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Court clears way for gay marriage expansion
Healing journeys
5 states seeking to preserve bans rejected By MARK SHERMAN The Associated Press
lence survivors to live for up to two years as officials try to find them permanent housing. At the event, Safe Passage officials also encouraged vigil participants to vote in the Nov. 4 election in support of the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights. In part, the bill would give crime victims the right to be treated with fairness and respect throughout the criminal justice process, such as the right to make a statement to the court at sentencing; and the right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment and release of the accused, according to Illinois Attorney General Lisa
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way Monday for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States and may have signaled it’s only a matter of time before same-sex couples can marry in all 50 states. Rejecting appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans, the Supreme Court effectively made such marriages legal in 30 states, up from 19 and the District of Columbia, taking in every region of the country. Challenges are pending in the other 20 states. Almost immediately, exuberant couples began receiving marriage licenses previously denied to them. “This is the dream day,” said Sharon Baldwin, a plaintiff in a challenge to Oklahoma’s ban, as she and her partner got their license in the Tulsa County Clerk’s Office. Directly affected by Monday’s orders were Wisconsin, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia. Officials in those states had appealed lower court rulings in an effort to preserve their bans. Couples in six other states – Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming – should be able to get married in short order since those states would be bound by the same appellate rulings that have been on hold. While county clerks in a number of states quickly began issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples, in some other states affected by the court’s action officials did not sound ready to give up the fight. However, their legal options are limited. Monday’s terse orders from the court were contained among more than 1,500 rejected appeals that had piled up over the summer. The outcome was not what either side expected or wanted. Both gay marriage supporters and opponents had asked the court to resolve whether the Constitution grants same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide. The justices did not explain why they decided to leave that question unanswered for now. They may be waiting for a federal appeals court to break ranks with other appellate panels and uphold state laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Or they may see little role for themselves as one court after another strikes down state marriage bans. Still, the import seemed clear. What the justices did in virtual silence Monday “has to send a signal to the other courts of
See VIGIL, page A7
See GAY MARRIAGE, page A7
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
ABOVE: Byronda Legardye (second from left) holds her candle Monday before the group leaves the First Congregational Church of Christ in DeKalb to walk a candlelight vigil during Safe Passage’s 20th annual Domestic Violence Vigil. TOP: Legardye looks at her candle while on a candlelight vigil Monday during the Vigil. Legardye shared her story of how Safe Passage took her and family in more than a year ago. Now, she has a place of her own and is going to school.
Safe Passage holds its 20th annual Domestic Violence Vigil Voice your opinion
By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Singing helps domestic violence survivor Breona “MIA Lynell” Austin forget about the pain her 8-month-old son’s father caused. During Safe Passage’s 20th annual Domestic Violence Vigil on Monday, Austin sang her rendition of the song, “Broken-Hearted Girl,” by Beyonce Knowles. Austin now lives at Safe Passage in DeKalb as her abuser is sitting in jail for assaulting her and giving her a concussion, Austin said. “Music is what gets me through it,” she said. “It heals me.”
Have you or has anyone you know been a victim of domestic violence? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
The event at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 615 N. First St., DeKalb, included statements from Safe Passage officials, an opportunity for survivors to speak about their experiences and a candlelit vigil in which participants walked from the church to downtown DeKalb and back. Statistics from Safe Passage, a domestic violence and sexual assault agency that serves
DeKalb County, show one in four women will be affected by domestic violence in their lifetimes. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, about 650 clients of Safe Passage’s Domestic Violence Program received more than 18,900 hours of service. DeKalb County’s Domestic Abuse Program provided more than 2,700 hours of service for about 150 clients, according to Safe Passage’s website. Twenty women and children live at Safe Passage’s shelter at any given time, said Safe Passage Public Educator Marjorie Askins. Safe Passage also offers a Transitional Housing Program, which offers six on-site apartments for domestic vio-
DeKalb cat owners baffled by dart attack By KATIE DAHLSTROM
How to help
kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – When Chris Lehnert saw his cat Mickey crawl from under his deck, he didn’t realize the cat had a metal blow dart sunk more than an inch into his nose, lodged in the bone. “I thought he had picked something up from under the deck,” Chris Lehnert said. Chris and Heather Lehnert own one of two cats injured last week within DeKalb. The Lehnerts’ cat was stuck with a metal blow dart while the other, a feral cat, was report-
Those with information about who might be responsible should call DeKalb police at 815-7488400.
edly shot with an arrow. The DeKalb Police Department has not received any reports of injured cats since then, and do not believe the incidents are related, Cmdr. John Petragallo said. “It sounds like unless further leads develop, the cases are closed,” Petragallo said.
Mickey typically ventures outside to roam or chase squirrels in the yard of the couple’s home in the 1100 block of South Fifth Street, Heather Lehnert said, but he usually only goes as far as the house next door. The day of the incident, the cat sneaked out in the morning and didn’t reappear until the afternoon. The couple tried to keep their children, Trevor, 5, and Audra, 9, from seeing their beloved pet injured, but both did. By Monday, the cat’s nose was swollen but Mickey otherwise was active and playful. “I’m sad my cat was hurt,”
Trevor said. After the Lehnerts realized someone had struck Mickey, they took the cat inside and tried to remove the dart themselves. However, the dart was lodged in bone and couldn’t be removed. The couple said their veterinarian believes the 3-inch dart was shoved, not blown, into the cat’s nose. “To think that somebody could do to that to an animal breaks my heart,” Heather Lehnert said. The Lehnerts told DeKalb police about the incident
See CATS, page A7
Katie Dahlstrom – kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Trevor Lehnert, 5, and his sister, Audra, 9, play with a cat, Mickey, outside their DeKalb home Monday. Mickey was stuck with a blow dart last week.
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