WEST

TERROR DEFENDANTS CAN’T CHALLENGE TERROR LAW

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court ruled Monday that defendants charged with supporting officially-designated terrorist organizations cannot challenge the government’s decision to put the groups on the terrorism list.

The decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came in a case involving seven people charged with sending cash and credit cards to a group seeking to overthrow to the regime in Iran, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iraq or Mujahedin-e Khalq. The court ruled that the group could challenge the “terrorist” designation but the defendants need not be granted such a review.

“A criminal proceeding may go forward, even if the predicate was in some way unconstitutional, so long as a sufficient opportunity for judicial review of the predicate exists,” Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote. He said the government’s power to limit funding to violent groups abroad was at least as broad as its ability to regulate political donations at home. “It would be anomalous indeed if Congress could prohibit the contribution of money for television commercials saying why a candidate would be a good or bad choice for political office, yet could not prohibit contribution of money to a group designated as a terrorist organization,” Judge Kleinfeld wrote. His opinion was joined by Judges Kim Wardlaw and William Fletcher .

A spokesman for the Justice Department, John Nowacki, said the agency was “pleased that yet another court has upheld the constitutionality of the material support statute, a key weapon in our arsenal of legal remedies in the war on terror.”

An attorney for the defendants did not return calls seeking comment.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MIDWEST

FUNERAL HELD FOR SLAIN PREGNANT WOMAN

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday in this small northwestern Missouri farming community for the funeral of a young pregnant woman who was strangled and whose baby girl was cut from her womb.

The crowd packed the flower-filled Price Funeral Home and overflowed into the entrance for the service for Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23. Cars lined the streets on a bitter cold day.

Stinnett’s mother found her eight-months-pregnant daughter in a pool of blood in her small home Thursday, the baby she was carrying missing. Lisa Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kan., – a woman Stinnett knew from breeding and dog shows – has been charged with kidnapping resulting in death. Family and friends said Ms. Montgomery, arrested Friday, tried to pass off Stinnett’s baby as her own. The child, who has been named Victoria Jo Stinnett, spent the weekend in a Topeka, Kan., hospital before going home Monday afternoon with her father, Zeb Stinnett, and another relative.

The Reverend Harold Hamon, who married the Stinnetts in spring 2003 at the Skidmore Christian Church, spoke at the funeral service which was followed by a burial in the cemetery at Skidmore. The FBI would not comment on whether Stinnett and Ms. Montgomery had met before Thursday.

– Associated Press

EAST

BODY OF MISSING AUTISTIC BOY FOUND

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The body of a missing autistic 9-year-old boy, who had wandered away the day before a cold snap, was found yesterday morning near a mountain road about 1 1 / 2 miles from his home, authorities said.

Logan Mitcheltree was last seen Saturday afternoon. His siblings told police he had been watching television with them before he disappeared and was not wearing a jacket. An aunt said Logan had limited ability to speak and communicated in part through sign language. A state forester discovered Logan’s body in the Tiadaghton State Forest, about 65 miles north of Harrisburg, officials said. No foul play was suspected, although the death was still under investigation, authorities said. The Lycoming County Coroner’s office said the boy had probably been dead more than 36 hours by the time he was found. An autopsy was scheduled for today.

– Associated Press

NORTHWEST

DEMOCRATS SAY GREGOIRE WINS BY EIGHT VOTES

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The head of the state Democratic Party said late yesterday that recount results from King County give Democrat Christine Gregoire an eight-vote victory in the closest governor’s race in Washington State history.

Neither King County nor the Republican party could confirm the hand recount results last night. But if the Democrats’ analysis is correct, it’s a stunning reversal in the gubernatorial race, which has been hotly contested since election day.

Republican Dino Rossi won the first count by 261 votes and won a machine recount by 42 votes.

Democratic party officials reached their conclusion after crunching numbers supplied by King County. The county has finished tallying its 900,000 ballots, but election officials said they still need to reconcile differences in the precinct totals.

“We are not releasing our results until tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.,” said King County Elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan last night, who confirmed that both parties received the recount data yesterday.

Mary Lane, a spokeswoman for Mr. Rossi, said Republicans are looking at the data also but had not drawn any conclusions. “It’s just too close to call,” she said.

– Associated Press