State/Nation
5A • Daily Corinthian
State Briefs
Nation Briefs confirm whether it had information on the use of unmanned drones to kill suspected terrorists. A lower court federal judge had sided with the CIA and dismissed a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking those records. In response to the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act request, the CIA said that merely confirming the existence of drone records would reveal classified information. But the government subsequently backed off that claim during oral arguments before the appellate court. Friday’s ruling by a three-court panel sends the case back to the lower court, where the agency can argue that the records it has on drones are exempt from FOIA disclosure requirements. The initial refusal to confirm even the existence of a record is a Cold War-era legal defense known as the Glomar response after the Glomar Explorer, a ship built with secret CIA financing to try to raise a Soviet submarine from the ocean floor. The CIA had said that confirming or denying records in this case would reveal “among other things, whether or not the CIA is involved in drone strikes or at least has an intelligence interest in drone strikes.” In his opinion for the panel, Judge Merrick Garland noted that officials from President Barack Obama to John Brennan, then-counterterrorism chief and now the new CIA director, have acknowledged the use of drones by the government. “Given these official acknowledgments that the United States has participated in drone strikes, it is neither logical nor plausible for the CIA to maintain that it would reveal anything not already in the public domain to say that the agency ‘at least has an intelligence interest’ in such strikes,” wrote Garland, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton. The use of drones has come under increased scrutiny recently. Last week, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, used an old-style filibuster of Brennan’s CIA nomination to extract a reply from Attorney General Eric Holder that the president does not have the authority to use a drone to kill a U.S. citizen on American soil if the citizen is not engaged in combat. ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case in September, called the ruling an important victory. “It requires the government to retire the absurd claim that the CIA’s involvement in the targeted killing program is a secret, and it will
Associated Press
Obama conducts charm campaign WASHINGTON — Over dinner at a fancy hotel a few blocks from the White House, Republican senators wanted to know if President Barack Obama would support a gradual increase in the age of eligibility for Medicare, set at 65 since the program’s inception more than four decades ago. The president hedged, according to several people at the event, recalling the discussion on a costsaving change to Medicare that most if not all leading Democrats in Congress adamantly oppose. One later recalled that Obama “drew no bright line” in opposition, but the lawmaker came away believing that the president “would be very resistant” even if it might unlock a long-sought deal to reduce deficits and an ever-growing federal debt. That lawmaker and some of the others describing what occurred in the meetings spoke on condition of anonymity, noting that the sessions were supposed to be private discussions. The politically fraught moment came at the outset of Obama’s widely publicized recent string of meetings with rank-and-file lawmakers. The unusual commitment of presidential time netted public praise from his most implacable critics and was supplemented by numerous conversations among lawmakers and senior White House aides. No breakthroughs were anticipated and none emerged, and for all the warm talk, House Speaker John Boehner delivered a tart summation. “Republicans want to balance the budget. The president doesn’t. Republicans want to solve our long-term debt problem. The president doesn’t,” he said, while adding it was incumbent on all sides to seek common ground. Across the hours, there were moments of levity, and an expression of gratitude to Arizona Sen. John McCain for his service to the nation on the 40th anniversary of his release from a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam. Evidently the food was pretty good, too. One presidential aide left a meeting with the Senate Republican rank and file toting a carryout bag from lunch that featured lobster salad and blueberry pie with ice cream.
Court reverses CIA drone ruling WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court Friday reversed a lower court ruling that allowed the CIA to refuse to
Sunday, March 17, 2013
make it more difficult for the government to deflect questions about the program’s scope and legal basis,” he said in a statement. “It also means that the CIA will have to explain what records it is withholding, and on what grounds it is withholding them. ... The public surely has a right to know who the government is killing, and why, and in which countries, and on whose orders.” Todd D. Ebitz, a CIA spokesman, said the agency “does not, as a rule, comment on matters before the courts.”
JACKSON — It appears Mississippi Valley State University is likely to lack a permanent leader for the foreseeable future, even though the College Board has recently named new presidents for two other state universities. The College Board decided not to renew Donna Oliver’s contract at the Itta Bena institution in October, four years after she was named to head the smallest of Mississippi’s eight public universities. But while the board moved quickly on openings at Delta State University and the University of Southern Mississippi, it has been slower in replacing Oliver. “We’re not going to be in a hurry,” trustee Ed Blakeslee said. “We’re going to make sure we get everything worked through. We don’t have a timeline, but it won’t be quick.” The university had been troubled by internal disputes, including a faculty vote of “no confidence” in Oliver, and diverging views among alumni and donors over Oliver’s performance. The College Board had been looking to Oliver to increase enrollment at Valley. Most Mississippi university presidents are under pressure to recruit more students as a way to increase revenue after a drop in state funding. At Valley, about 85 percent of students have come from 10 Mississippi Delta counties, a region where the population is shrinking.
was found in the parking lot at Pike Center Mart. Blood and hair in the trunk led lawmen to suspect Brock had been abducted. Shepherd says a landowner found partial human remains in a wooded area. He declined to identify the landowner, specify the area or say exactly when the discovery took place. Authorities sent the remains for testing. When the results came back, Shepherd said he contacted Brock’s family and spoke with them on Thursday morning. “We’ve never forgotten about this case,” Shepherd said. “We’ve never shoved it to the side and said it’s unsolvable.” Since Brock was a resident of Walthall County and disappeared in McComb, the investigation was a joint effort among McComb police and Pike and Walthall counties’ sheriff’s departments. As early as April 2004, Walthall County Sheriff Duane Dillon said he hoped authorities would make an arrest soon. The search included dragging the Bogue Chitto River near the Highway 570 bridge, an effort conducted by the Pike County Civil Defense Department. But further searches of the area, including a 30-acre wooded area off David Manning Road in northeastern Pike County, yielded no results, even with the help of cadaver-sniffing dogs and helicopters. “We’re going to continue working this case from every direction,” Shepherd said. “It’s our goal to have some conclusion in the future.”
Remains identified as missing woman
Sentencing reset in FBI guns case
MCCOMB — Authorities say the remains found recently in a wooded area in northeastern Pike County belong to a Jayess woman who disappeared in 2004. Pike County Sheriff Mark Shepherd tells the Enterprise-Journal that the remains belong to Deborah Brock. She was last seen Feb. 5, 2004, at age 39. Shepherd says foul play has been suspected from the beginning and still is. Three days after Brock went missing, her car silver Chrysler sedan
PURVIS — A federal judge has delayed until March 28 the sentencing hearing for a Hattiesburg man charged with stealing guns and other items from an FBI agent’s car. The sentencing for Cameron Undrae Eatmon had been scheduled for Tuesday. Eatmon was charged last year with stealing
Associated Press
MVSU to continue without leader
Pentagon spends $1 billion on jobless WASHINGTON — Even as it faces budget cuts and forced employee furloughs, the Pentagon is spending nearly a $1 billion a year on a program that sends unemployment checks to former troops who left the military voluntarily. Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers, a Labor Department program, is a spinoff of the federalstate unemployment insurance program. The Labor Department says the overall program is meant to help “eligible workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own” such as during layoffs. But eligibility for the military compensation requires only that a person served in uniform and was honorably discharged. In other words, anyone who joins the military and serves for several years, then decides not to re-enlist, is potentially eligible for what could amount to more than 90 weeks of unemployment checks. The program’s cost rose from $300 million in 2003 to $928 million last year. “It eats away at other parts of the budget, and is for people they no longer have control of,” said Air Force veteran Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “Why are we spending so much on (the program) at a time when we can’t afford to build a new fighter jet?” said Samuel Wright, a former Navy lawyer who helps troops with employment Please see NATION | 6A
government property and two counts of receiving, possessing, concealing, bartering or selling stolen firearms. He pleaded guilty to the count charging him with stealing body armor, ammunition and several guns from a parked FBI vehicle. Eatmon was recently sentenced to serve 40 years on state charges related to a 2011 rape and aggravated assault. He pleaded guilty to committing that crime while he was out on federal bond for allegedly burglarizing the FBI vehicle.
Court to review fondling case ruling JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court will review a ruling that overturned the conviction of a man accused of fondling. David Campbell of Oxford was convicted in September of 2010 of inappropriate contact with a teenager who was living at his home. He was acquitted on a sexual battery count. Court documents say the 16-year-old girl was from Jackson County and was undergoing treatment at Millcreek in Pontotoc. The girl was living with Campbell and his wife. Prosecutors say Campbell was a foster parent to the teenage girl from May 1, 2006 to August 9, 2006. The charges came after an investigation into an allegation of inappropriate contact between the defendant and his foster child during a family visit in Pontotoc. During testimony at Campbell’s trial, a Mississippi Department of Human Services caseworker said the Campbell’s were in the process of being licensed as foster parents when the teenager was allowed to move in with them, but didn’t know if the license was ever granted. In his appeal, Campbell’s attorney argued the state failed to prove he was a person of authority over her, a stipuPlease see STATE | 6A
Confused about the best ways to save for retirement? I can help you use tax-advantaged products to save for retirement. Call today. Let’s talk about your plan for life.
Agent name* (State) Lic. (number) Jonathan Marsh, FIC* Address 710 Cruise St, City,Suite State102 Corinth MS 38834 Phone 662-665-7904 Modern Woodmen email
Jonathan.Marsh@mwarep.org
Choose any Two or More
5
$
99 each
Medium 2-Topping Pizza • 8pc Chicken Oven Baked Sandwich • Pasta in a Tin Stuffed Cheesy Bread Best deals Dominos.com
NOW OPEN Sun-Thur. 10:30AM-11PM; Fri. & Sat. 10:30AM-Midnight
Online code:9193 Carry Out Limited Delivery Area
1102 Hwy 72 E Corinth
662-284-9099
LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED
Miller’s Auto Lube 301 Hwy 72 W • Corinth, MS 38834 Across from Kroger & Kmart
Steven Agent name* Eaton, Financial Representative (State) Lic. (number) 710 Cruise St, Address Suite 102 City,Corinth State MS 38834 Phone 662-415-9427 Modern Woodmen email steven.eaton@mwarep.org
662-287-1800
Visit Us For All Of Your
Automotive Needs COUPON
Tire Rotation and $ Computer Balance Expires 3-23-13
19.95
Some Exclusions Apply. Coupon must be present
Modern Woodmen of America *Registered representative. Securities offered through MWA Financial Services CON0312 Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Modern Woodmen of America.