Free Republic

(AP) EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. A high school student who says she was raped after missing her bus home in 2004 has sued over a district policy that barred her from returning to campus to call for a ride. The federal lawsuit says the policy is reckless because it effectively strands students in a city with "notorious high crime." The girl, who missed her school bus because she was meeting with a counselor, was walking to a bus station in May 2004 when she was abducted at gunpoint by four men and driven to a home, where one of the...

A hospital has banned visitors from "cooing" over newborn babies to protect their dignity and parents' right to confidentiality. People have been told they should resist the temptation to touch or be too familiar with the new arrivals. They are also being warned to respect patient confidentiality by not talking to staff or parents about babies. Cards have been issued to visitors at Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, West Yorks, bearing the words "Respect My Baby" on the front. On the back are the lines written as though from the baby: "I am small and precious so treat me with privacy...