News in brief

By The Associated Press

Parents, teachers sue to stop Oklahoma school Bible mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY | A group of Oklahoma parents of public school students, teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop the state’s top education official from forcing schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12.

The lawsuit filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court also asks the court to stop Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters from spending $3 million to purchase Bibles in support of his mandate.

The suit alleges that the mandate violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it involves spending public money to support religion and favors one religion over another by requiring the use of a Protestant version of the Bible. It also alleges that Walters and the state Board of Education don’t have the authority to require the use of instructional materials.

Judge grants Texas lawmakers’ unusual effort to pause execution

HOUSTON | A judge on Thursday granted a request from Texas lawmakers to delay the execution of a man who was scheduled to become the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

But the judge’s order was expected to be quickly appealed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

The order was granted around the same time the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution, though Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to grant a 30-day delay.

—From AP reports