European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 b the stars and stripes . 1 tuesday december 8, 1992 former lesbian reservist Given go ahead for suit bogus cops plundering Lone motorists in Detroit Washington apr the supreme court sidestepped a showdown Over the military a 50-year ban on homosexuals monday by turning away a dispute involving a lesbian kicked out of the army Reserve. The justices without comment let stand a Federal appeals court ruling that revived Carolyn a a Dusty Pruitt a lawsuit against the Pentagon. Pruitt a los Angeles resident served in the army from 1971 until 1976, mostly As a military Recruiter. She Rose to the rank of Captain before leaving Active duty to become a methodist minister. She served in the army Reserve from 1976 to 1986. Her promotion to major was approved in 1982 but never came about. In a january 1983 interview with the los Angeles limes Pruitt described the problems of being a lesbian in the military. The army Learned of Pruitt a homosexuality through the newspaper article and in 1986 she was Given an honorable but involuntary discharge. Pruitt sued the army and the department of defense in 1983, challenging the military policy of discharging people who a engage in or. Demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct.�?�. District judge William Gray threw out the suit ruling that the army a decision to exclude homosexuals merited substantial deference. But the 9th . Circuit court of appeals last year reinstated Pruitt s suit ruling that Gray must decide a whether the army a discrimination is rationally related to a permissible governmental  government lawyers had argued that the regulation Banning homosexuals adequately states the governments purpose a that homosexual conduct a seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military Mission by adversely affecting a discipline Good order and  supreme court in the supreme court on monday Bush administration lawyers told the justices that no further inquiry into Pruitt Scase is needed. A there is no Good reason to require the army to go Forward with this Case a they argued. They urged the court to help the army a avoid the unwarranted interference with the military Chain of command that would results from further proceedings in Pruitt Scase. The government lawyers noted that the supreme court in 1986 ruled that Georgia May outlaw sodomy. A if states May criminalize homosexual conduct based oj1 society s moral View that such conduct is unacceptable they said a then the military May consider that moral  in response Pruitt a lawyers urged the court to reject the governments Appeal. President elect Clinton has Sard he will rescind the military a ban on service by lesbians and Gay men. In other cases monday the court a refused to reinstate the Iran Contra convictions of former National Security adviser John m. Poindexter. The court without comment let stand an appeals court ruling that said Poindexter a immunized testimony to Congress improperly was used against him. In throwing out. Poindexter a criminal convictions the appeals court also ruled too vague the Federal obstruction Law used to prosecute him for allegedly lying to Congress. Poindexter was convicted in april 1990 of covering up the Iran Contra arms for hostages affair. A refused to revive a Challenge to a Mississippi Law that requires women to get counselling and then wait 24 hours before ending their pregnancies. The justices without comment left intact a ruling that denied abortion clinic operators a hearing when they tried to Block the Law before it took effect in August. Woman claiming she was abused seeks clemency in husband s killing Tallahassee Fla. Up a a woman serving 15 years in prison for shooting her husband to death will be the first to test Florida a new policy giving special clemency consideration to battered spouses who kill their abusers. Kimberly Soubielle is scheduled to plead her Case today before gov. Lawton Chiles and the Cabinet who sit As the state clemency Board. Soubielle 26, was charged with murdering of Pierre Soubielle in 1987. She has said she pulled the trigger to defend herself from her husband who had attacked her numerous times before. She said he began beating her and threatened to kill her when she told him that she was leaving him and taking their daughter. Kimberly Soubielle said she fled their Sanford Home went to her car and returned with a gun. When Pierre Soubielle lunged at her and wrestled for the gun she began firing she said. She shot him seven times. A circuit court judge disagreed with her self defense claim and sentenced her to 15 years in prison for second degree murder. If the clemency Board agrees that the killing was a direct result of abuse the prison sentence could be reduced. She May even be set free. A special three member panel of Legal and social service experts determined that she suffered from battered women syndrome when she shot her husband. But the state parole commission to whom the panel reports rejected the panels finding and ruled there was no a factual confirmation that Kimberly Soubielle was battered. The parole commission is recommending that her plea for clemency be rejected. Board game has drugs sex As Pitfalls Cassville wis. Apr a High school science teacher makes his students pass through pregnancy aids drug overdoses Drunken driving arrests theft and drug dealing a and try to do it All without ending up in the morgue. Its All part of a Board game teacher Frank Lavelle created to make teen agers aware of the risks of drugs and sex. A there Are a lot of traps in the game a Lavelle said. A but you know real life is like that. The game is basically set up to Trace some of the hazards of abuse that teen agers  Lavelle Calls his game a a dead for a drugs end All  he has marketed the game locally and said the National education association May use it for alcohol and drug education programs. From wire reports Detroit a two men posing As police officers have embarked on a robbery spree against Lone motorists on the East Side of Detroit police said sunday. In the past week the phony cops have robbed at least nine motorists police said. The men Are equipped with flashlights Handcuffs and in at least one instance a gun. They typically wave motorists Over with their flashlights Tell Drivers they Are under investigation for drugs and then Rob them. Sometimes the victims done to know they Are being robbed. Police said the men have occasionally demanded identification and then removed the Cash before returning the  had been abused Gainesville Fla. A a Man accused of setting 21 Church fires was sexually molested by a Church member As a child and May have acted out his resentment by torching houses of worship investigators said. Patrick Lee Frank was arrested on arson charges in november 1991. The weekend disclosure of sexual abuse provided the first possible motive for the fires which caused millions of dollars in damage in Florida and Tennessee. Federal and state investigators confirmed that Frank was sexually assaulted by a Church member in East Ridge tenn., where he grew up and where some of the fires were set. A it did no to Surprise me once the facts came to life a said David Guy an arson investigator with the Tennessee state fire marshals office in nashville.8 Virginia miners trapped Norton a. A an explosion ripped through a Small Coal mine monday during an Early morning shift and authorities said 8 miners were trapped. Authorities reported that the 6 30 . Explosion also flattened the office building at South Mountain Coal co. Mine no. 3, a police dispatcher said. Eighteen Rescue squad units converged on the scene near the guest River about five Miles outside Norton a City of about 4,000 people in Southwest Virginia. One Miner crawled to safety. A we have not yet made any confirmation As to the status of the other individuals a said Mike Abbott of the state division of mines office in big Stone Gap. Teen held in dad s shooting Pensacola Fla. A a teen Ager angry at being grounded for skipping school and for having to join a family trip to a shopping mall allegedly took revenge on his father by shooting him in his sleep authorities said. The victim was grazed on the face said sheriffs investigator Brooks Sanderson. Cameron Whitman 16, was charged with attempted r / is wee an will he tried As an adult officials said. He is accused of shooting Clyde Douglas Whitman 39, with a .22-caliber handgun nov. 20.Union collects $100,000 Las vegas Nev. A Day after 20,000 Union for a across the country marched in support of striking Frontier hotel and Casino workers a i Nunn nor a sunday announced the collection of  in donations for the out of work employees and their families. J Union employees from 37 states converged on the Las vegas strip saturday in a show of Solidarity on Benalt of the 550 Frontier employees who have been out on strike since sept. 21,1991. Fur is flying in Battle Over ownership of wandering cat Vineyard Haven mass. Api a she named the it 11---- a. Vineyard Haven mass. A 1 to residents of Martha a Vineyard Are embroiled in a Legal custody Battle Over a eat that has lived with both wandering 12 Miles Between their Homes. A my Kitty a been cat napped a said Sioux Eagle who adopted the cat four years ago from the Massachusetts society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. She named the cat Coyote she went to Small claims court to get her cat Back from Rick Hoffman at whose House the cat has been living. Hoffman who Calls the cat Nick wants to keep the cat because he is concerned about its safety on its Long hikes. Eagle a jewelry designer got the cat when she and her husband lived in Vine and then to West Tisbury then the cat a Brown Short haired Tabby wandered Back to Hynes Point about 12 Miles from West Tisbury. A Hoffman 45, a portrait Painter took the cat in named it after St. Nicholas because it was Christmas season and ran a new spa last August Eagle visited her old Hynes Point Home and encountered her Long lost cat. She took Coyote Back to West Tisbury and placed an and in her local newspaper thanking whoever had taken care of the cat. I Hen Coyote Nick hit the Road taking another 12-mile trek Back to Hynes Point