Latest news with #MaryBentley
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
'You killed him in cold blood': Man pleads guilty in Gastonia teen's death
A man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a Gastonia teenager. Ja'Kelan Duval, 22, was convicted in the death of 19-year-old Deionte Sparkman, who was gunned down on a Gastonia street on the afternoon of May 16, 2022. Superior Court Judge David Phillips sentenced Duval to 12 to 15 years in prison. Police found Sparkman lying in the road on Westwood Circle, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, Assistant District Attorney Megan Rhoden said. Officers eventually learned a friend of Sparkman's, another 19-year-old man, had been shot, but survived. He told police that the shooter shot them from a silver Porsche. Police found the Porsche, and eventually went to a home in South Carolina, where they found then-20-year-old Mary Bentley. Bentley admitted to police that she and Duval had been in the Porsche that day, and on that day, Duval went to Westwood Circle. Bentley thought that they were going there for a drug deal, Rhoden said, but Duval told Bentley to drive and got in the back seat. Bentley told police that Sparkman and his friend began walking down the street, and Duval began shooting out of the rear window. Bentley agreed to testify against Duval, but Sparkman's friend refused to cooperate with prosecutors, Rhoden said. Rhoden added that she thinks the shooting was gang related, and that Sparkman may not have been the target. Steven Peoples, Sparkman's father, told Judge Phillips that he has been unable to work for three years as he grieved his son's death. "It extremely hurt not just me, but my entire family," he said. "When I go to sleep at night, I think about it. When I wake up, I think about it." He said that he had to go to CaroMont Regional Medical Center and identify his son as he lay dead on a gurney. "It's just so unreal. It's so unreal," he said. He said that his family has moved because of the shooting. "My son, he didn't have anything to do with this situation, not nothing," he said. Cynthia Stitt, who mentored Sparkman since he was in the sixth grade, said that Sparkman planned to go to college. "To take his life wasn't fair," she said. Sparkman's mother, Nikki Peoples, said that she's forgiven Duval for his actions. "We lost two lives. We lost my son's life, and Duval's parents lost his," she said. "I have to forgive him for his actions to have peace within myself." But, she added, "You killed him in cold blood at 12:30 in the afternoon. I'm not happy with it, but I have to accept it, because nothing is going to bring my son back. "I wish you the best, because if I hold a grudge against you, I would kill my own self, and my son wouldn't want that." Duval appeared impassive as Peoples spoke. District Attorney Travis Page said in a statement that he takes no satisfaction from Duval's plea. "In fact, it is a disgusting and reprehensible example of a long-standing problem becoming more and more prevalent: a community's complicity with violence and murder," he said. In his statement, he said that Sparkman's friend, who was also shot, dodged subpoenas and refused to meet with law enforcement and prosecutors. "His friends and family helped as he abandoned his friend," he said. In an interview, Page said that the lack of cooperation his office encountered is a longstanding problem in Gaston County and elsewhere. "People have to be willing to come to court and testify and say what they saw," Page said. "And believe in a justice system that's going to hold folks accountable … That's what we're striving for, is a justice system that will actually deliver justice for victims of crime, and the only way we can do that is for people to be willing and to have the courage to testify." Had that young man cooperated, Page's office could have tried to send Duval to prison for life, he said. Sparkman's death led to the creation of 101 Black Men, a coalition formed in the Highland community of Gastonia to offer mentorship, education and other opportunities for African Americans in the community. This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Man pleads guilty in Gastonia teen's death
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Pernicious and unnecessary' laws make life harder for ordinary Arkansans
Arkansans protest several bills introduced by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, that would change the citizen-led ballot initiative process Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at the Arkansas Capitol. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Over the course of the recently concluded session of the Arkansas Legislature, the media have reported in bits and pieces on various measures passed by lawmakers that infringe on Arkansans' rights, target marginalized groups, erode the wall of separation between church and state, limit free speech and squash democratic participation, usually with the stated purpose of solving 'problems' that only exist in the minds of Republican legislators. But if we stop and take a moment to look back on their collective handiwork over the last five months, the destructive scope of these pernicious laws — and the expensive litigation they're likely to trigger — becomes breathtakingly clear. Elementary school librarians face possible suspension of their teaching licenses if they don't lock away books about 'sexual ideology,' which is not defined but will almost certainly be aimed at books with LGBTQ themes. Schools will be left to figure out how to comply. Doctors who provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients could open themselves up to malpractice suits unless they read their patients a lengthy screed about their care that contains information that's untrue, misleading, or merely misguided opinion sprung from the fevered imagination of Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, who has made targeting transgender Arkansans her pet cause. The process for collecting signatures for ballot initiatives will now be so cumbersome, convoluted and arduous that direct democracy — a cherished constitutional guarantee in a state whose motto is 'The People Rule' — could be a dead letter for grassroots groups without deep pockets. Voters who choose to vote by absentee ballot because they find it more convenient will now have to find a witness to sign their ballot paperwork, impacting minority, disabled and elderly voters in a state that already has tragically high rates of ballot rejection — but almost no voter fraud. Schools and public buildings will have to display a mostly Protestant version of the 10 Commandments, a practice the U.S. Supreme Court forbade 45 years ago. And discrimination against LGBTQ people will be protected by state law if done on religious grounds, including refusing to place kids in adoptive homes with LGBTQ parents. The state plans to start suffocating death row inmates with nitrogen gas, an experimental execution method that's cruel and unusual, and will trigger years of litigation. And noncitizens without legal documentation who commit crimes will face harsher criminal penalties than citizens, up to 20 more years in prison with no chance for parole. Never mind that, like U.S. citizens, noncitizens are protected by the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. As you might expect, this tsunami of ill-conceived nonsense is keeping folks at the Arkansas ACLU busy — sorting through which of these new laws are likely to cause the most immediate harm, working with prospective clients, and preparing litigation to counter unwise and unconstitutional laws that state taxpayers will pay to defend. 'Some people ask us what we do to relax and refresh at the end of the session, and I say, 'File lawsuits,'' jokes Holly Dickson, the ACLU's executive director, who likens dealing with legislators on civil liberties issues to 'trying to do ballet across quicksand.' Dickson would not comment on when, or over what, the ACLU might sue, other than to say that 'we'll announce any litigation when it's filed.' But the Arkansas League of Women Voters has already filed a federal lawsuit to strike down the new restrictions on citizen-led ballot initiatives, calling them an unconstitutional restraint on core political speech. Some of the baloney Arkansas legislators offered up to feed their base this year may have limited effect because it's impractical, illogical or will be quickly laughed out of federal court. For instance, even a cursory reading of the 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision Stone vs. Graham that forbade posting of the 10 Commandments in public schools — or the scathing decision by a federal judge in Louisiana last November invalidating a similar 10 Commandments law — would have shown legislators that this bill would lead directly to a spanking in federal court. Yet, all but two Republican legislators plunged ahead, because, as Dickson puts it, 'they know that voting against the 10 Commandments is going to affect their reelection.' Likewise, the law that prevents the state from taking action against employers who discriminate against transgender people for religious reasons runs straight into a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision — penned by that well-known radical leftist Justice Neil Gorsuch — that the Civil Rights Act precludes employment discrimination based on gender identity. Another new law allowing people to sue if they — gasp — encounter transgender people in a restroom or changing area in a public facility may be difficult to use because, thankfully, legislators didn't authorize the genitalia inspections necessary to establish someone's gender identity in a court of law. The law expanding malpractice suits against doctors providing gender-affirming care was clearly designed to intimidate them into not treating their patients. Rather than forcing them to give their patients inaccurate information — problematic on First Amendment grounds — it merely entices them to do so by providing a 'safe harbor' against lawsuits if they comply. But Arkansas doctors who provide this care have largely stood up to that pressure by ignoring the 'safe harbor' provision in a similar law passed in 2023 targeting gender transition. 'The game of chicken doesn't really play well with people who aren't chicken,' Dickson said. Unfortunately, legal challenges take time, and some of these ineffectual laws may be hard to challenge because until someone can demonstrate actual harm, it could be difficult to get cases into court. In addition, so-called facial constitutional challenges, which seek to block laws before they go into effect, also have a high bar — made higher by the Arkansas Supreme Court's recent supineness in standing up to legislative excess as well as a new law that takes original jurisdiction in these cases away from judges in Pulaski County Circuit Court, who have been willing to say no to legislators. Perhaps the most disheartening thing about all of this is how unnecessary it is. None of this sound and fury does anything to make the day-to-day lives of ordinary Arkansans easier or better; indeed, it wastes money on litigation that could be better spent on things that would. And what we've seen over the past five months also plays fast and loose with the oath every legislator took when they were sworn into office: 'I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of upon which I am now about to enter.'
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to oppose gender-affirming care passes committee in Arkansas House
Video: Supreme Court weighs gender-affirming care for minors LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A bill to add gender-affirming care to Arkansas medical malpractice law is moving through the House after being heard in committee. House Bill 1916 intends to amend the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act of 2023. That act allows patients to sue for medical malpractice for gender transition surgery for up to 15 years after their 18th birthday. Federal judge blocks Arkansas gender-affirming care ban in first for nation The amendment proposed by HB1916 would add 'gender-affirming care' to the malpractice law. In the bill's language, any doctor who prescribes puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones would be liable for suit under the same terms as a doctor in the 2023 law who performs surgery. The bill also adds mental health professionals who provide 'gender-affirming intervention' to the list of potential defendants. The House Judiciary Committee heard from 12 witnesses who spoke against the law, citing its broad language and vague terms. No witnesses spoke for the bill, which received an 11-5 vote for a do-pass recommendation. The bill will now return to the House floor for its final vote. If it passes there, it will move on to the Senate. The legislature is expected to finish a week from Wednesday. Arkansas bill targeting those who knowingly contribute to social transitioning of minors pulled for changes The bill's sponsor, Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville), had earlier submitted a more restrictive version that included a broader definition of social transitioning to include hairstyles and clothing. Bentley withdrew that bill after a witness from the attorney general's office said the bill would be indefensible in court. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Arkansas bill would allow lawsuits over gender transitions for minors
ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — A proposed bill in Arkansas would hold adults civilly liable for assisting transgender minors in their gender transitions. Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville) introduced House Bill 1668, also known as the Vulnerable Youth Protection Act. The bill seeks to impose civil liability on individuals who 'knowingly cause' a minor's social transition, or who perform actions like 'castration, sterilization or mutilation.' The bill would also establish a 20-year statute of limitations for filing civil suits, allowing complainants to recover financial damages for any personal injuries or harm caused by these actions. While several other states have passed similar laws banning gender-affirming medical care, Arkansas' latest bill is the first to target 'social transitioning', or the act of adopting a gender identity different from one's biological sex. Four takeaways from the 10th week of the 95th Arkansas General Assembly HB 1668 defines social transitioning broadly, including changes in clothing, pronouns, hairstyle and name. '[A]ny act by which a minor adopts or espouses a gender identity that differs from the minor's biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the minor, including without limitation changes in clothing, pronouns, hairstyle, and name.' House Bill 1668 (proposed) The proposed law would allow lawsuits to be filed up to 15 years after an incident, with damages ranging from $10,000 to $10 million for those found to have provided gender-affirming care to minors. As of Mar. 19, the bill has been engrossed, meaning it has passed through the committee stage and is now ready for consideration by the full House of Representatives. HB1668-as-engrossed-on-03-19-2025-15_05_26Download The full bill can be read above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Committee awaits amendments to proposed liability for social transitioning of transgender minors
Texas-based counselor Rebecca Smith (left) and Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, present House Bill 1668 to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Photo by Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas lawmaker promised to amend a bill that would create civil liability for Arkansas adults who assist transgender minors' transitions after other lawmakers and members of the public presented a flurry of questions and concerns Tuesday. Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, told the House Judiciary Committee that House Bill 1668, the Vulnerable Youth Protection Act, would deter 'social experiments that are really destroying the lives' of children who do not identify with their gender assigned at birth. The bill would hold liable 'any person who knowingly causes' a minor's social transition or 'the castration, sterilization, or mutilation of a minor' for 'any personal injuries or harm' resulting from the actions. It would create a 20-year statute of limitations for civil action, and complainants would be able to recover financial damages. Arkansas was one of the first states to pass a law banning gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors. The Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act of 2021, which Bentley co-sponsored, is under appeal in federal court after families of transgender minors sued and obtained a permanent injunction. Federal judge strikes down Arkansas ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth More than two dozen other states have passed similar laws since 2021, but no state has enacted a law banning social transitioning, which HB 1668 defines as 'any act by which a minor adopts or espouses a gender identity that differs from the minor's biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the minor, including without limitation changes in clothing, pronouns, hairstyle, and name.' Rep. Jeremiah Moore, R-Clarendon, said this definition was too broad. 'If a parent takes their daughter to a barbershop… and [the barber] gives that haircut per the child and the parent's wishes, and that haircut is not a 'girl's haircut,' this language seems to be holding him potentially liable for the next 20 years of his barber career,' Moore said. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office believes the bill is not yet legally sound, senior assistant attorney general Justin Brascher told the committee. No members of the public came to speak in favor of the bill, while 20 signed up to speak against it and nine received a chance to speak. Some of the nine, including Caitlin Tannehill Oxford, said they have heard concerns from hairdressers about the legislation. 'If my son and I agree that he can get a piercing, that could also be defined as mutilation and I could be held liable,' said Oxford, president of the Washington County Democrats. 'My daughter does not dress girly. She loves jeans, not dresses. Would that hold me liable to legal action for allowing her to wear what she likes? By the way, my children are not trans. However, I have many friends and family who are, and I'm here today to support them.' Bentley said she will amend the bill to 'work on some of the definitions and make it clearer.' Transgender teen shares experience with gender-affirming care in trial against Arkansas law She and Rebecca Smith, a licensed professional counselor from southeast Texas, both claimed a majority of minors with 'gender confusion' eventually return to identifying as their 'birth sex.' Medical professionals who testified for the plaintiffs in the trial against the SAFE Act said regret over gender transition is rare, including for people who transition as minors. They also said Arkansas children do not receive gender-affirming breast or genital surgeries. Smith called HB 1668 'a crucial safeguard against practices that alienate children from their families and disrupt healthy development.' 'This legislation seeks to deter the harmful effects of gender-affirming interventions by providing victims with a path for recourse and ensuring they have the time and opportunity to seek justice once they recognize the self-hatred that has been instilled in them and are ready to reclaim their true identity,' Smith said. Some of the bill's opponents said transitioning does not alienate children from their families. 'Hatred and bigotry alienate children from their families… and legislation like this encourages that,' Arkansas Tech University student Jordyn Barnett said. HB 1668 includes the statement: 'A person shall not be held liable under this section for speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.' Committee members of both parties and members of the public said the rest of the bill contradicts that statement. An amendment adopted by the committee added the word 'knowingly' to the legislation, and Bentley said this should alleviate concerns about the broadness of the bill. Evelyn Rios Stafford disagreed. She is a Washington County Justice of the Peace and Arkansas' first and only openly transgender elected official. 'Sometimes I get approached by parents who have kids that are in college, sometimes in high school, and they'll introduce me to their kid and say… 'I'd like to introduce you to my trans son, John Doe,' and I say, 'John Doe, it's great to meet you,'' Rios Stafford said. '…Under this bill, that would put me under a civil cause of action for the next 20 years for having that positive interaction with an accepting parent of a 17-year-old.' First Amendment concerns are among the reasons Griffin's office is not willing to defend the law in court as it is written, even with Tuesday's amendments, Brascher said. He added that Griffin's office is 'sympathetic to the intent' of HB 1668, as evidenced by its continued defense of the SAFE Act. Bentley said HB 1668 'perfectly lines up with' the blocked law. In 2023, she sponsored the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act, which allowed private enforcement of the SAFE Act by creating civil liability for doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare to transgender minors. The bill initially had a 30-year statute of limitations before it was amended down to 15 years. Simon Garbett, a transgender 18-year-old from Little Rock, spoke against the 2023 law and returned to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to speak against HB 1668. He maintained that he is 'not a social experiment' and that the idea that gender-affirming healthcare sterilizes trans youth 'is a complete lie.' 'Please have empathy for people who are different from you,' Garbett said. 'We're not hurting you, so stop hurting us.' Bill allowing malpractice suits for transgender minors' health care goes to Sanders' desk Bentley is also the lead sponsor of House Bill 1669, which passed the House last week. The bill would prohibit 'discrimination' in foster care or adoption cases if parents whose deeply held religious beliefs do not affirm transgender minors' identities. In 2023, Bentley co-sponsored two more laws related to transgender youth. One forbade public and charter school students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match their gender assigned at birth. The other, the Given Name Act, requires public school teachers and college professors to use the pronouns and names students were assigned at birth unless parents specifically allow them to do otherwise. Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, asked Bentley on Tuesday if teachers would be liable for civil action under HB 1668 if they adhere to 'the wishes of that parent united with their child, not alienated from them' if the parent has given the permission outlined in the Given Name Act. 'That is correct,' Bentley said. 'I think that we're just saying that social transitioning is excessively harmful to children.' Marie Mainard O'Connell, a mother of a transgender teen from Little Rock, said she shared Clowney's concerns. '[This bill] supposes that parents are not supportive, and in point of fact, I work with a community and dozens of families for whom this bill will make their work as supportive families harder,' said O'Connell, who is a Presbyterian pastor. 'Gutted' Arkansas bill no longer targets drag performers or LGBTQ community, activists say Another 2023 law Bentley sponsored initially would have banned drag shows from being held within a certain distance of schools, parks and other places children frequent, but the Alliance Defending Freedom helped the sponsors amend the legislation so it would hold up in court. The ADF is a conservative, faith-based advocacy group that has opposed LGBTQ+ rights efforts. The ADF weighed in on the Given Name Act in 2023, and Bentley said Tuesday that she consulted with the organization while working on HB 1668. Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, was the Given Name Act's primary sponsor and said it would prevent 'compelled speech'; Rios Stafford said Tuesday that HB 1668 would actually create compelled speech. Rep. Ashley Hudson, D-Little Rock, pointed out that HB 1668 does not say there will be no civil liability if a child does not socially transition or later detransitions. Bentley said the absence of a cause of action in those cases is 'common sense.' 'If they stay with their normal gender, there's been no hurt or harm that's been done, so there'd be no lawsuit to file,' Bentley said. Judiciary Committee chairwoman Rep. Carol Dalby, R-Texarkana, said she will schedule a special order of business for HB 1668 after Bentley files the amendments. The committee did not have enough time to hear all 20 speakers against the bill Tuesday, but Dalby said those who did not get to speak will be preemptively placed on the public comment list for the next hearing on the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
