Commandments statue in N.M. to move
FARMINGTON, N.M. — A New Mexico group that erected a monument on city-owned property honoring the Ten Commandments will move it to church property.
The city of Bloomfield and the organization must move the monument after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving whether it could be displayed on public property, the Daily Times of Farmington reported.
The monument was placed on the lawn of City Hall in 2011 and was challenged a year later by the American Civil Liberties Union. Lower courts concluded that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on government endorsing a religion.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a lower court that ordered its removal.
Attorneys for the city have argued that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ignored previous rulings that simply being offended by such a monument did not give someone a legal basis to challenge it.
The monument will be displayed by First Baptist Church of Bloomfield, which was chosen because of its central location in the community.
“It’s something that the whole community can enjoy and appreciate,” said Kevin Mauzy, the founder of the Four Corners Historical Monument Project.
Mauzy emphasized that no city money will be used to pay for the relocation.
Texas executes man who killed cousin
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Mexican citizen on death row in Texas was executed Wednesday night for the slaying of his 16-year-old cousin who was abducted from her family’s apartment and fatally beaten.
Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, 47, was given a lethal injection after several federal court appeals failed to halt his punishment for the February 1997 killing of Mayra Laguna.
Asked by the warden to make a final statement, he replied, “No, sir.”
At 10:26 p.m., 21 minutes after the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, he was pronounced dead, making him the seventh convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state.
In a handwritten statement released afterward, Cardenas thanked his family, attorneys and the Mexican Consulate for their help.
By slim vote, NASA-chief pick advances
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee Wednesday narrowly backed President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next NASA chief.
Republicans on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee used their slender majority to overcome objections from Democrats to advance the selection of U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla. The party-line vote was 14-13.
Bridenstine, 42, is in his third term representing a conservative district in northeast Oklahoma. Democrats criticized past comments he has made dismissing global warming as a man-made problem. They also voiced concern about Bridenstine’s harsh criticism of Democratic lawmakers and fellow Republicans over the years, and questioned whether he would keep the space agency from being mired in political battles.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the job of NASA administrator is one of the most challenging positions in the federal government, and requires a strong scientific and technical background. He said the next administrator “must not be political.”
“It is a position where failure of leadership quite literally means the difference between life and death,” Nelson said.
Bridenstine appeared before the committee last week and promised to run the space agency on a consensus agenda driven by science.
Suit says $55 fee keeping people in jail
DENVER — A Colorado woman arrested on suspicion of possessing a small amount of methamphetamine, remained in jail for weeks and decided to plead guilty because she was unable to pay a $55 county fee for pretrial services, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
The federal suit, filed Tuesday, argued that El Paso County’s fee is unjustly keeping people in jail — even after a judge allows them to be freed on their own recognizance.
County records indicate that more than 50 people were unable to pay the county fee this fall, ACLU attorneys said in the lawsuit.
Attorneys said 26-year-old Jasmine Still, arrested in January for possessing three-tenths of a gram of methamphetamine, was in jail for 27 days after being granted a personal recognizance bond and agreeing to attend future court appearances.
The conditions of her bond did not include any financial commitment, the lawsuit states.
El Paso County attorneys were reviewing the lawsuit, said spokesman Dave Rose. He declined to comment on the specifics of the suit but said attorneys can request that the county’s $55 fee be waived.