Jury Acquits Seriously Pissed Off Grannies in Anti-War Prosecution

After a three day trial, jurors in Multnomah County Circuit Court acquitted the Seriously Pissed Off Grannies, on charges of “unlawfully and knowingly causing substantial inconvenience to the United States” (also known as criminal mischief in the third degree). These charges arose from a silent vigil held by the Grannies on April 6, 2007 at the U.S. Army and Marine recruiting center on NE Broadway in Portland, OR, where they placed bloody handprints on the windows of the recruiting center with water-soluble red tempera paint. The defendants pled “not guilty” to charges of criminal mischief, each testifying to their belief that their actions constituted a symbolic act of political speech at a government office and resulted in no damage to the property. The jurors wisely chose to protect free speech rights and acquit despite the outrageous closing argument of the Assistant District Attorney, which included references to suicide bombers, 9/11 hijackers, and pipe bombs.

The National Lawyers Guild reports

Princeton Subsidizing Birth Control Pills for Students

A bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY) would reinstate incentives for pharmaceutical companies to offer discounted rates for prescription contraceptives to low-income and college health clinics. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, intended to stem Medicaid abuse, dropped the incentives, resulting in a tripling of contraceptive prices at these health centers across the country. In the meantime, Princeton University announced it would subsidize birth control pills for its students.

The New York Times and AP report

Gay Ambassador Resigns in Protest

After a failed personal appeal to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. ambassador to Romania resigned in protest of State Department policy denying benefits to same-sex partners. Currently, cohabiting partners are not only denied the rights given to married spouses, but are granted fewer rights than family pets.

The Washington Post reports

Colson Prison Program Wins Reprieve in Iowa

The evangelical Christian InnerChange Freedom Initiative will continue operating in Iowa prisons after an appeals court overturned a lower court verdict shutting the program and assessing a fee of $1.5 million as repayment for funding received from the state of Iowa. The original suit was filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State against Prison Fellowship Ministries, an IFI affiliate founded by Charles Colson, an evangelical Bush ally who served time in prison for his role in Watergate.

Inner Change Freedom Initiative reports

Tribal Governments Seek Greater Control Over Foster Care

Although American Indian and Alaskan Native children are overrepresented in the U.S. foster care system, tribal governments are blocked from the largest federal sources of funding for child welfare programs, according to a joint report from the National Indian Child Welfare Association and the nonpartisan Kids Are Waiting campaign, a Pew Charitable Trust project. Tribal governments, concerned that children's spiritual and cultural ties can fade in foster care, are seeking alternatives that would grant them more control. States can access seven federal child welfare funding programs, but their tribal counterparts can access only five and are excluded from directly accessing the largest source of funding. The Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Act (Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.), currently under Senate review, would allow tribes to access all seven federal funding sources that are now available to state child welfare systems and introduce accountability measures.

Kids Are Waiting reports