Appeals court tosses gay-partner benefits

Michigan's ban on gay marriage also blocks public universities and state and local governments from providing health-insurance benefits to the partners of gay workers, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

A three-judge panel cited the language of a 2004 voter-approved constitutional amendment making the union between a man and woman the only agreement recognized as a marriage "or similar union for any purpose."

"The protection of the institution of marriage is a long-standing public policy and tradition in the law of Michigan," wrote Judges Kurtis Wilder, Joel Hoekstra and Brian Zahra.

Twenty-one gay couples will appeal to the state Supreme Court. If they aren't successful, they will sue in federal court, said attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

The unanimous ruling released Friday reverses a 2005 decision by an Ingham County judge who allowed public employers to provide the benefits.

Washington

Pentagon official exits after lawyer dig

A senior Pentagon official resigned Friday over controversial remarks in which he criticized lawyers for representing terrorism suspects, the Defense Department said.

Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, told him Friday he had made his own decision to resign and was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Stimson said he was leaving because of the controversy over a radio interview in which he said he found it shocking that lawyers at many of the nation's top law firms represent detainees held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba.

Los Angeles

Renowned scientist sentenced for abuse

William French Anderson, one of the world's most acclaimed scientists for his work on gene therapy, was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison for sexually abusing a girl whose mother worked in his lab at the University of Southern California.

Anderson, 70, had faced a maximum sentence of 18 years for his conviction on four counts of continuous sexual abuse and lewd acts toward a child younger than 14.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor handed down the sentence, rejecting Anderson's arguments that his imprisonment would deprive humanity of the benefits of his medical efforts. Several prominent scientists wrote to support Anderson.

"I wish they had seen the evidence," the judge said at sentencing. "You had a choice to stop, and you didn't because of intellectual arrogance."

Anderson had been a coach and mentor to the victim, now in college, since she was 9.

Long Beach, Calif.

No jail for 4 teens in racial attack

Four of nine black teenagers convicted in the racially charged beating of three white women on Halloween were sentenced to probation Friday.

Punishment could have ranged up to confinement in a California Youth Authority lockup until age 25. The teens were ordered to serve 250 hours of community service and 60 days house arrest and to take anger-management and racial-tolerance programs.

Last week, Juvenile Court Judge Gibson Lee convicted nine teens of felony assault. The other five face sentencing next week.

Seattle Times news services