The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that teeth are not a dangerous weapon.

The decision Wednesday overturned a first-degree assault conviction for a Marion County man who bit off part of a neighbor's ear in 2008 in a drunken fight.

The Oregonian reports a second-degree assault conviction against 30-year-old Scott Russell Kuperus II stands. But first-degree assault involves a dangerous weapon, and teeth don't qualify.

His attorney says the first-degree assault charge that carried a sentence of 90 months in jail will be dismissed and Kuperus will be sentenced to 70 months for second-degree assault.

New York's top court will decide whether a convicted sex offender's return home constitutes child neglect by him and his wife even though there was no evidence he did anything inappropriate with his children.

The Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments Tuesday in the case of a Poughkeepsie couple identified as Grace and James C. He pleaded guilty in Manhattan to patronizing a 17-year-old prostitute and raping a 14-year-old girl, spent a year in jail and went home as a registered sex offender to his wife, four sons and daughter in 2007.

Dutchess County social workers alleged neglect on his part for returning and his failure to participate in treatment and by the mother for letting him return.

A Family Court judge agreed. A midlevel court reversed, finding no showing of "actual danger" to their children.

A federal court jury in Massachusetts will be hearing opening arguments in the trial of a man charged with burning down a predominantly black church in Springfield because he was upset that Barack Obama was elected president.

Opening arguments are set for Monday in the trial of Michael Jacques at U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Jacques was among three white men charged with burning down the Macedonia Church of God in Christ just hours after Obama was elected in November 2008. The under-construction church was destroyed, but a new building is nearing completion.

The other defendants pleaded guilty. Jacques could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy against civil rights, damage to religious property and other charges. His lawyer says he's innocent.

New York City says it's fighting a $3 million lawsuit brought by a Brooklyn unicyclist who's taking issue with a technicality in city code.

Circus performer Kyle Peterson was issued a ticket in 2007 for violating an ordinance that prohibits riding a "two- or three-wheeled device" on sidewalks.

He filed the federal lawsuit against the city claiming his rights were violated because he was riding on one wheel.

Both summonses were dismissed in court but Peterson says he wants the freedom to ride his unicycle.

The Daily News says the city filed a motion to dismiss the suit this week, saying the law was intended to protect pedestrians.

The city says the difference between a bicycle and a unicycle "is negligible."

Gov. Scott Walker scored the biggest victory of his political career last week when he signed his contentious collective bargaining bill into law. Now his opponents are itching for payback, and it appears they're going to start taking out their frustrations on conservative state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.

Prosser's re-election bid against challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg had been chugging along in the background for nearly a month as massive protests at the state Capitol consumed the media. The protests, in fact, began in earnest the night Prosser and Kloppenburg emerged from a four-way court primary.

Walker, a Republican, signed the bill into law on Friday, but it was unclear whether that will spell the end of the demonstrations. One thing is certain -- the long-range political fallout is just beginning. Walker's opponents have vowed to recall Republican state senators who supported the bill, and his supporters are seeking to recall Democratic senators who fled the state to block a vote.

The South Dakota Supreme Court will hold its March sessions at the University of South Dakota Law School.

The high court will hear oral arguments in three cases each day on March 21, 22 and 23.

Justices traditionally hold 1 of their spring terms at the school in Vermillion.

Arguments are open to the public.

Court will open at 9 a.m., and cases will commence on the hour.