Law experts are taking issue with a Virginia legislator’s comment that “sodomy is not a civil right” in explaining why he opposed a gay prosecutor’s bid to become a judge.

Virginia GOP delegate Bob Marshall spearheaded the effort to block Tracy Thorne-Begland, an openly gay prosecutor in Richmond, from becoming a judge, saying the attorney’s past activism and outspokenness on gay rights could bias his decisions on the bench.

The Virginia House of Delegates this week voted to reject Thorne-Begland’s bid to  become a general district court judge in Richmond.

Speaking Thursday on CNN’s “Starting Point,” Marshall expounded on his reasoning.

“Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks never took an oath of office that they broke. Sodomy is not a civil right,” he said.

Marshall argued that Thorne-Begland’s past advocacy of gay rights would interfere with his neutrality on the bench, particularly in cases involving homosexuals. “He can be a prosecutor if he wants to, but we don’t want advocates as judges,” Marshall said.

William Eskridge, a Yale Law School professor and author of “Dishonorable Passions,” a book about the history of sodomy laws in America, rejected the contention that sodomy isn’t a civil right. He pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2003 Lawrence vs. Texas decision, which struck down the criminal sodomy law in Texas – and by extension, other states – as unconstitutional.

“The Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence that anal or oral sex, commonly known as sodomy, when performed in private by consenting adults, is constitutionally protected – which makes it a civil right,” Eskridge said.

- MSNBC

Trayvon Martin’s autopsy shows evidence of marijuana in his urine and blood.

The autopsy was among a large amount of evidence released by prosecutors on Thursday as part of the second-degree murder case against the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot him in February.

Other documents include a photograph that shows suspect George Zimmerman with a bloody nose. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense and said he only fired because the unarmed teenager attacked him. He has pleaded not guilty.

A police report says Martin had $40.15, Skittles candy, a red lighter, headphones and a photo pin in his pocket. He had been shot once in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

- AP

Former chairman of the House of Representatives committee investigating the near collapse of the Nigerian capital market, Hon. Herman Hembe, today appeared before a Federal Capital High Court to answer charges of misappropriation.

Justice Abubakar Umar had last week granted permission to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign Hembe and his former Vice Chairman of the committee, Chris Azubogu, over corruption charges.

Hon. Herman Hembe and Hon. Chris Azubogu are being accused of receiving ESTACODE from the Security and Exchange Commission to enable them travel to the Dominican Republic for a conference which they did not attend, and also failed to return the money to the commission.

- Daily Trust

Controversial Chairman House of Rep. Committee on Capital Market, Herman  Hembe arrives at the High Court in Abuja on Thursday to face charges of corruption.
Mr. Hembe was initially leading an investigation into the collapse of the Nigerian capital market but got busted when it was revealed that  he recieved travel grants from the Nigerian Stock Exchange and pocketed it.

- Sahara Reporters

Federal doctors in Lagos State have announced plans to begin a strike on Friday, in solidarity with their dismissed colleagues in state-owned hospitals.

The President of the Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) chapter, an affiliate of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Adetunji Adenekan, disclosed on Thursday that the planned strike is aimed at challenging the dismissal of 788 doctors by the state government from its service.

Adenekan described the state government’s action as “draconian”, saying it disregarded the rule of law.

He added that the planned strike would show that the action and subsequent breakdown of negotiations between the two parties were unacceptable and should be stopped.

“We will therefore embark on a state-wide solidarity strike action which will commence by 08:00hours on Friday, 18th of May, 2012,” he said.

Adenekan said the action of the State government was “an insult to the doctors, the profession, as well as the patients.”

“By sacking a total of 788 doctors, the state has succeeded in increasing the patients ratio to 50,000 to a doctor. We view this as an injustice, and an injustice to one is an injustice to all,” he said.

He however added that patients already on admission would be attended to and nursed to good health during the course of the strike, but clinics and emergency units would be closed to new patients.

- Daily Times

See Daily Times beport below:

An explosion which left two people dead occurred on Thursday around 10:30 am in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.

The explosion which occurred at the Rumuokoro area of the city was said to have involved a bus.

The cause of the blast could not be ascertained as at press time.

Some eyewitness accounts however claim the explosion was caused by a petrol tanker but this could not be confirmed.