I'm interested in what happens tomorrow concerning this case

Kentucky Clerk Who Said ‘No’ to Gay Couples Won’t Be Alone in Court

Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples here, is the best known of them, at least for now.

But there is also Charlie Smoak, a former magistrate in Moore County, N.C. And Nick Williams, a probate judge in Washington County, Ala. And Molly Criner, a clerk in Irion County, Tex., who has declared that “natural marriage cannot be redefined by government.”

All of them have argued that as government employees, they should not be required to recognize same-sex marriage, citing religious objections. And all have turned, for representation, to Liberty Counsel, a legal nonprofit that has been on the front lines of the same-sex marriage fight for roughly two decades.

One last post for the night

This was a good opinion piece from Kelly Gunning, the director of advocacy and public policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Lexington.

Banishment of mentally ill all too common: Son also given trips; Horine case violated court order

It should come as no surprise that severely mentally-ill citizens of this country have long been targeted for relocation by some dubious law-enforcement agencies. In the case of Adam Horine, a compassionate judge, Carroll District Judge Elizabeth Chandler, could sense immediately upon interacting with him that he was not a dangerous criminal but a very ill individual pleading to go to the hospital. According to the news report, Chandler ordered an immediate mental-health examination of Horine and his transport to Eastern State Hospital. It is also noted that a social worker’s preliminary evaluation confirmed the judge’s initial read. Yet these prudent and justified acts of advocacy, according to the report and accompanying video, were soon overridden by Carrollton Police Chief Michael Willhoite and Officer Ron Dickow, who put him on a bus to Florida.

Also in The Lexington Herald-Leader today of note:

A picture of the Central Library check-out desk, 1982.

And a followup on the story of the bicyclist who was killed by an allegedly drunk driver recently:

Justice system failed family of Lexington bicyclist allegedly killed by drunk driver, widow says

Just a week before his death, Mark Hinkel said if anything ever happened to him while biking, he'd be OK with it because he'd be doing what he loved.

"I don't think he dreamed anything would happen" when he said that, his widow, Mary-Lynn Hinkel, said in a recent interview.

Mark Hinkel, 57, was at mile 99 of the Horsey Hundred 102-mile Century ride on May 23 in Scott County when he was hit by an oncoming truck whose driver allegedly was drunk. Hinkel landed on the truck bed cover, and the driver went about 3 miles with Hinkel on the cover before the truck was stopped by police. Odilon Paz-Salvador, 29, has been charged with murder.

Okay, let's put aside for a moment that this driver had no driver licence and is an illegal alien who should have been deported years ago back to his homeland. Let's look at this:

Paz-Salvador told officers after his arrest that he had nine previous DUIs, most older than five years.

The fourth DUI during a five-year period is a felony in Kentucky, but after five years, a person's DUI count resets. As a result, a driver could be charged every five years, and each time it would be the driver's first offense.

Without the five-year reset, Paz-Salvador would have been in prison, and Mark Hinkel would be alive today, Bayer said.

"The laws were not in place to protect our father, or anyone's father," Lauren Lewis said. "We cannot let another family go through what we're going through right now, because it's just unimaginable."

I hope the laws regarding driving under the influence and the 5-year reset will be changed as a result of this case. My heart goes out to the family of Mark Hinkel.

And lastly, there was a horrific accident on I-75 Southbound at the Clay's Ferry bridge. A tractor trailer caught on fire and the driver, no doubt fearing for his life, jumped from the cab, taking him off of the bridge and down below, where his body was found after the semi-truck crashed into a barrier, with flames spreading behind it for several trailer lengths. Someone shot a very chilling video of the fire. No one else was apparently hurt, which is a miracle, although the interstate was shut down for some time, there was a fire where the fuel came down off the bridge, and some of the fuel may have made it into the river, according to the Herald-Leader. The driver was from Florida. I am so sorry for his family. It was a horrible choice he had to make, and there was little chance short of a miracle that he would emerge unscathed, judging by the reports.

This so appalls me

Appeal lodged over 'lenient' Aboriginal rape sentences

A 10-year-old girl is gang-raped by 9 men who confess to the crime and the judge lets them off without prison time saying (and I quote) she 'was not forced and she probably agreed to have sex with all of you'.

Since when is a 10-year-old girl able to give consent to sex? In Australia, the legally-defined age of consent is 16. This apparently gets thrown out if you are not a white, middle-class Australian. The truly sad thing about this? This was the second assault on this child. She was removed from the town when she was sexually assaulted at the age of 7 by several juveniles who never even made it to court. She was sent back by the welfare agencies and almost immediately gang-raped. Several in the welfare agency have faced enquiry/loss of jobs. But the actual perpetrators in both cases have received almost encouragement for their deeds.

It has many in Australia up in arms over the sentence and particularly the judge's remarks. A full review of rape cases in the area has been ordered to see if there is a trend to go lenient in cases involving Aborigines and this case has been appealed by the attorney representing the state of Queensland.

I hope the judge in the case gets reviewed as well and if she was appointed, that appointment be revoked. In the meantime I hope this child is finally where she can be both safe and receive counseling. She's now 12, I think, and has already had her childhood yanked from her by both groups of thugs and now the supposed justice system.