Judge annuls Alabama's gender ID rule
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama's policy requiring a transgender person to undergo full gender reassignment surgery before they can change the sex on their driver's license is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson said Alabama policy's that people "can only change the sex designation on their driver licenses only by changing their genitalia" is unconstitutional. He directed the state to give new licenses to the three transgender women who filed the lawsuit "reflecting that they are women."
The federal judge said the policy subjects people to harassment and even the risk of violence when they have a license that does not match their daily appearance. In 2019 arguments in the case, Thompson said Alabama was essentially marking people with a "scarlet T."
"The alternative to surgery is to bear a driver license with a sex designation that does not match the plaintiffs' identity or appearance. That too comes with pain and risk," Thompson wrote. "Alabama therefore may no longer make people's genitalia determine the contents of their driver licenses," Thompson said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs, has said Alabama is one of about nine states that require proof of surgery to change the gender identification on a state ID.
The Alabama attorney general's office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Storm causes outages in New England
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A storm lashed parts of New England and eastern Canada on Saturday with heavy rain, snow and wind, leading to power failures and slick roads.
About 15,000 homes and businesses were without electricity at the height of the storm in Vermont, the hardest-hit U.S. state, and thousands of outages were reported elsewhere across the region, officials said.
"The snow is wet, heavy and slippery, which makes travel and restoration conditions tough," said Mike Burke, chief of field operations at Green Mountain Power in Vermont.
A foot or more of snow was possible across higher elevations of northern New England, and wind gusts as high as 50 to 60 mph were expected along the Maine coast, said Michael Clair, of the National Weather Service in Maine.
Gusts of 70 mph were recorded at the Isle of Shoals, about 2 miles off New Hampshire, and New Hampshire's Mount Washington recorded a gust of 118 mph at the summit, the weather service said.
Trial date set in plot to kidnap governor
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A federal judge has set a March 23 trial date for six men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan's governor in what authorities say was a plot by anti-government extremists who were angry over her coronavirus policies.
Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids set the date Friday.
In December, a grand jury indicted Adam Dean Fox, Barry Gordon Croft Jr., Ty Gerard Garbin, Kaleb James Franks, Daniel Joseph Harris and Brandon Michael-Ray Caserta on a conspiracy charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. They are all from Michigan except for Croft, who lives in Delaware.
The six were arrested in early October after an FBI investigation into an alleged plot to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in northern Michigan.
Several of their attorneys argued that their clients were "big talkers" who did not intend to follow through with action.
Eight other men who are said to be members or associates of the Wolverine Watchmen are charged in state court with counts including providing material support for terrorist acts. Some of them are accused of taking part in the alleged plot against Whitmer.
Arson hits Church of Satan community
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Members of the Church of Satan are grieving the destruction of a historic "Halloween House" north of New York City that authorities say was set ablaze by an unidentified arsonist.
The historic home, built in 1900, served as an Addams Family-style hub for local adherents of the religion, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports.
Surveillance footage shows a man walking up to the house after 5 a.m. Thursday with two gas cans, splashing liquid on the front porch and igniting it, people said. Two people escaped the house unharmed, authorities said.
The home on South Clinton Street was decorated with devil sculptures. A hearse long sat in its driveway, and a sign over the garage read "Devil's Garage."
The exotic house served as a gathering place to celebrate Halloween and showcased the beliefs of its longtime former owner, Joe "Netherworld" Mendillo, a Church of Satan member who died last year.
It's unlikely the home will be restored because of the extensive fire damage, said Peter H. Gilmore, high priest of the Church of Satan, who lives down the block in what members refer to as Poughkeepsie's "Witchcraft District."
The religion is based not on devil worship, but on atheist philosophies of individualism, liberty and self-fulfillment, Gilmore said.