Michelle Obama speaks to African students
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 23 (UPI) -- U.S. first lady Michelle Obama met with high school students in Cape Town, South Africa, although a visit to Robben Island was canceled because of bad weather.
"Whenever I travel as first lady, my priority is to meet with young people like all of you because No. 1, you are beautiful and handsome and really cool," Obama told the University of Cape Town audience of students selected from high schools in nearby townships Thursday. "Every time I visit with young people I come away inspired."
Attending college requires a willingness to work hard, she said.
"Getting into a school like this isn't some kind of magical process," the first lady said. "There is no magic dust that helps students succeed."
Aides said Obama and her family were looking forward to the trip to Robben Island to visit the prison cell where former South African President Nelson Mandela was held for part of the 27 years he was imprisoned. The trip was canceled because of high winds and rough waters.
Instead she toured the District Six Museum, which memorializes the history of a Cape Town sector established in 1870s as a racially mixed area then forcibly segregated in the 1970s. Non-whites were removed to outlying areas.
Obama is spending a week in southern Africa, visiting cities in South Africa and Botswana.
Border Patrol defends killing rock-thrower
SAN DIEGO, June 23 (UPI) -- The fatal shooting an illegal Mexican immigrant in the head for throwing rocks at a U.S. Border Patrol agent was justified, U.S. authorities said.
A border patrol officer who killed 40-year-old Jose Yanez Reyes at the San Diego border with Tijuana, Mexico, acted in self-defense, the authorities said, arguing that rock attacks have resulted in disabling injuries to agents.
"Agents don't shoot their weapon unless they fear for their lives or the lives of their partners or innocent third persons," Justin De La Torre, an acting assistant chief patrol agent in San Diego, told the Los Angeles Times.
But the Mexican government and immigrant-rights groups, who have long protested what they consider excessive tactics by Border Patrol agents, condemned the Tuesday evening shooting, which knocked Reyes off a border fence and back into Mexico.
"We simply cannot allow our law-enforcement agents to use lethal force when confronted with rock throwers," said Kevin Keenan, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, told the newspaper.
Ricardo Valladares, 27, a Tijuana body-shop painter, said the agents had a right to defend themselves, but not lethally.
"Obviously, they have to retaliate," he said. "But to kill him for throwing a rock? Why don't [agents] just use rubber bullets?"
The FBI, San Diego police and Mexican authorities are investigating.
Court rules against Anna Nicole estate
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote Thursday, ruled that a bankruptcy judge's awarding of millions of dollars to Anna Nicole Smith was unconstitutional.
Smith is identified in the case by her real married name, Vickie Lynn Marshall. She married J. Howard Marshall II, 62 years older than her, approximately a year before his death.
Vickie filed suit in Texas state court alleging the elderly J. Howard meant to provide for her in a trust, but that his son Pierce illegally interfered with that wish.
After J. Howard died, Pierce filed a claim against Vickie in federal bankruptcy court. But a bankruptcy judge awarded her millions of dollars from J. Howard's estate in a counter-claim against Pierce.
On review of the bankruptcy action, a federal appeals court in California reversed a federal judge's ruling in Vickie's favor, saying the bankruptcy judge did not have the authority to rule on Vickie's counter-claim, and should have given the state court's judgment "preclusive effect."
In the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court said, "Although the bankruptcy court had the statutory authority to enter judgment on Vickie's counterclaim, it lacked the constitutional authority to do so."
Bankruptcy judges have authority under a federal statute, the opinion said, but are not federal judges under Article III of the Constitution.
The case decided by the court pits Vickie's estate against her stepson's estate.
Florida death penalty procedure challenged
MIAMI, June 23 (UPI) -- A convicted killer will get a new sentencing hearing because a federal judge ruled the way Florida courts hand out the death penalty is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez ordered Paul H. Evans to receive a new sentencing hearing because juries, not judges, should be the ones to specify which details about a crime justify execution, The Miami Herald reported.
"If the case survives appeals, the Florida Legislature is going to have modify the law to allow jurors to explain why someone deserves the death penalty," said Miami attorney Terry Lenamon, founder of the Florida Capital Resource Center, a support group for death penalty defense cases.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said she will appeal the ruling.
Legal scholars said the ruling by Martinez, who was appointed to the bench in 2002 by then President George W. Bush, marks the first time a Florida judge has overturned a death sentence under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said defendants are entitled to have juries decide if "aggravating factors" in a crime justify capital punishment.
Jurors in the Evans case voted 9-3 for the death sentence. The trial judge imposed the death sentence, finding Evans committed the crime for "pecuniary gain" and because the killing was "committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner."
Paul, Frank to introduce marijuana bill
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Reps. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Barney Frank, D-Mass., say they will introduce a bill to curb the government's role in marijuana law enforcement.
A marijuana policy advocacy group and several media outlets reported Paul and Frank, along with other congressional members, will introduce legislation Thursday that would "limit the federal government's role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling."
The bill's authors said the measure isn't an attempt to legalize marijuana, but meant to ease conflicts between federal and state laws, CBS News reported. As many as 16 states allow the use of medical marijuana, which directly conflicts with federal law.
The Marijuana Policy Project said the legislation would "end state-federal conflicts over marijuana policy, reprioritize federal resources and provide more room for states to do what is best for their own citizens."
In early June, a 19-member international panel called the "war on drugs" a failure and recommended the United States consider legalizing marijuana as a way to undermine criminal organizations.
Storm damage cancels Churchill Downs races
LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 23 (UPI) -- A string of tornado cells moved through Louisville, Ky., damaging many horse barns at historic Churchill Downs, forcing Thursday's racing card to be canceled.
Witnesses said funnel clouds snaked from the sky, possibly touching down at several locations including the race track, the University of Louisville's Belknap campus and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, The Courier-Journal reported.
The violent weather toppled power lines and dumped several inches of rain across the Louisville area, stranding motorists and overwhelming sewer systems.
While no injuries were reported, thousands of people were without electricity Wednesday night, officials said
Churchill Downs officials were working to ensure nearly 200 horses in the damaged barns weren't injured, The Courier-Journal said.
"It's been a rugged night at Churchill Downs," said track spokesman John Asher.
Officials said at least three water rescues were made from vehicles stranded in flooded The track's landmark twin spires were unharmed, the roof was torn off at least one barn, and the backside dormitory and chapel also sustained damage, track officials said.
Because of the damage to up to nine barns and the displacement of the horses, training and racing for Thursday were canceled, officials said.
Asher said horses were moved to empty stables until they could be relocated. Keeneland Race Course in Lexington and the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville offered to take animals, Asher said.
roadways.
Residents along the East Coast could see more heat and humidity Thursday, as well as strong storms as the weather system that affected Louisville pushes east, AccuWeather.com reported.
The Mid-Atlantic and portions of the interior Northeast were at the greatest risk for strong storms, forecasters said, adding that portions of the northern Rockies and western High Plains could see some powerful storms carrying large hail and gusty winds.
