TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court says solitary confinement can violate an inmate’s constitutional rights in some extreme cases.

Friday’s ruling came in the case of 33-year-old James Jamerson, who was serving 24 years for second-degree murder linked to a 2001 Topeka homicide.

Jamerson was placed in solitary confinement in 2010 after being threatened with gang violence and accused of taking part in contraband trafficking. He filed a writ of habeas corpus in August 2013 after he had been in solitary confinement for more than 1,000 days.

The court ordered Kansas judges to consider an inmate’s duration in solitary confinement when determining whether the inmate’s rights had been infringed upon.

The ruling has no effect on the Jamerson’s treatment because he is no longer in segregation.

DETROIT (AP) — Kia is recalling about 98,000 minivans in cold-weather states for a second time because some suspension parts can rust.

The recall covers 2006 through 2012 Sedonas that were recalled in 2013 for the same problem.

The company says in documents posted Friday by the U.S. government that the front lower control arms can rust when exposed to road salt. The parts connect the suspension to the frame. A rusted control arm could break and increase the risk of a crash.

The recall includes Sedonas in 27 states and Washington, D.C., that didn’t have the front lower control arms replaced in 2013.

Dealers will replace parts in 2006 and 2007 vans. The rest will either get replacement parts or a rust-fighting coating.

Kia plans to notify owners July 25.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal authorities have charged a Chinese citizen in connection with a software piracy case filed in Kansas City.

Wen Tao Liu is accused of conspiring with other people convicted previously of trafficking in counterfeit computer software products and access codes. He faces charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and trafficking in illicit labels.

The Kansas City Star reports Liu was arrested Thursday in Texas, where he made his initial court appearance. Court records don’t list a lawyer for Liu, who’s also known as Orland Liu.

Prosecutors accuse him of serving as a primary supply source for unauthorized computer software products obtained in China and sold in the U.S. by conspirators since at least 2010.

The office of the U.S. attorney for western Missouri says the investigation is ongoing.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri judge has refused to grant freedom to a man convicted of sexually attacking and killing a St. Louis woman more than three decades ago.

Attorneys for the Midwest Innocence Project said Friday they were disappointed. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green on Thursday ruled there was not enough evidence to back Rodney Lincoln’s claim of innocence in the death of 35-year-old JoAnn Tate. She was killed in her home in 1982. Her two young daughters were assaulted.

One of Tate’s daughters, Melissa Davis, now says she was wrong to implicate him in the crime. Attorneys for Lincoln also argued that trial testimony indicating that a hair found at the scene belonged to Lincoln was proven wrong by genetic testing.

The Missouri Attorney General’s office declined comment.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a Nebraska toddler killed by an alligator at a Walt Disney World resort say they’re devastated by the death of their son.

A statement by Matt and Melissa Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska, says words can’t express the shock and grief their family is experiencing.

They are thanking authorities in Orlando, Florida, for their assistance after the gator grabbed 2-year-old Lane Graves from shallow water in a lake at a Disney hotel.

An animal described as being as long as 7 feet snatched the little boy as he waded in shallow water Tuesday night. The beach had “no swimming” signs but none warning about alligators.

The company says it will now add gator warnings. No time frame is being announced, and the resort’s beaches remain closed.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Motorists planning to take Interstate 44 through St. Louis this weekend may want to consider an alternate route.

The Missouri Department of Transportation says all lanes of the interstate between South Jefferson and South Vandeventer avenues will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.

MoDOT workers are closing the highway so that they can remove the southbound Grand Boulevard bridge that crosses over the interstate. The work will also require closure of a portion of South Grand.

MoDOT officials are urging drivers to consider taking other roads or highways. Those heading downtown, including to Cardinals games, may also consider taking MetroLink light rail.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities in St. Louis are trying to determine if the hot weather is to blame for the death of an elderly man.

The man was found dead in his home Thursday night. He was in his mid-80s. Fire officials say the temperature inside the home was in the 90s.

The victim’s name has not been released.

St. Louis has been under a heat advisory for several days. Thursday was the fifth straight day with a heat index topping 100 degrees.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The lights — and perhaps more importantly, the air conditioning — are back on in downtown St. Louis after an underground fire knocked out electricity for much of the city’s urban center.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A man who posted threatening messages against black people on an anonymous social media app during racial protests at the University of Missouri last year has been sentenced to probation.

Hunter Park was a Missouri University of Science and Technology student on Nov. 10 when he posted the messages on Yik Yak. The 20-year-old Lake St. Louis man’s posts included statements that he was going to shoot every black person he sees. They came the day after weeks of protests led to the ouster of then-University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

Park pleaded guilty in April making a terroristic threat.

On Thursday, he received a three-year suspended sentence and was placed on five years of probation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — State health officials have confirmed a seventh case of Zika virus in a Missouri resident who had traveled outside the country.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says a non-pregnant woman who went to the Dominican Republic tested positive for the virus.

Officials say there have been no reported cases of Zika virus contracted from a mosquito bite in Missouri.

The department says nearly 80 percent of people infected with the virus will have no symptoms. Those who do typically have mild symptoms that include fever, rash, joint soreness and potentially redness of the eyes.

Health Department spokesman Ryan Hobart says all seven of Missouri’s cases involved people who had traveled outside the U.S.