Free Republic

MARYVILLE, Tenn. - A teenager was jailed for nine days after being accused of burning an American flag on the Fourth of July, and he faces trial next month. While the case could test a state statute against flag burning - an act the U.S. Supreme Court says is protected under the First Amendment - prosecutors said Andrew Elisha Staley has yet to argue that he was exercising free speech rights."Bottom line is, the kid got drunk," said Lisa Lee, his mother. "He's never been in trouble before."Staley, 18, is accused of taking the flag from a residence and setting...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Someone urinated in the holy water at a suburban Rochester, N.Y., Catholic church. Four local teens have been charged with that and other vandalism. Monroe County sheriff's deputies said the teenagers smashed wine bottles against the walls, left bicycle skid marks on the carpet, emptied the fire extinguishers and burned cigarette holes in the Saint Pious X Church. The damage is estimated at $17,000. Charged are 18-year-old Dan Seklar, 17-year-old Richard DeCarolis, 16-year-old Michael Street and a 15-year-old who is being charged as a juvenile. All are charged with burglary and criminal mischief, both felonies. The boys...

A recent high school graduate who alleged that she was recruited into the National Guard through deceptive practices did not appear for her entry training Wednesday and now is considered absent without leave, officials said. Faustner's mother, Joan Koberly, said her daughter had been attending the monthly drill weekends at the Allentown National Guard Armory but stopped in April on the advice of her lawyer, John Roberts. Roberts said Thursday that a recruiter had told Faustner that the Army National Guard would send her to nursing school after basic training, but instead her unit had been told it had a...