Nation digest 06/12/02

One charge thrown out in shoe bomb case

BOSTON -- A judge Tuesday threw out one of nine charges against a man accused of trying to blow up a jetliner with explosives in his shoes, ruling that an airplane is not a vehicle under a new anti-terrorism law.

The charge -- attempting to wreck a mass transportation vehicle -- was filed under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. District Judge William Young said that although an airplane was engaged in "mass transportation" it is not a "vehicle" as defined by the new law.

Richard C. Reid allegedly tried to light the explosives hid in his shoes while aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami three days before Christmas.

Jury awards $4.4 million to environmentalists

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A federal jury awarded $4.4 million Tuesday to two radical environmentalists who accused Oakland police and the FBI of trying to frame them for a 1990 bomb blast that wrecked the activists' car.

After 17 days of deliberations, the jury awarded the money to activist Darryl Cherney and the estate of Judi Bari, who died of cancer in 1997.

Cherney and Bari were injured when a bomb exploded in their Subaru in 1990. The two Earth First! members were arrested within hours, with investigators saying that Cherney and Bari were carrying the bomb for use in an act of environmental sabotage and that it went off accidentally.

The charges were dropped when prosecutors said there was not enough evidence.

NYPD rejects proposal for armed citizen patrols

NEW YORK -- The police commissioner says New York doesn't need armed bands of citizens to protect its neighborhoods, flatly rejecting a proposal by a Jewish group to begin patrols next week.

"The department will not tolerate anyone brandishing weapons under the guise of protecting others," Commissioner Ray Kelly said Monday. "Anyone attempting to patrol the streets armed with weapons will be arrested."

On Sunday, Rabbi Yakove Lloyd, president of the Jewish Defense Group, proposed armed patrols, citing comments a suspected terrorist made on CBS' "60 Minutes" about targeting certain Jewish neighborhoods.

Philly police cars to get sensors after dog dies

PHILADELPHIA -- Prompted by the death of a police dog in a locked, sweltering cruiser, the city is equipping its K-9 cars with a system that automatically rolls down the windows and blares a siren if it gets too hot inside.

Woodrow, a 5-year-old German shepherd, died on May 24 after his handler apparently forgot to take the dog out of a car when the two completed their shift.

A dozen cars in all will get the equipment over the next three weeks, at a cost of less than $400 per car.

-- From wire reports