Free Republic

A federal judge ordered immigration officials to release the president of Wisconsin's largest mosque from detention Thursday, finding that Salah Sarsour has raised a "substantial" claim that he was being targeted for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights. Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 30. The government has claimed he is a foreign policy threat, but Sarsour's attorneys say he was actually targeted for speaking out against Israel. U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon wrote in a decision Thursday that attorneys for...

Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform report releasedAssociated Press Tuesday December 11, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS Eliminating nearly 6,000 elected positions and more than 1,000 units of government are two of the recommendations by a committee that studied ways to reform Indiana government. The report includes 27 recommendations for making Indiana's local government more efficient, effective, understandable and accountable. It calls for changes in counties, cities, townships, libraries, schools and elsewhere. Former Gov. Joe Kernan and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard were co-chairman of the committee and released the results today. If enacted, the recommendations would reduce the number of...