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Nation in brief

Kan. court: Same-sex sentence was unfair

By wire services
Published October 22, 2005

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state cannot impose harsher penalties for underage sex because the two individuals are of the same gender.

In 2000, Matthew Limon was 18 years old when he was convicted of criminal sodomy and sentenced to 17 years for having consensual sex with a 14-year-old boy. If Limon had been convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, he would have received a maximum sentence of 15 months.

The distinction is unfair, the court ruled Friday, striking down the provision that exempted homosexual sex from the state's "Romeo and Juliet" provision.

Those on both sides of gay rights say the ruling is a victory for gays and lesbians and could lead to further advances in gay rights. Attorney General Phill Kline has no plans to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and lawmakers say there is not much they could do to circumvent the ruling.

The Romeo and Juliet statute allows for lesser penalties for teenagers convicted of having sexual relations with a 14- or 15-year-old, so long as the offender is 18 or younger and less than four years older than the victim, and is a member of the opposite sex.

TALLAHASSEE - Air Force and Navy memos warn that offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would interfere with training and weapons testing and that military use of the water ranges is expected to increase in the future.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., cited the memos in a letter dated Wednesday to House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who has been trying to craft legislation that would open the eastern gulf to oil and natural gas drilling.

"We simply cannot undercut our military," Nelson wrote.

Pombo spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli said Friday that he has assured Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida representatives who have been negotiating with him that the military's needs would be addressed in his legislation.

TAUNTON, Mass. - Crews started building a rock dam Friday to replace a decrepit wooden one that nearly collapsed and swamped this town of 50,000 earlier this week.

The new dam was expected to be finished within hours, and the old one, only a few feet upstream, will be detonated Saturday, ahead of a nighttime storm that was expected to bring another 1 to 3 inches of rain.

The 173-year-old Whittenton Pond Dam buckled and starting breaking apart Monday after a weekend of heavy rain, prompting nearly 2,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Residents began returning late Thursday after millions of gallons of water were pumped from an upstream lake to relieve pressure on the dam.

DETROIT - A man who tried to take a stun gun, ammunition and other items on a plane to Syria - and claimed he was trying to collect a $25-million bounty on Osama bin Laden - was sentenced Friday to time served and a year of supervised release. Matt Mihsen, 47, of Chandler, Texas, has been free since pleading guilty last month to a federal count of failing to report that he had brought ammunition on board an airplane.

[Last modified October 22, 2005, 01:14:12]