Bill targets ruling on eminent domain
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the House yesterday approved a bill, 376 to 38, to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers. The bill would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force landowners to give up property for commercial uses. In June, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, allowed New London, Conn., to use eminent domain to require several homeowners to cede property for commercial use. (AP)
Kerry calls for statue to honor Rosa Parks
Senator John F. Kerry filed legislation yesterday calling for a statue honoring the late civil rights icon Rosa Parks to be erected in the US Capitol's famed Statuary Hall. ''Rosa Parks sat down so we could stand up, but not so we could stand still," said Kerry, recalling Parks's action in refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, in 1955 -- an event that helped spark the modern civil rights movement. The proposal would make Parks the first black woman to be represented in Statuary Hall. (AP)
MARYLAND
Bias suit filed against suspects in arson case
INDIAN HEAD -- Black residents in an upscale housing development filed a civil rights lawsuit against five white men accused of setting the subdivision on fire last year, saying the act was racially motivated. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in Greenbelt on behalf of 32 Hunters Brooke development residents, seeks unspecified damages. (AP)
COLORADO
3 pit bulls maul boy in his backyard
AURORA -- Three pit bulls mauled a 10-year-old boy in his backyard two days after the city banned new fighting dogs and added limits on those already owned. The boy was in ''very critical" condition yesterday police said. He was attacked Wednesday after he returned home from school, found the front door locked, and went into the backyard in this east Denver suburb, police said. It was not immediately clear who owned the dogs. (AP)
