Dismissal sought for wiretap suits
The Bush administration has asked federal judges in New York and Michigan to dismiss a pair of lawsuits filed over the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program, saying litigating them would jeopardize state secrets.
In papers filed late Friday, Justice Department lawyers said it would be impossible to defend the legality of the spying program without disclosing classified information that could be of value to suspected terrorists.
National Intelligence Director John Negroponte invoked the state secrets privilege on behalf of the administration, writing that disclosure of such information would cause “exceptionally grave damage” to national security.
The government’s motion, widely anticipated, involves two cases challenging an NSA program that allows investigators to eavesdrop on Americans who communicate with people outside the country suspected of terrorist ties.
Miami Beach, Fla.
Dad throws kids to their deaths
A man killed his two young children Saturday by throwing them off the 15th floor of a landmark South Beach hotel and then jumped to his own death, police said.
The children were 4 and 8 years old and the family was on vacation from Alton, Ill., said police spokesman Bobby Hernandez.
The mother of the children told police she and her husband had been having marital problems for the past six months, Hernandez said. Police did not immediately release the identities of the family members.
Detroit
Heroin, fentanyl mix killing users
Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal rules: Never shoot up alone, and shoot up only one person at a time. If one overdoses, “you need someone there to bring you back,” he said. Larry, who asked that his last name not be used because of his habit, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing users who believe they are taking heroin alone.
Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from the drug, called fentanyl and considered 80 times more powerful than morphine. In the Detroit area – the apparent hub of the problem with more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and as many as 41 deaths in the past eight days – officials from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating and community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users.
The CDC says it has no national statistics on fentanyl deaths. But individual reports from a scattering of states indicate the drug mixture is widespread.
Philadelphia has had 20 confirmed deaths from heroin mixed with fentanyl since April 17, and test results are pending in eight suspected cases, the city health department said.