New England News

        Massachusetts is going to have a so-called “ three strikes” crime law.  Governor Deval Patrick says he will sign a controversial crime bill aimed at keeping repeat violent criminals off the streets. People working to prevent violence in one western Massachusetts city say the real solution to improved public safety is community partnerships.  WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

Legislation to expand the bottle bill in Massachusetts won’t make it this year to Governor Patrick’s desk.   WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

   A conference committee stripped the bottle bill from the final version of legislation intended to spur economic development.  James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club  said it  was the end of efforts  in this two year legislative session  to expand the bottle.

  Legislation to expand the 30 year old bottle deposit law in Massachusetts to include noncarbonated beverages won’t make it to the desk of Governor Deval Patrick this year..  WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that part of a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and denies federal benefits to married gay couples is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford ruled Tuesday that the provision in the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act violates the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection.

The ruling came in the case of six married same-sex couples and a widower who sued after being denied federal benefits. The plaintiffs are from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.