QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I was thrown up in the sky.”

Scott Jakota, a musician from Indiana who was hit by the car of a suspected drunken driver, who was accused of intentionally driving into a crowd at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas Article, 5A

Florida sued on gay-union recognition

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Eight gay couples and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued Florida, arguing it is discriminating against the couples by not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal.

The lawsuit is among the latest in a groundswell of challenges in the gay-marriage debate. Within the past 30 days, suits similar to the one in Florida have been filed in Alabama, Indiana and Arizona. In Kentucky, a federal judge last month ordered the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other states and countries.

Lawsuits also have been filed in Florida, Arizona, Kentucky and elsewhere challenging state bans on gay marriage.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday in federal court in Tallahassee, names Republican Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top Florida officials. It asks a judge to declare Florida’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and due-process rights, said ACLU attorney Daniel Tilley. The lawsuit also asks for a ruling requiring the state to recognize marriages performed elsewhere.

Ruling in Colorado sets up ‘pot’ appeals

DENVER - Some people convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana can ask for those convictions to be thrown out under the law that legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado, the state’s second-highest court ruled Thursday.

The Colorado Court of Appeals said people whose cases were under appeal when Amendment 64 took effect in December 2012 are eligible to have their convictions reversed.

The ruling could affect hundreds of people who were given jail terms for petty marijuana possession, and some inmates could be released, said Brian Vicente, one of the amendment’s authors.

Vicente said Colorado prosecuted as many as 9,000 cases a year for marijuana possession. After it was decriminalized, some appeals were still in the courts.

Prosecutors were trying to determine how many cases could be affected after the ruling. They also were reviewing the opinion to determine any next steps, said Carolyn Tyler, a spokesman for Attorney General John Suthers.

Marijuana remains a controlled substance and illegal under federal law.

Algerian sent home from Guantanamo

MIAMI - An Algerian held for 12 years without charge at Guantanamo Bay has been sent back to his homeland, officials said Thursday, portraying the transfer as a step toward eventual closure of the prison on the U.S. base in Cuba.

Ahmed Bel Bacha was transferred to the custody of the Algerian government, taking the detainee population at Guantanamo to 154, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. has repatriated 17 Guantanamo prisoners to Algeria, where they typically spend about two weeks in custody for questioning before being released. Bel Bacha must contend with the fact that he was convicted of terrorism-related offenses in absentia in 2009, while still in Guantanamo. His lawyers said he was nevertheless eager to return to his homeland.

Bel Bacha, 44, was captured in Pakistan as he fled the U.S. attack on Afghanistan and was detained as a suspected militant with links to al-Qaida. He was sent in January 2002 to Guantanamo, where his lawyers say he was subjected to violent interrogations and physical abuse. He participated in at least two long-term hunger strikes at the prison.

FBI agent: Suspect didn’t know of 9/11

NEW YORK - Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and al-Qaida spokesman said he heard before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that “something big was going to happen” but didn’t know what it was, an FBI agent testified Thursday.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith told authorities that when he visited al-Qaida training camps in the summer of 2001, he gleaned something major was in the works but never learned of any specific plan to attack the United States, Agent Michael Butsch testified at Abu Ghaith’s federal trial in New York.

But Abu Ghaith said he was summoned to bin Laden’s home after the 9/11 attacks unfolded, Butsch said.

“Bin Laden first asked him, ‘Did you see what happened?’ referring to the attacks. And he said he did, and bin Laden said that he did this operation,” the agent said, recounting statements the government says Abu Ghaith made while being flown to the U.S. on an FBI jet after his capture last year.

The highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to be tried on U.S. soil since the attacks, Abu Ghaith has pleaded innocent to conspiring to kill Americans and providing material support to al-Qaida.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/14/2014