California bill redefines sexual consent
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he has signed a bill that makes California the first in the nation to define when "yes means yes" and adopt requirements for colleges to follow when investigating sexual assault reports.
State lawmakers last month approved Senate Bill 967 by Democratic Sen. Kevin de Leon. States and universities across the U.S. are under pressure to change how they handle rape allegations. Campus sexual assault victims and women's advocacy groups delivered petitions to Brown's office Sept. 16 urging him to sign the bill.
De Leon has said the legislation will begin a paradigm shift in how college campuses in California prevent and investigate sexual assaults. Rather than using the refrain "no means no," the definition of consent under the bill requires "an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity."
The legislation says silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent. Under the bill, someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.
Lawmakers say consent can be nonverbal, and universities with similar policies have outlined examples as a nod of the head or moving in closer to the person.
Chicago disruptions prompt FAA review
WASHINGTON -- The head of the Federal Aviation Administration ordered reviews of emergency procedures and security as lawmakers questioned how one man armed with gasoline and knives crippled the U.S. air-traffic system last week.
The damage purportedly caused by a suicidal telecommunications contractor, who the FBI said severed cables and set fire at a Chicago air-traffic facility, was so severe that the FAA has decided to rebuild the center's nerve system. The FAA said Sunday that it hopes to return the facility to full service by Oct. 13.
Thousands of flights were canceled starting Friday as the situation forced an evacuation of the FAA's Chicago En Route Center in Aurora, Ill., which directs high-altitude flights over Midwestern states.
At Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, cancellations continued Monday but fell to four from Friday's high of 15, said Shane Carter, an airport spokesman. A total of 34 flights between Little Rock and Chicago have been canceled since Friday, he said.
Missing student probe aids separate case
RICHMOND, Va. -- A forensic clue uncovered in the investigation of a missing University of Virginia student has led investigators to believe they have "a significant break" in the unsolved death of another young woman who had vanished from the campus five years ago, police said Monday.
Jesse Matthew Jr., 32, was charged last week with abduction with intent to defile in the case of 18-year-old Hannah Graham, who was last seen Sept. 13 after she attended a party.
On Monday, Virginia State Police said in a statement that the arrest "provided a significant break in this case with a new forensic link for state police investigators to pursue" in the death of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, who, like Graham, vanished from the Charlottesville campus.
The Virginia Tech student from Roanoke had gone to John Paul Jones Arena for a Metallica concert Oct. 17, 2009. A farmer found her remains three months later in an Albemarle County hayfield, police have said.
Jury picks for Tsarnaev's friend begins
BOSTON -- Jury selection began Monday in the federal trial of a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who is accused of lying to authorities investigating the deadly bombing.
Robel Phillipos, 21, of Cambridge, is charged with making false statements when he was questioned about his movements on April 18, 2013, three days after the bombing and hours after the FBI released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother as suspects in the attack.
Prosecutors allege that Phillipos lied about being in Tsarnaev's dorm room while two other friends -- Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev -- removed a laptop and a backpack containing fireworks that had been emptied of their explosive powder.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/30/2014
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