Councilman under fire for not believing in God, and more

last updated 8 January 2015

Councilman under fire for not believing in God

A newly elected councilman in Asheville, N.C., is under fire because he doesn’t believe in God. Cecil Bothwell, 59, calls himself a “post-theist,” and opponents say they may ask a court to enforce an 1868 provision in the state constitution that disqualifies those who “deny the being of Almighty God” from public office.

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A Michigan man is facing up to a year in jail for playing basketball in his front yard. Matthew Freeman, 23, was classified as a sex offender when he was 17 for having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend. State law bars sex offenders from coming within 1,000 feet of a school, and police say Freeman’s front yard is 326 feet from a school. “I can’t even play basketball on my own hoop,” says Freeman, who will be on the list until 2028.