Nov 6, 2009 By Herald Standard Staff 2 min read

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – The state’s highest court has denied a request from sect leader Wayne Bent for prison release on bond while he appeals his convictions for sexual misconduct with teenage female followers. The Supreme Court denied the petition without explanation, as had the Court of Appeals.

Bent is serving 10 years for criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church said the touching was part of a religious healing ritual and there was no sexual activity.

Bent was sentenced in December. He has been fasting, and his lawyer says he is being fed through a tube. A judge cleared the way for the feeding last month.

The court’s ruling was announced Tuesday by the attorney general.

Mich. man files lawsuit after Nativity scene nixed

WARREN, Mich. (AP) – A man who for 63 years has placed a Nativity scene on a suburban median has filed a federal lawsuit against a commission that put a halt to the tradition.

John Satawa says in a filing in U.S. District Court in Detroit that the Macomb County Road Commission violated his constitutional rights by denying him a permit for the Nativity scene in Warren because it “displays a religious message.”

County Highway Engineer Robert Hoepfner issued the formal denial on March 9, claiming the display would violate the First Amendment.

Satawa said in the suit that he was given permission in 1945 to display scene in Warren. He is seeking the court’s permission to display the Nativity scene this Christmas season and in the future.

Hoepfner said he had not seen the suit and had no comment.