CHANGES........!!!! OH SO MANY CHANGES....!!!!

CONGRATS TO THE SPURS.....AND TIM DUNCAN....!!!!!

Woman sentenced to death at 16 released from prison

INDIANAPOLIS — A woman who was sentenced to death at age 16 after she confessed to her part in the torture and murder of a 78-year-old bible studies teacher has been released from an Indiana prison after spending a quarter century behind bars
                                   

Paula Cooper, whose death sentence in 1986 enraged human rights activists and drew a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II, left the state prison quietly in a state vehicle and wearing donated clothing, Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said.
The prison, about 60 miles west of Indianapolis, gave the now-43-year-old woman $75 to help her make a fresh start.
When asked where Cooper was being taken, Garrison said, "We have something arranged but that's not something I can talk about."
Cooper was 15 years old when she used a butcher's knife to cut Ruth Pelke 33 times during a robbery in Gary that ended in Pelke's death. Her three companions received lighter sentences but Cooper confessed to the killing and in 1986, at age 16, she became the youngest person on death row in the country.
Shortly after, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of young people who were under 16 at the time they committed an offense could not be sentenced to death, saying it counted as cruel and unusual punishment and was thus unconstitutional. Indiana legislators then passed a state law raising the minimum age limit for execution from 10 years to 16, and in 1988, the state's high court set Cooper's death sentence aside and ordered her to serve 60 years in prison.
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute anyone who is younger than 18 years when they commit an offense.
Cooper's sentence was reduced due to her behavior in prison, where she earned a bachelor's degree.












WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that requires people registering to vote in federal elections to show proof of citizenship.
In a 7-2 vote, the court said the voter registration provision of the 2004 state law, known as Proposition 200, was trumped by a federal law, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

The federal law requires prospective voters to provide one of several possible forms of identification, such as a driver's license or a passport, but no proof of citizenship is needed. Would-be voters simply sign a statement saying they are citizens.                
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the National Voter Registration Act, which doesn't require such documentation, trumps Proposition 200, and the high court agreed with the federal government in the case.
In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said the state law was pre-empted by language in the federal statute saying that states must "accept and use" a federal registration form. The state law ordered officials to reject the form if there was no accompanying proof of citizenship.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were the two dissenters.
The case began when Arizona residents, civil rights groups and Indian tribes sued to challenge the state measure, which they said discriminated against otherwise eligible voters, among them members of more than a score of Native American tribes across the rugged desert state, some of whom struggle to meet additional requirements.
Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico, has a reputation for passing tough anti-immigration laws that have brought it into conflict with the Obama administration.
Arizona officials say their law is needed to stop non-Americans from voting in elections, while opponents see it as an attack on minorities, immigrants and the elderly.
The Arizona voter registration measure is one of many nationwide championed by Republicans and put in place at the state level. Democrats say the measures are intended to make it more difficult for certain voters who tend to vote Democratic to cast ballots.
The case is Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-71.