Washington, D.C.

New program to help domestic violence victims

The Justice Department will start a new program in 12 communities to help domestic violence victims by providing them with a broad range of services in a single location.

The $20 million pilot program will set up “family justice centers” for people to get medical services, law enforcement help, legal counseling, housing assistance and other services, officials said Wednesday. These services are now frequently provided in a fragmented way.

The Justice Department will consider applications from cities, rural counties, tribal lands and military bases to determine where to locate the 12 centers. If successful, the program could be expanded.

Washington, D.C.

Stamp raises funds for anti-violence programs

A “Stop Family Violence” fund-raising stamp went on sale Wednesday.

The image on the stamp, a distraught woman, was drawn by a child. The stamp is designed to raise money for programs to curtail domestic violence. It sells for 45 cents, covering the 37-cent first class rate plus 8 cents for the anti-violence programs.

There are two other fund-raising stamps issued by the Postal Service: one to raise funds to combat breast cancer and one for the families of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Arizona

Appeals court upholds ban on same-sex marriage

A state appeals court upheld Arizona’s ban on gay marriages Wednesday, rejecting arguments from a gay couple that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right.

Harold Standhardt and Tod Keltner applied for a marriage license after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that made homosexual sex a crime. The Phoenix couple’s request for a license was turned down and they asked the state Court of Appeals to overturn the ban and to order a court clerk to give them a license.

The couple argued unsuccessfully that the Supreme Court ruling established same-sex marriages as a fundamental right.

Nicaragua

Former Contras to ask U.S. for compensation

The political party comprising former members of the U.S.-backed Contra rebels said Wednesday it would drop plans to sue the United States for back pay in the war against Nicaragua’s leftist government if it can reach a settlement with the U.S. government first.

A decision to file the lawsuit was approved Tuesday by more than 300 ex-Contra leaders, said Salvador Talavera, president of the guerrilla-movement-turned-political-party, known as the Nicaraguan Resistance.

The Nicaraguan Resistance argues the United States should recognize the former Contras as war veterans deserving back pay. The United States backed and helped train the Contra fighters in the war against the leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s.

The war, and the Sandinistas’ 10-year rule, ended in 1990 with the election of U.S.-backed President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. At least 50,000 Nicaraguans from both sides died during the conflict.