Niger government ordered to pay $20,000 to ex-slave. The government of Niger must pay a woman $20,000 (10 million West African francs) who, at 12, was sold into slavery and held captive for 10 years, ruled a West African court reports The Associated Press. Niger is at fault because it failed to enforce its laws against slavery, the court ruled.  The former slave at the center of the case, Hadijatou Mani, who is now 24, told the court she was forced into work as a servant and a sex slave until she was freed in 2005. Her former master only freed her because he apparently wanted her to become his wife legally. Slavery was banned in Niger in 2003. In her complaint (which she originally filed in Niger courts but decided to move to the West African court) Mani asked for 50 million francs. “If Niger’s judicial process had functioned normally, there would have been no need to call on an international court to re-judge this case,” Chaibou Kaber, her lawyer, said. The court ruled that Niger was “responsible for the inaction of its administrative and judicial arms,” said a statement read by the court’s president. The court is run by the Economic Community of West African States, of which 15 nations are a part. The body itself doesn’t have great power to force Niger to follow the ruling; however, a spokesman for the country said the government will abide by the ruling and pay Mani the judgment. This landmark ruling could serve as a wakeup call to Niger and other countries in the region and encourage officials to enforce anti-slavery laws more strongly. While West Africa has a history with slavery and some still openly hold slaves, many countries have begun to crackdown on the illegal practice.
Teachers in St. Vincent will end strike. Teachers in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines have ended their strike and are set to go back to work Tuesday, reports the BBC. Teachers in the Caribbean island nation had been on strike for two weeks because of a salary dispute. But the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union made the decision to end the strike during an emergency meeting last Friday, according to the union’s president, Joy Matthews.  The union is still strongly against the government’s plan to implement new salary scales for reclassification purposes that, according to teachers, would leave some earning less than they did before. Instead of the new salary scales put in place by a national public-sector re-grading program, they would like to see their pay increased.

Weezy’s week begins with court hearing.

It had to be a tough moment for rapper Lil’ Wayne’s assistant. At a Monday hearing on Weezy’s ongoing weapons case, in which he was allegedly arrested carrying a gun in New York, the subject of marijuana was raised. Wayne’s employee took the stand, admitting that weed is “something we always have” on the tour bus, and that Weezy only smokes “dro,” or hydroponically grown marijuana. Apparently, swearing to tell the truth kept the assistant from helping his boss a great deal. Wayne’s expected to return to court in December. In other New York-related Wayne news, the star sent his personal sympathies this past weekend to the family of a 16-year-old killed in a New York car wreck.

Court to review King love letters today.

Coretta Scott King kept love letters between she and her civil rights legend husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., beneath her bed, in a blue Samsonite suitcase, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But Tuesday, those letters and other “intimate correspondence” between the Kings are expected to be in a far less private place: Fulton County Superior Court. The papers are caught in an increasingly bitter and public dispute among her three living children. On one side is Dexter King, head of the corporation that handles the rights to his father’s works. In May, he negotiated a $1.4 million contract to publish a biography of his mother. It would be co-written by the Rev. Barbara Reynolds, a journalist-turned-minister who taped conversations with Mrs. King before she died in January 2006. On the other side is Dexter King’s younger sister, Bernice King, who has refused to hand over the intimate correspondence between her parents for use in the biography. Bernice King says her mother didn’t want Reynolds to write the book and that the correspondence belongs to Mrs. King’s estate, which she controls. The family corporation that Dexter King leads, called King Inc., is seeking a temporary restraining order that would force Bernice King to give the papers to Reynolds. A judge ordered her to bring the letters and photos to court Tuesday, though they are not expected to be shown in court. At stake is the book contract with Penguin Group, the New York-based publisher that has threatened to pull out should Bernice King fail to hand over the papers by Friday.

R. Kelly gets second major court victory of 2008.

Coming off of his controversial and, to many, surprising acquittal of child sex abuse charges, R. Kelly’s winning streak in court continues. The singer has been awarded $3.4 million in damages from his former tour promoter after Kelly’s company claimed the owner of Rowe Entertainment failed to pay Kelly in full for previous shows. An arbitrator sided with Kelly in the dispute, and the singer is seeking help from an L.A. judge on collecting from Rowe. Ne-Yo, who was booted off the same tour with Kelly, won a $700,000 court judgment  earlier this year.

A new study is buttressing the widely held assumption that Black youths are getting a raw deal from the U.S. justice system. A recent report concludes that African-Americans suffer disproportionate arrest rates and tougher prison sentences than White youths. While Blacks under 17 years old comprise just 17 percent of the nation’s youths, they represent about 30 percent of those arrested, says the report, “Critical Condition: African American Youth in the Justice System,” released this month by the D.C.-based Campaign for Youth Justice. Get the rest at BET.com/News. 

An Alabama bank settles with Black customers. An Alabama bank has agreed to pay Black borrowers more than $185,000 in a settlement prompted by the U.S. Justice Department, which accused it of charging African-American customers higher mortgage rates than its White customers. The First Lowndes Bank will compensate Black customers for charging them more on mobile home loans. In addition to the $185,000 plus interest, Lowndes has also agreed to begin procedures to prevent racial discrimination in setting its interest rates and to train its employees in those procedures, The Associated Press reports.

He’s preparing to defend his Sean Bell acquittal protest

The Rev. Al Sharpton will take his public nuisance and disturbing the peace case to court Oct. 6, a Manhattan judge ruled Thursday. Sharpton, who was arrested in early May – along with scores of protestors who froze up major New York City thoroughfares as a statement against the acquittal of three police officers in the shooting death of Sean Bell – had an opportunity recently to admit guilt and avoid a trial and jail time. But the civil rights leader, who heads the Harlem-based National Action Network, wanted a public airing for a case that focuses attention back on what he and others say is the egregiously unfair freeing of the NYPD cops who shot down the 23-year-old Bell outside a Queens nightclub on the eve of his wedding day, Nov. 25, 2006. The officers shot the unarmed groom and his two friends in a haze of 50 bullets. Bell’s friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, survived but were seriously wounded. On Wednesday, Sharpton said there is nothing unlawful about a peaceful protest. “Every time they bring me back, it further exposes the disparity of justice in this city,” he said.

Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Many youths tried as adults suffer from mental disorders.
Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Most of the students needed more information about testing.
Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Many youths tried as adults suffer from mental disorders.
Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago, reports HealthDay. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Most of the students needed more information about testing.
Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Akon’s due before judge on Sept. 3. Singer Akon could add some legitimate days to the past incarceration time he’s been exposed for lying about, if he’s convicted of attacking a youth. But the popular producer didn’t show up last week for his first court date since a December “not guilty” plea that he issued, despite being videotaped as he tossed Anthony Smith, 15, into the crowd. Akon is shown in Web footage demanding that Smith be brought up to the outdoor stage at a June 2007 concert in New York after Smith is alleged to have thrown an object at Akon. The singer is charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree harassment after is appeared to hoist Smith above his head and toss him into the crowd. A judge instructed Akon’s lawyer that the singer should appear in court Sept. 3 for a possible deposition. Akon’s biggest recent headlines were generated after The Smoking Gun Web site exposed him as a former petty car thief, although Akon has sung and spoken about a fabricated past as boss of a major auto theft ring.

Actor ordered to pay costs of his own prosecution on tax charges.
Prosecutors who felt that actor Wesley Snipes has gotten too many breaks since his conviction on tax charges probably don’t mind a judge’s latest decision. Snipes was ordered Wednesday to repay $217,000 in costs for his prosecution since he was convicted of failing to file tax returns. Snipes was sentenced to prison, but is free while he appeals the verdict. Prosecutors recently objected when Snipes received permission to travel to Europe to star in a film.

No voter-info distribution at Jersey polls, court rules. A New Jersey rights group lost its battle Wednesday to pass out information to voters at polling stations. Advocates for the right to distribute the voters’-rights cards called the ruling by a New Jersey appeals court, which upheld a directive by Attorney General Anne Milgram last year, a blow to voters. The American Civil Liberties Union had sought to give voters a card – within 100 feet of voting booths – that explains voting rights and provides a number to call if there are problems with registration or voting. In addition, the three-judge court also upheld an earlier ruling that groups wishing to conduct exit polling must register with local election boards at least two weeks before an election. The ACLU says it will take its case to the state Supreme Court.