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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The U-S Supreme Court won't take up the case of a Utah man convicted of burning a cross in the yard of an interracial couple in Salt Lake City.
The court refused today to hear the appeal of 32-year-old Michael Brad Magleby, who is serving a dozen years in federal prison.
The justices -- without comment -- rejected Magleby's arguments that his conduct wasn't a threat.
In 1998, Magleby and a juvenile companion burned a cross on the lawn of Ronald Henry, who is black, and his former wife Robyn Henry, who is white.
An all-white jury found Magleby guilty of several charges including conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the Henry family.
Magleby has insisted he was not racist and it was a prank protected by the First Amendment.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
