Civics Lesson: Government and You

Off the news wire....
Exonerated inmate dies in hit and run
Chicago - Dan Young Jr. had a $150,000 check in his name awaiting the governor's signature -the price the state put on the nearly 13 years he spent in prison for murder before DNA testing cleared him last year. Young, though, will never cash that check. He died Thursday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver. Police said they have yet to make an arrest.

Shooter overpaid child support
St. Louis - A man who had complained about child support payments before he went on a shooting rampage at the catering business where he worked was overcharged for the payments because of a data entry error, authorities said. Herbert Chalmers killed four people before fatally shooting himself last week. A spokesman for the Department of Social Services said that Chalmers was charged five times more per month in child support than he owed.