Where are they now?

Ready or not

Two weeks after the Virginia Board of Education reversed its policy of banning social media interaction between students and teachers, allowing school districts to set their own rules ("R U ready?" March 28), a former eighth-grade teacher from southwestern Virginia was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for sending sexually explicit images and messages to a teenage student.

The Bristol Herald Courier reports that 39-year-old Connie Beth Klewer was sentenced Wednesday by Russell County Circuit Judge Michael Moore. He reduced a jury's recommended 32-and-a-half year sentence by 10 years. Klewer was a science teacher at Lebanon Middle School when she was accused in July 2009 of "sexting" the student.

Jurors convicted her in January of taking indecent liberties with a child, using a communications device to solicit a minor, and other charges.

Back to court

The lawsuit of a professor who says he was denied a promotion because of his conservative, Christian opinions ("Denied promotion," Feb. 4) was revived this week. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous opinion that Michael Adams' commentaries focused on matters of public concern and were entitled to First Amendment protection.

"It's very dangerous for [University of North Carolina at Wilmington] to have the power to say, 'We don't want a person of that nature to be a full professor,'" Adams told WORLD. "The implications are broad, not just for me, but for thousands of professors across the country."

The appeals court found no merit in Adams' religious discrimination and equal protection claims. But it said U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard in Greenville, N.C., erred in ruling that inclusion of Adams' opinion pieces with his application converted them to government speech that is not entitled to First Amendment protection. The case will be returned to district court in Greenville, N.C.

Cash out soon, or else

Internet sweepstakes parlors that lawmakers say skirt state gambling laws ("Cash out, or else," Feb. 22) can remain open a few more months. Gov. Bob McDonnell had amended a bill to ban the facilities to make it take effect immediately instead of on July 1, as most legislation does.

The Senate voted 32-12 in favor of pushing up the close date, but the House rejected McDonnell's plan on a 46-54 vote during a one-day reconvene session Wednesday.

Opponents argued the businesses should have more time to close, because they could be charged with a felony. Critics say the "sweepstakes cafes" and similar operations are just strip-mall casinos posing as business service centers or internet cafes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.