of united states marine ♪ >> supporters of the westborough baptist church stood vigilant outside the supreme court building, waving signs touting their unwavering believes in front of hundreds lined up to get inside. the case may become a landmark decision creating a new standard for the first amendment right of free speech and assembly. back in 2006, members of the church led by fred phelps staged a protest regarding the u.s. policy on gays in the military. they demonstrated 1,000 feet from the funeral of marine lance corporal matthew snyder. they chose the site to maximize publicity for their cause and posted video of the event on line. the court of public opinion is not on their side. >> i think their message is horrible. >> you have the right for freedom of speech, but there is also a decency line that has been well tread upon.

>> the question before the high court is whether the first amendment protects the protesters against civil claims. $5thews' father won a million suit against the church, but it was overturned. >> there is a civilized way to express an opinion in america but it does not involve intentionally inflicting emotional distress on others, intentionally harming a private citizen at a private funeral. it is not the constitutional right. >> justice ginsburg questioned whether the protests singled out snider or was a comment on the whole society. scalia and bryer were unsettled by the online potestas -- online posting. justice of the maya are -- sotomayor talked about case history. meyer talked about setting a

buffer. >> the rule of law is the mere fact that you take offense at words or call yourself having your feelings hurt over words is not enough to shut up the speech. >> reporters asked whether the family considered the snyder family pet feelings. >> ♪ cry about your feelings you feel no shame you're going straight to hell on your crazy train ♪ >> stop worshiping your feelings and start obeying god. >> mr. snyder says this is not a case about free-speech. it is about harassment. at the u.s. supreme court in washington, wbal-tv 11 news. >> several media organizations including the associated press and our parent corporation have

signed a friend-of-the-court brief. if you like to read it, log onto wbaltv.com and click on local news. in an associated press video, the late soldier's father said there are limitations to free speech. do you agree? to comment, click the link on our front page. it is day four of deliberations in the murder trial of three men accused in the killing of former city councilman ken harris. the jury said they were deadlocked. we are following the developments from court house east. him? >> rod, the only word from the jury was the message to the judge saying they are deadlocked on two charges. the judge ordered them back into deliberations to try to come to

a consensus. >> obviously, they are considering the case very seriously. that is all anyone could ask for. it could be that 11 are holding out in favor of acquittal. it could be another number. >> there are a lot of unknowns about what is going on in the jury deliberation room. what we do know is around noon wednesday the jury sent a message to the judge saying they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the counts of felony murder and conspiracy. the three defendants, charles mcganey, gary collins, and jerome williams face three charges related to the murder in september 2008. attorneys do not know whether the jury has already reached a verdict on the other charges or not. >> they may not have gotten to the rest of the case or they may have already decided. >> in the first days of deliberation, the jury asked a

number of questions. on wednesday, nothing but the message that they are deadlocked. the judge responded byre- reading their instructions and sending them back into deliberation, reminding them that they are the judges of the fact. the three defendants and everyone else in the courtroom are waiting to see if they can reach a unanimous verdict. >> i think all three gentlemen are waiting patiently. they have complete faith in the jury. >> the jury will continue deliberations at 9:00 tomorrow morning. live downtown, wbal-tv 11 news. >> our i-team is asking "what is the secret?" is the baltimore city councilman trying to score political points without calling it what it is? jane miller has the details. >> even the political consultant jack young has hired admits these questions fall into a gray area. the event makes it sound as

though the council president himself is footing the bill. not quite. why keep that a secret? the event is called the bernard jack young family fun day. it is set for saturday in the druid hill park and is being advertised on the radio. >> tell your friends bernard jack young is giving back to the community by bringing families closer together. the event is free. >> what the ad does not say is it is paid for by a firm called universal elections. the pay for the park permit is from the firm of julius henson. he has been retained from young and will bill the campaign committee for reimbursement. any expenditure for the campaign must be related to promoting candidacy and must be disclosed.

the radio ad includes no such disclosure. >> it is going to be paid for with political funds. >> will have to get back to you on the details of the picnic. >> the terms of president deflected our questions. >> is there any reason you do not want this to look like a political event? >> it is a family fun day. i will get back to you with the details. >> young seems to be positioning himself for a run to office, but which one? he was promoted not by voters but by city council members. he has yet to compete in a citywide election. have you decided what to run for? >> i am trying to be the best council president i can be right now. >> saturday's event is unusual for a political event. candidates typically use such events to raise money. young is using the event to give away free food, entertainment, and prizes. i am jay miller, wbal-tv 11 news. >> police are investigating an

accident that happened just over 6:30 at the intersection of security boulevard and rolling road. bye officer's car was t-boned another car. the accident is under investigation. the officer was not responding to a call. in tonight's education alert, maryland is reporting progress on the number of students staying in school until graduation. baltimore city is one of many state school districts where there has been important increases. our education reporter joins us from the newsroom with more details. >> the state dropout rate is 2.3%, the lowest it has been in more than a decade. almost 60,000 maryland students receive diplomas this past spring. in baltimore city, they are crunching the numbers. in baltimore city and across the state, more students are staying

in school. in baltimore city the dropout rate is 4.1%, down almost 2%. >> i came back to be successful. i just felt like i need to get back and get my education. >> this baltimore city high- school dropout is now a member of the senior class at w. e. b. du bois high. >> i go to day and night school to get all my credit so i can graduate in 2011. >> this is important to you. >> yes. >> for the last two years, city officials have gone door to door to large drug but to come back and finish up. >> it is not about the numbers but making sure every child has the opportunity they deserve. if it has taken going out and reaching them and making sure they come back, that is what we need to do. >> reaching back is what another high school student is hoping to do. >> i have a younger sister and i

want to set an example for her. if i go to college, that will make her what to do it. she kind of wants to be like me for some reason. >> the graduation rate is on the rise at 66%, up from 60.1%. >> we are steadily improving our school system. this is another example. >> the numbers were impressive across maryland. the state school superintendent believes there is improvement to go around. >> the teachers who are presenting the subject areas are becoming more and more skilled and in terms of how they differentiated instruction. >> state officials say there is still room for improvement, especially for students with disabilities and those who are english language learners. you can see all of the numbers released today and which students made average yearly progress. go to our website, wbaltv.com. click on education.

wbal-tv 11 news. >> still to come, there is help available for seniors who may have to go back to work. fighting back against domestic violence. what the state's first lady says will bring the violence to an end. >> a major wake-up call for the ravens. >> mostly cloudy. some scattered showers in the region. a big change on the way for the weekend. temperatures in the 50's.

i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. buried in his website - a promise to replace the tax code with a 23% sales tax and eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. a bush tax panel said families would pay $6,000 more a year. a reagan tax advisor calls it a very dumb idea. but that's not his only bad idea. harris was the only senator to vote against expanding the child care tax credit and against the state's cancer treatment program. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us.

eaks to send jobs over seas. i think we need tax breaks to send kids to college. so i worked for a $2,500 tax credit to help pay for college. fought to get pell grants expanded and insisted that college loans go directly to kids instead of through banks. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message. because it's not about the next election, it's about the next generation. right? yeah!!! >> first lady katie o'malley was a speaker at a symposium on domestic violence. she is a baltimore city district

court judge and offered insight on what victims must overcome to feel safe. she told a crowd at the university of maryland the problem she encountered in the courtroom and how she helped the silent victims in those cases. >> seen the bruises and scars -- the thing that touches me the most is knowing this is occurring in a home where there are children. >> judge o'malley says dunn legislation allowing weapons to be taken out of the hands of offenders will help reduce violent crime by 25% over the next two years. seniors and baby boomers gathered for an annual expo. county officials put together a seminar for those who may have to go back to work. seniors were able to learn technology skills to help them in today's job market. retired visitors could also apply for scholarships to get teaching certificates. >> we have over 150 vendors. you can get a flu shot and other health screenings, food, entertainment.

we are packed full of fun, information, and education. >> the expo is its 23rd year. it runs tomorrow from 9:00 until 4:00. >> york 11 insta-weather forecast with tom tasselmyer. >> showers have been skirting the edge of the baltimore area. a few light showers have worked their way through central maryland, but most is staying to our north and west. a couple of showers could pop up in the next few hours. then there will be a drying trend as this system begins to pour away -- begins to pull away. the heaviest rain is in northern new england. a lot of rain fell in the past 24 hours just south of boston and toward the adirondacks and upstate new york. most areas are in that light blue region where you see a couple tenths of an inch of rain. that wraps into parts of west virginia. temperatures were in the 30's in

some places last night. some of the higher areas might have seen some snow up in the mountains last night. one one-hundredth of an inch at the inner harbor. temperatures 11 degrees below normal at the airport. in the 40's this afternoon in western maryland. barely 60 in the extreme southern part of the state. baltimore hit the low 60's earlier this afternoon. tonight we will see temperature settle into the four's in the suburbs and about 50 in the inner harbor. will have a brisk northwest breeze tomorrow, but it will be a dry air wind as this storm pulls out. we will see sunny skies tomorrow afternoon and continuing into friday and the weekend. additional sunshine will warm temperatures up a little bit. 68 to 73 tomorrow. winds up to 20 miles per hour in

the afternoon. it will be breezy throughout the day. the weather service has a small craft advisory for the open waters of the chesapeake, where 3 foot waves could start to build up. leaves are turning colors. 63 degrees. a nice ball weather pattern setting up for the western maryland mountains. annapolis is partly cloudy and breezy. dusty out over the open waters. ocean city, gusty wind out of the northwest. a pleasant 73. sub-tropical storm otto north of the dominican republic. it may become more tropical. right now it is not quite a full-blown tropical characteristics. it is called a sub-tropical storm. the winds are up to 60 miles per hour and it may become a full-blown category one hurricane as it passes south of bermuda and heads out into the atlantic

early next week. it is interesting that it is a new storm. it will stay far from major land areas. clearing and milder around here for the end of the week. 71 tomorrow. 75 friday and saturday. beautiful weather for football sunday with highs around 73. >> now, sports with gerry sandusky. >> great weather for the raven'' on sunday. after a steady diet of running teams, ravens' defense will see a shift in strategy against the pass-happy denver broncos. all hands on deck at the ribbon secretary -- the raven secondary. he looks just about recovered from knee surgery. then arrives with the number one passing game in the nfl. kyle orton has 1,419 yards passing.

only one person has ever grown more yards in nfl history. that kind of productivity has caught the attention of the ravens secondary. >> i did not know how good these guys were until i caught on my film. these guys are some of the best. the quarterback is the number one pass offense. they are at the top. we have to bring our a game. >> there is something supremely webb.e about larderiuarius i love that kid. a wide open passing attack on a game plan. you can find us on the air on comcast channel 208 or horizon vios channel 460. tune in tonight to win tickets to a ravens' game.

in two weeks the ravens' travel to new england to face the patriots. there will not face randy moss. he ran a comeback route to minnesota. he was traded to the vikings for a third round pick in next year's draft. he had expressed his unhappiness this season with the lack of a new deal in new england. the patriots had already begun to phase moss out of their offense. he only had eight receptions in the first four games, none last week against miami. he returns to his original team, the vikings, and become the top target for brett fogavre. lee owns october. six playoff starts. he talks the rays to get the first season started. madden had no answer for his pitching. third inning, nelson cruz jumps all over the price pitch.

the price is not right to date for tampa bay. benji molina to express deep left field. a solo shot for nothing. seven innings of work. 10 strikeouts. only gave up one run. carlos pena cannot keep up with the heat. texas wins 5-1 over tampa bay. philadelphia in front of cincinnati 4-0 right now. will have more for you at 11:00.

after months of martin o'malley telling us "maryland is moving forward," "and moving maryland forward" this jobs report tells the truth maryland's economy stalled "we face an uphill struggle in trying to regain the jobs lost" o'malley attempts a cover-up, falsifying the jobs report to help his campaign. "whatever we can do to make it disappear, we need to do it. that's coming straight from the top" martin o'malley, first he makes stuff up, when caught, he covers stuff up. we need a governor who tells the truth.

eaks to send jobs over seas. i think we need tax breaks to send kids to college. so i worked for a $2,500 tax credit to help pay for college. fought to get pell grants expanded and insisted that college loans go directly to kids instead of through banks. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message. because it's not about the next election, it's about the next generation. right? yeah!!!

>> here is a look at what we are working on for 11 news tonight. the supreme court hears both sides in a debate over freedom of speech and other protests at a soldier's funeral violates the constitution. the circus comes to terms city. what they are planning for the performance.

telling us "maryland is moving forward," "and moving

maryland forward" this jobs report tells the truth maryland's economy stalled "we face an uphill struggle in trying to regain the jobs lost" o'malley attempts a cover-up, falsifying the jobs report to help his campaign. "whatever we can do to make it disappear, we need to do it. that's coming straight from the top" martin o'malley, first he makes stuff up, when caught, he covers stuff up. we need a governor who tells the truth.

>> some sun. >> it was in and out of the clouds. there is a risk of a light shower popping up for the next few hours. you can see those stopping in parts of central maryland, especially along the pennsylvania border. that will be done in the next few hours. 71 tomorrow and mostly dry once the sun and comes out. lots of sunshine friday and saturday. beautiful weather sunday, 73. a slight chance for showers late monday and tuesday. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

so who is "making stuff up"? the news media say it's bob ehrlich... with attacks that have been called "false" and "misleading." made up attacks bob ehrlich knows aren't true. but here's what's not made up. bob ehrlich's $3 billion in taxes and fees. the $2.5 million he got paid working at a lobbying firm. or the fact ehrlich worked for the casinos to put slots at arundel mills mall. now, bob...that's all true. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message. the real andy harris. his past attacks have been called deceptive, his new attack, false. harris voted for deregulation increasing our electric bills by 72% it's not surprising, harris always sides with the big guys. he opposes cracking down on wall street and supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. harris even opposed

making big insurance cover cancer screenings. andy harris' extreme ideas will cost us. eaks to send jobs over seas. i think we need tax breaks to send kids to college. so i worked for a $2,500 tax credit to help pay for college. fought to get pell grants expanded and insisted that college loans go directly to kids instead of through banks. i'm barbara mikulski. i approve this message.