News in Brief

A segregation-era provision of the Alabama constitution that denies that state residents have a guaranteed right to public education violates the U.S. Constitution, a state judge has ruled.

Backers of a pending lawsuit challenging the fairness of Alabama's school-finance system hailed the decision last month as "a major victory" for their effort.

In a three-page ruling, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Reese ordered that the 1956 amendment be voided under the equal-protection clause...