Federal Appeals Court Rules Board Member Cannot Sue

A federal appeals court says a Randolph County school board member cannot sue the county's board of registrars for changing his voting district because the change was rescinded before the election.

Henry Cook, a black school board member since 1993, claimed his constitutional rights were violated by efforts to change his voting registration - hence the area he represents - from a majority black district to one that's majority white.

The courts intervened, and the Justice Department concluded under the Voting Rights Act that the county failed to show no discriminatory purpose. The change was quashed, and Cook was re-elected in 2006.

The appeals panel noted Tuesday that "an attempted deprivation of constitutional or statutory rights is not the same as an actual deprivation."

Ga. sex offenders must hand over online passwords

A law is set to take effect in Georgia Thursday that requires sex offenders to hand over Internet passwords, screen names and e-mail addresses.

Georgia joins a small band of states complying with guidelines in a 2006 federal law requiring authorities to track Internet addresses of sex offenders. But the state is among the first to take the extra step of forcing its 16,000 offenders to turn in their passwords as well.

A federal judge ruled in September that a similar law in Utah violated the privacy rights of an offender who challenged it. That ruling applied to only one offender who had a military conviction
on sex offenses but was never in Utah's court or prison system.

No one in Georgia has challenged the law yet. But critics say it threatens the privacy of sex offenders and places an additional burden on law enforcement officials.

State Sen. Cecil Staton, who wrote the bill, says the measure is designed to keep the Internet safe for children. Authorities could use the passwords and other information to make sure offenders aren't stalking children online or chatting with them about off-limits topics.

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(AP)