Free Republic

ROANOKE — A Roanoke man claims sheriff's deputies beat him in the city jail because of his burping. Thomas Scott Vandegrift made the allegations in a federal lawsuit filed last week against several deputies, the city, the sheriff's office and the sheriff. According to the lawsuit, the deputies were annoyed by Vandegrift's burping, which was caused by acid reflux. Vandegrift was being held at the jail on a drunken driving charge. He pleaded no contest in 2008 and received a six-month suspended sentence, a $750 fine and a year of driving restrictions. The lawsuit alleges excessive force, conspiracy to violate...

French drinkers could be forced to take a breath test whenever they leave a bar at night in a bid to reduce soaring road deaths. The plan, which will be put before President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet today, would require anywhere that serves alochol to install an electronic breathalyser. The move follows a particularly deadly holiday weekend on French roads, in which drink-driving was blamed for many of the 17 deaths in seven accidents. New law: Drinkers at this bar in Aix-en-Provence will face obligatory breathalyser tests Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said: "Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot and I will present a...