-old man charged with soliciting a prostitute

Klein allegedly claimed he thought the woman he approached was someone he knew from church.

Klein faced a maximum of 93 days in the Kent County Jail if convicted.

"I could see no compelling reason to continue to prosecute Mr. Klein on the ticket he was issued for accosting and soliciting," Forsyth said. "He is 87 years old with absolutely no criminal record. In addition, I am told he struggles to some degree with dementia."

E-mail Barton Deiters: bdeiters@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GRPBarton or Facebook at http://ift.tt/1ohckXN

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Gay couples ask judge to hold Ky. clerk in contempt after she defied the Supreme Court order to issue marriage licenses

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Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis squares off with David Moore and his partner David Ermold over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a federal court order to do so. VPC

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Gerymanderers inadvertently give college student unlimited tax authority in her district

As you probably know, "gerrymandering" is the practice of redrawing the borders of a voting district for a specific purpose, usually if not always to make sure it has more of your supporters than opponents in it. This is nothing new, of course, but few gerrymanderers can have failed more spectacularly than those who crafted the Business Loop 70 Community Improvement District in Columbia, Missouri.

The city council established the district in April for the purpose of improving the area of town shown above. According to the Columbia Tribune (also the image source), state law permits the voters in a CID to impose taxes or assessments within the district in order to fund improvement projects. A majority of registered voters living in the district must approve, but if there aren't any registered voters in the district, then only the property owners get to vote. (You see where this is going.)

After the district was established, the property owners voted for a property assessment (basically taxing each other) that is expected to bring in about $50,000 a year. But that's not enough for the projects they have planned, so they also intended to enact a half-cent sales tax to raise another $220,000. Even though this tax would be paid by other people, most likely those who live nearby, under the CID law it could be imposed by the property owners acting alone because there are no registered voters living in the district. And after all, that's why the district looks sort of like the Battlestar Galactica instead of some respectable polygon. As the Tribune put it, many nearby homes "were not included in the district when it was drawn because district organizers wanted a district free of residents."

And they almost got it.

The note "Henderson's residence" on the map indicates the home of University of Missouri student Jen Henderson, who, it turns out, is the only registered voter living within the Business Loop 70 CID. But because there is in fact at least one registered voter there, the law says the property owners don't get to vote. As a result, Jen Henderson, and Jen Henderson alone, will decide whether the sales tax passes.

Henderson has been registered since February, before the CID was created. It's not clear from the report how they missed her when creating the district, let alone when they held the vote in April to impose the property assessment. Since the property owners were taxing themselves with that one, they might have assumed (accurately) that nobody would really care. But in May, when planning for the sales-tax vote, they did contact the county clerk, who gave them the bad news that they had missed one registered voter.

According to Henderson, the CID's director then contacted her to ask if she would consider "unregistering" so the property owners could make the decision they have already decided to make. Unfortunately, they had the bad luck to overlook one of the relatively few voters who actually cares.

Henderson said she would consider the request, but the more she researched it, the proposal "just didn't seem to be as good as they were saying to me at first." While she has not made a decision, she says, "her concerns include vague project outlines, [the director's] pay, Business Loop improvements she said will help businesses but not nearby residents and how an additional sales tax would affect low-income people purchasing groceries and other necessities." Boy, I bet they would really like to make one small change to the map right about now.

1881   H. C. Lodge in J. Winsor Mem. Hist. Boston III. 212:   "In 1812, while [Elbridge] Gerry was governor [of Massachusetts], the Democratic Legislature, in order to secure an increased representation of their party in the State Senate, districted the State in such a way that the shapes of the towns, forming such a district in Essex [County], brought out a territory of singular outline. This was indicated on a map which Russell, the editor of the Centinel, hung in his office. Stuart, the painter, observing it, added a head, wings, and claws, and exclaimed, 'That will do for a salamander!' 'Gerrymander!' said Russell, and the word became a proverb."

—Oxford English Dictionary

The group is not required to hold the election, of course, and they are apparently considering whether or not to go forward. The director—who it sounds like should not be in charge of voter outreach, if they do go forward—told the Tribune that they have "two options: hold the election or not." There is a third option, of course: modify the plan in a way that might persuade the voters voter to support it. That doesn't seem to be on the table here, but it might actually be easier than trying to gerrymander your way to victory. Just a thought.

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Update: According to a new Tribune piece today (thanks, Glenn), the CID board has decided not to decide whether to hold the election. Since it made this (non)decision after a meeting this morning that Henderson attended, it sounds like they still haven't convinced her. The article says that board members "suggested ways to draw Henderson out of the district"—which I'm sure was much less sinister than it sounds—and also "discussed lobbying for a law to exclude groceries from the sales tax to alleviate her concerns" about poor people. (I guess they don't have the power to tinker with the tax, just to pass it. Although they don't have the power to do that now either.) No decision was reached, however.

This report says that they drew the district lines last November, which was after Henderson had moved into the district but before she registered to vote. I guess the lesson is that you need to go door-to-door to be sure you've got your election rigged correctly.

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Washington State announces it will not allow professors to ban words they don’t like

After a national uproar over a Washington State professor who threatened to mark down or even fail students who used words such as "illegal aliens," "tranny," or referring to men and women as "male or female," campus officials on Monday came out in strong support of free speech, pledging to "modify" syllabuses that ban words.

Here is their statement:

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University deeply values the tenets of freedom of expression for every member of our community, including all students, faculty and staff. Those First Amendment rights are reinforced in our policies, procedures and practices. Open dialogue, vigorous debate and the free exchange of ideas, as well as the language used to convey these ideas, are at the core of who we are as a higher education institution.

Over the weekend, we became aware that some faculty members, in the interest of fostering a constructive climate for discussion, included language in class syllabi that has been interpreted as abridging students' free speech rights. We are working with these faculty members to clarify, and in some cases modify, course policies to ensure that students' free speech rights are recognized and protected. No student will have points docked merely as a result of using terms that may be deemed offensive to some. Blanket restriction of the use of certain terms is not consistent with the values upon which this university is founded.

Free speech and a constructive climate for learning are not incompatible. We aim to cultivate diversity of expression while protecting individual rights and safety.

To this end, we are asking all faculty members to take a moment to review their course policies to ensure that students' right to freedom of expression is protected along with a safe and productive learning environment.

RELATED: Students will be marked down if they write 'mankind' in North Carolina State women's studies class

Henry Reichman, professor emeritus of history at California State University at East Bay and chair of the American Association of University Professors' Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, told Inside Higher Ed via email that "there are multiple issues at play in the debate over the Washington State syllabus" …

Faculty members have the right to take measures designed to ensure a classroom atmosphere conducive to free and open discussion and debate," Reichman said. And he noted that the syllabus doesn't just ban some words or phrases, but references the value of civilized debate. He pointed with favor to a part of the syllabus that says: "We all have differing opinions, beliefs and practices. The course materials may challenge your personal beliefs or opinions, and this is an open space to discuss these disagreements in a civilized, academic manner."

The problem, Reichman said, is that "blanket bans on specific words or expressions that some may find offensive would seem actually to contradict the true spirit of open and free discussion."

The AAUP opposes speech codes, Reichman said.

Read the full Inside Higher Ed article.

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More college students regularly smoke marijuana than tobacco, survey finds

Well from personal experience it's about the same price. When I was in college I could spend about $50/week on weed, or $50/week on cigarettes. Not only were cigarettes frowned upon by others (especially the ladies), but you just couldn't smoke anywhere on campus without breaking the law.

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Kentucky clerk **defies Supreme Court**, refuses marriage license to gay couple

A county clerk who invoked "God's authority" as she defied the U.S. Supreme Court yet again on gay marriage Tuesday refused to resign and now must face a federal judge who could impose fines or send her to jail.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis turned away several gay and lesbian couples who sought marriage licenses — some for a fifth time — even though the Supreme Court denied her last-ditch appeal the night before.

"To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God's definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision," she said through her lawyers.

"I was elected by the people to serve as the County Clerk. I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience," her statement said.

April Miller and Karen Roberts tried first, trailed by dozens of television cameras. A deputy clerk said no licenses would be issued, and declined to make Davis available.

David Moore and David Ermold, a couple for 17 years, then came in, demanding to speak with Davis.

"Tell her to come out and face the people she's discriminating against!" Ermold shouted.

"We're not leaving until we have a license," Ermold responded after she came out and told them to leave.

"Then you're going to have a long day," the clerk replied.

Davis then retreated behind a closed door, sheltered from questions and rival demonstrations.

"Praise the Lord! ... Stand your ground," her supporters shouted, while the other side called Davis a bigot and yelled: "Do your job!" Ordered to move to the courthouse lawn, each side tried to outdo the other with chanting, hymn-singing and sign-waving.

Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the nation.

Gay and straight couples sued, saying she should fulfill her duties despite her personal religious faith, or step aside. U.S. District Judge David Bunning agreed and was upheld. Her Liberty Counsel lawyers then asked the Supreme Court for what they called "asylum for her conscience."

After the full court declined to intervene, removing any remaining legal ground for Davis' position, the couples decided to try again, only to be disappointed. For James Yates and Will Smith Jr., it was their fifth rejection.

"It's just too hard right now," Yates said, choking back tears and holding hands with Smith as they rushed to their car.

Ermold and Moore cried and swayed as they walked out to chants from the clerk's supporters. "I feel like I've been humiliated on such a national level, I can't even comprehend it," Ermold said.

Despite the delays, the couples' lawyers asked the judge to punish her with fines, not jail.

"Since Defendant Davis continues to collect compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform," they asked Bunning to "impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous" to "compel her immediate compliance without delay."

Davis served as her mother's deputy for 27 years before she was elected as a Democrat to succeed her in November. Davis' own son is one of the six deputy clerks also summoned to appear before Bunning on Thursday at the federal court in Ashland.

Davis has said four deputies share her beliefs, one was ambiguous and one had no problem licensing same-sex marriages.

The clerk's husband, Joe Davis, came by Tuesday to check on his wife.

He said he's proud of her commitment to her faith, and compared her to the biblical figures Paul and Silas, sent to prison and rescued by God.

Davis has received death threats, he added, but he called himself a Second Amendment believer, suggesting that he's armed and ready. "I'm an old redneck hillbilly, that's all I've got to say. Don't come knocking on my door."

Outside the courthouse, three dozen people sang "Amazing Grace" and joined in a prayer circle. "She's standing for God's word, and we're standing with her," Flavis McKinney said, describing his side as "doing battle for Jesus Christ."

Protesters on the other side of the courthouse lawn waved rainbow flags, held signs saying "We the People" and "Hate is not a family value," and repurposed Christian songs.

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world," they sang. "Gay or straight or black or white, they are precious in his sight."

Associated Press

Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune

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A Bay Area man who found a $20 bill on a street outside San Francisco International Airport used it to play the California lottery and won $1 million, a lottery spokesman said on Monday.

A Bay Area man who found a $20 bill on a street outside San Francisco International Airport used it to play the California lottery and won $1 million, a lottery spokesman said on Monday.

Hubert Tang used the lucky bill to buy two scratcher tickets at a store near the airport on Wednesday and won the top prize with one of them, lottery spokesman Greg Parashak said.

"I scratched the ticket outside of the store. I told my friend who I was with that I didn't know if it was real but, 'I think I just won a million dollars,'" Tang said, according to Parashak.

Tang, a bartender at the airport, had not played the lottery in about a decade before using the found money to buy two tickets, Parashak said.

Tang said he did not yet have plans for the money, but joked that he might use it to place $20 bills in random places for other lucky players to find, according to the lottery.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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