California bill about peace officers
introduced
LOS ANGELES “”mdash; Two California congressmen introduced
legislation on Monday that would make it a federal crime to kill a
peace officer and flee the country.
U.S. Reps. David Dreier and Adam Schiff said in an interview
from Washington that the legislation would help prosecutors and the
government in extradition efforts.
Current law already makes it a federal crime to flee the country
to avoid prosecution.
However, the lawmakers said the new legislation is needed to
strengthen prosecutors’ hands.
“To bring (suspects) back and prosecute them only on a
lesser charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution
wouldn’t do any kind of justice,” said Schiff, a
Democrat.
“It gives prosecutors and law enforcement a powerful new
tool,” Schiff said, citing “˜”˜the power of
the federal government, the resources of the federal government,
and the leverage of the federal government.”
Mars rover moving after being stuck in sand
dune
PASADENA “”mdash; The Mars rover Opportunity is making progress
getting itself unstuck from a sand dune that has left it
immobilized the past two weeks, engineers said Monday. Opportunity
moved 4.6 centimeters over the weekend.
Scientists sent the first new driving directions last week, said
Mark Maimone, a mobility software engineer at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.
“This is good progress,” Maimone said.
Compiled from Bruin wire reports.