The Nation

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A weekly news magazine edited by students in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Moody

From wire reports

Gay student sues Ohio schooldistrict over gay tolerance T-shirt

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A gay student whosehigh school prohibited him from wearing a T-shirt designed to urge tolerance of gays is suingthe school, saying it's violating his freedom ofexpression rights.

The mother of 16-year-old Maverick Couchfiled the federal lawsuit on his behalf againstWayne Local School District and its WaynesvilleHigh School principal. Couch, a junior at thesouthwest Ohio high school, has been threatenedby school officials with suspension if he wearsthe shirt, which bears the message "Jesus Is Nota Homophobe," the lawsuit says. Officials at thepublic school told him the shirt is "sexual innature" and is inappropriate there, it says.

The lawsuit charges that the actions of officialsin the school district violated Couch's constitu-tional rights, including the First Amendmentright to freedom of speech and the FourteenthAmendment right to equal protection under thelaw. It asks the U.S. District Court to order schoolofficials to allow Couch to wear the shirt and topay him unspecified "nominal" damages andattorneys' fees.

Lambda Legal attorney Christopher Clark saidCouch tried to reach a solution without going tocourt, but officials at the school would not coop-erate.

Connecticut State Senatemoves to abolish death penalty

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) After executingonly one prisoner in more than 50 years,Connecticut moved Thursday to become the fifthstate in five years to do away with the deathpenalty.

But the repeal wouldn't be a lifeline for thestate's 11 death row inmates, including two menwho killed a woman and two children in a homeinvasion, supporters touted as a key reason tokeep the law on the books.

The state Senate debated on Thursday aboutwhether the law would reverse those sentencesbefore voting 20-16 to repeal the law.

The heavily Democratic states House ofRepresentatives is expected to follow withapproval within weeks.

Like Connecticut, states that have recentlydecided to abolish capital punishment wereamong those that in practice rarely executedinmates. New Jersey, for example, hasn't execut-ed anyone in more than 40 years.

Connecticut would become the 17th statewithout a death penalty.

-- From Associated Press Reports

By DAVID ESPO and KASIE HUNTAssociated Press writers

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- MittRomney tightened his grip onthe Republican presidentialnomination Tuesday night,sweeping the primaries inWisconsin, Maryland andWashington, D.C., with timeleft over to swap charges withPresident Barack Obama.

"Four more years?" Romneyasked sarcastically of the pres-ident as supporters cheered inMilwaukee.

He said Obama was "a littleout of touch" after spendingfour years in office and hadpresided over near-record joblosses, increases in poverty,home foreclosures, govern-ment debt and gasoline prices.

In Washington, Obama saidthings could be worse -- andhe predicted they would be ifRomney and the Republicansgot their way.

The victories enabledRomney to pad his already-wide delegate overRepublican rival RickSantorum, who abandoned hiscandidacy in the name of partyunity.

Wisconsin was the marqueecontest of the night.

Returns from 80 percent ofthe state's precincts showedRomney with 42 percent of thevote to 38 percent forSantorum, 12 percent for RonPaul and 6 percent for NewtGingrich.

Returns from 92 percent ofMaryland's precincts showedRomney with 47 percent of thevote to 29 percent forSantorum, 11 percent forGingrich and 10 percent forRon Paul.

With all precincts counted inWashington, Romney had 70percent of the vote to 12 per-cent for Paul and 10 percentfor Gingrich. Santorum wasnot on the ballot.

We won 'em all," Romneydeclared, a formerMassachusetts governor nowthe nominee-in-waiting for aparty eager to reclaim the

White House.For Romney, the end of the

contested primary campaigncould hardly come soonenough. Obama has gained inthe polls in recent months, par-ticularly among women, asRepublicans vie among them-selves for support from a con-servative party electorate.

Interviews with voters leav-ing Republican polling placesin Maryland and Wisconsinshowed an electorate moreconcerned with a candidate'sability to defeat Obama thanwith the strength of his conser-vatism, his moral character orhis stand on the issues. Similarsoundings in earlier stateshave consistently worked toRomney's advantage.

Increasingly, Romney andsenior figures in his party havebegun behaving as if the pri-maries were an afterthought,hoping to pivot to the fall cam-paign and criticism of Obama.

He gets full credit or blamefor what's happened in thiseconomy and what's happenedto gasoline prices under hiswatch and what's happened toour schools and what's hap-pened to our military forces,"

Romney said of the presidentwhile campaigning inWaukesha, Wis.

Wisconsin was the fourthindustrial state to vote in a lit-tle more than a month afterMichigan, Ohio and Illinois, astring that Romney has utilizedto gain momentum as well as agrowing delegate lead in thecampaign. He and a super PACsupporting him have greatlyoutspent his rivals in state afterstate.

Romney has also collectedendorsements from formerPresident George H.W. Bush,Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, atea party favorite, and Rep.Paul Ryan of Wisconsin,author of a conservative budg-et that Republicans pushedthrough the House last weekand is certain to play a promi-nent role in the fall campaignfor the White House.

At the same time, Romneycontinues to struggle for sup-port from some of the party'smost reliable conservative vot-ers. In the past five weeks,while winning across theMidwest, he has lost toSantorum in Alabama,Mississippi and Louisiana.

Romney sweeps primaries

Republican Presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov.Mitt Romney declares victory in the Wisconsin presidential pri-mary, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at the Grain Exchange inMilwaukee. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

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breaderText Box10/10 -- Good. The only problem is the minor capitalization error in the second brief headline.

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