Attorney For Former Rutgers Student Accused Of Spying On Roommate Files Request To Dismiss Indictment, National Organization For Marriage Lose Appeal That It Need Not Comply With Rhode Island Campaign Disclosure Laws, Colombian Court Orders Reinstatement Of Police Officer Fired Five Years Ago For Being Gay

The attorney for a former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, has filed a motion in New Brunswick to dismiss the indictment against his client, Dharun Ravi, the Star Ledger reports that the motion, filed Wednesday, also asked Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman to compel the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office to produce discovery — the evidence used to obtain the indictment. Ravi is accused of setting up a video feed to view freshman Tyler Clementi during an intimate meeting with another man in a university dorm in September 2010. Clementi killed himself days later by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Ravi was indicted April 20 on charges of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation.

A federal appeals court panel Thursday rejected an anti-same sex marriage group’s bid to block its need for compliance with Rhode Island campaign disclosure laws, the Providence Journal reporting that the National Organization for Marriage had challenged Chief U.S. District Judge Mary M. Lisi’s refusal in October to grant a preliminary injunction that would have allowed the group to avoid disclosing money it spent to support various candidates, in accordance with state election laws. The group, which has launched similar lawsuits nationwide, had argued that Lisi erred when she denied the request. Judge Lisi concluded the disclosure law imposed little burden on the group and had a valuable governmental interest in identifying the people who give more than $100 to a support or defeat a candidate. U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Juan R. Torruella, Michael Bounding, and Kermit V. Lipez upheld Lisi’s ruling Thursday in a decision that echoes a similar ruling delivered the same day regarding election laws in Maine. The case will return to U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, where it had been stayed since January. The National Organization for Marriage filed suit in September, arguing Rhode Island’s restrictions on political advertising and campaign finance disclosure requirements of “independent expenditures” were unconstitutional and overly broad. The case was brought in part by Indiana lawyer James Bopp Jr., a lawyer with the James Madison Center for Free Speech and driving force behind the landmark Supreme Court decision that lifted the long-standing ban on corporate and union spending in elections. Rhode Island’s independent expenditure provision sets out that any person “not acting in concert with any other person or group” who spend more than a $100 in a given year to support or defeat a candidate must file a report within seven days to the Board of Elections and with the treasurer of the candidate. But NOM’s lawyers argue that Rhode Island’s definitions of what is allowed by “persons not acting in concert with any other person or group” are so vague as to put the organization at risk of penalty. It asked the court to issue a judgment to make sure NOM is not subject to the “extensive reporting requirements” that the Board of Elections applies to other kinds of entities making unlimited “independent expenditures.” Common Cause Rhode Island, which weighed in on the state’s side in the case, argues the organization’s suit challenges the interests of Rhode Islanders to be informed about the source of political messages advocating for or against people who will be their elected officials.

A court ordered the reinstatement of Colombian Police Lieutenant William Viasus Thursday after he was removed from office five years ago for being gay, according to Colombia Reports. The judge ruled that the police and Ministry of Defense will have to pay the salary, bonuses, and benefits that Viasus would have received from his job for the last five years and also that he be given the opportunity to receive training needed for promotion. Viasus was the head commander of a police station and squadron, and earned 45 awards during his service, but was stripped of his position after his superiors discovered he was gay. Viasus was supported by the testimony of one of his superiors in his trial, who declared before the judge that two high-ranking officials in Cordoba had investigated Lieutenant Viasus because of his sexual orientation. "I am satisfied with the ruling that I can return to my position, and once again put on my olive green uniform" said the Lieutenant, who feels that his return to the force is a matter of dignity. Viasus is one of the first male police officers to speak publicly about his sexual orientation. "I didn't want to live my life like most gay men in the force and carry on a double life: married with children. No, I wanted an honest life" Viasus told El Tiempo.