THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080370
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal Monday of a couple convicted of sex abuse on the basis of secondhand testimony - comments their 3-year-old daughter and a friend made to day-care workers and other people.
Without comment, the court let stand the convictions of the Seattle-area couple, William and Kathleen Swan. The justices turned away the Swans' argument that it is unconstitutional to convict someone exclusively on the basis of ``hearsay'' evidence. The court accepted no new cases for review this week. In other action Monday, the justices:
Refused to reinstate the adoption of a 3-year-old Illinois boy known as Baby Richard, whose biological parents want him back. The justices let stand an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that said the father's rights were wrongly terminated.
Left intact a ruling that forces public TV stations to give valid, ``viewpoint-neutral'' reasons for excluding some candidates from televised political debates. The Arkansas Educational Television Commission sought to squelch a lawsuit by an independent congressional candidate who was left out of a debate.
Heard arguments over the power of Amtrak to ban political advertisements in train stations.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING by CNB