ICJ Decision: Here is a link to today's judgment.

The AP reports here that "U.S. Violated Mexicans' Rights."

International Court of Justice: The International Court of Justice will issue its opinion in Avena and Other Mexican Nationals v. United States of America today, according to this press release.

Today at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Six cases will be submitted to the Court today, all of which will be submitted without oral argument.

Today at the Texas Supreme Court: No cases will be submitted to the Court today.

Today at the United States Supreme Court: The Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today.

Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, No. 03-95:

Question Presented: Whether a constructive discharge constitutes a tangible employment action, such that the affirmative defense to the liability of an employer for the discriminatory conduct of its supervisors would not be available to the employer.

Thornton v. United States, No. 03-5165:

Question Presented: Whether New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981), which established a brightline rule authorizing a search of a car's passenger compartment incident to the contemporaneous lawful arrest of an occumpant therin, also authorizes a warrantless search of a car when the arrestee was not in the car when the police initiated contact with him or within reaching distance of the car at the time of the arrest?

"Top Court Considers Mexican Doctor Case":

A skeptical Supreme Court considered Tuesday whether a Mexican doctor acquitted of helping to kill a federal agent should be compensated for his kidnapping on orders from the U.S. government.

The court may or may not answer the largest and most difficult question in the case of Dr. Humberto Alvarez-Machain: whether he should be allowed to sue in American courts.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor repeatedly suggested the high court could rule that Alvarez should get nothing without fully addressing that question.

Alvarez's lawyer argued that an obscure law dating nearly to the country's founding gives him the right to pursue damages. It is the same right invoked in some 20 other relatively recent cases where alleged victims of international human rights abuses won judgments in American courts.

Many of those cases involve people who could never get justice at home, argued Paul L. Hoffman, Alvarez's lawyer.

The Bush administration and one of Alvarez's Mexican captors say the first Congress, which was setting up federal courts from scratch, never intended the courts to be used to referee fights among foreigners with no real beef against the United States.

Anne Gearan of the AP has the rest of the report.

"Supreme Court Debates Jury Selection Bias": "The Supreme Court debated Tuesday what evidence is needed to show discrimination in jury selection, with justices questioning when attorneys should have to explain dismissing minority jurors." The AP has the rest of the story.

"A Federal Appeals Court Bars Release of 'Partial Birth' Abortion Records, And Offers an Interesting Perspective on Privacy Rights":

FindLaw columnist and Columbia law professor Michael Dorf discusses a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, authored by well-known jurist Richard Posner. The decision rejects the Justice Department's bid to get a Chicago area hospital to turn over patient records for women who have had so-called "partial birth" abortions. Although the women's names and identifying information would be omitted before attorneys saw the records, Judge Posner argues that their privacy would still be compromised. Dorf assesses the argument, illuminating the difference between anonymity and privacy.

"Southern Texas district leads nation with 23 percent rise in bankruptcies": The AP has this report.

"Cuellar leads in District 28 primary recount": The AP reports here that "Henry Cuellar on Tuesday took a 197-vote lead over U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the Democratic race for House District 28 after recounts in Zapata and Webb counties. But the recount in Zapata County turned up more than 300 uncounted ballots, and Democratic officials said the Webb County recount showed 115 more votes than there were ballots cast. The turnabout quickly ignited calls of foul play from the Rodriguez campaign."

The San Antonio Express-News has this report on the recount.

"Challenge to abortion law goes to trial": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]he case of a then-underage girl who used fake identification to get an abortion in 2000 -- the first such challenge to the state's parental-notification law -- will go to trial, a judge ruled Tuesday."

"Justice steps down in malpractice case":

A Texas Supreme Court justice has removed himself from a multimillion-dollar medical malpractice case involving a Houston lawyer who supported the justice's primary opponent.

The lawyer, Richard Mithoff, filed a motion earlier this month asking for Justice Steven Wayne Smith's recusal because he questioned Smith's impartiality.

Mithoff hosted a fund-raiser for San Antonio appellate judge Paul Green, who defeated Smith in the March 9 Republican primary. Smith responded with campaign messages attacking Mithoff for being a "liberal plaintiffs' lawyer" who often supported Democrats.

Smith's current term doesn't expire until the end of the year.

Supreme Court spokesman Osler McCarthy said Tuesday that Smith had voluntarily stepped down from the case without the full court having to act on Mithoff's motion.

The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Report warns against `dangerousness' experts. Their testimony in sentencing usually wrong, group says": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

A report released today by an organization that represents inmates on Texas' death row argues that experts' opinions about the "future dangerousness" of convicted defendants should not be considered during sentencing because they are usually wrong.

"The alarming error rate in capital sentencing would not be tolerated in any other context," said Jim Marcus, executive director of the nonprofit Texas Defender Service. "Would you seek life-or-death advice from a physician who misdiagnosed patients 95 percent of the time?"

The study examined the prison disciplinary history of 155 inmates who had been labeled "dangerous" by psychiatrists or psychologists during the sentencing phase of their trials. It found only eight -- 5 percent -- were later involved in what the Texas Department of Criminal Justice calls "serious assaults," which means they caused injuries that required more than basic first aid.

Critics pointed out that at least 40 of those in the study were on death row, where they are locked down 23 hours each day and unlikely to injure anyone.

But nearly a third of those 40 inmates, the study said, had had their sentences commuted to life and one was later declared innocent after spending years as a "model prisoner."

The study, however, looked only at prison behavior -- which Diane Beckham, senior staff counsel of the Texas Texas District and County Attorneys Association, argued is only part of the equation. Jurors, she said, also must decide whether an inmate could present a danger if he or she were eventually released, even 40 years in the future.

The study's "finding, while relevant, is narrow and it's only a portion of the future-dangerous equation which is only a portion of the death penalty inquiry," she said.

"Galveston sued over plan to close beach": "Fishermen and others who have parked their cars at water's edge for generations on parts of Galveston Island filed a lawsuit Tuesday to prevent the city from banning vehicles on their favorite stretches of beach. Texas Open Beach Advocates, the group that filed the lawsuit in Austin, maintains that the city of Galveston for years has illegally banned vehicles from some developed areas of the island's 32-mile beachfront. And they say the city illegally plans to shut down traffic on four miles of beach near San Luis Pass on the island's far west end to ensure construction of a $500 million residential development." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"High Court Permits Foster Photos Withheld": Gina Holland of the AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the government does not have to release 11-year-old photographs from the suicide of Clinton administration White House lawyer Vincent Foster because it would cause his family pain and intrude on their privacy. The unanimous decision makes it more difficult to use a public records law to access law enforcement records from autopsies and death scenes. Justices said the privacy rights of survivors must be balanced against the public's right to information."

"High court allows border searches of car gas tanks": The AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that government agents can search and even dismantle a car's gas tank as part of drug and other smuggling interdiction at the nation's borders. Border officers can randomly search gas tanks, despite the absence of specific indication that a particular car is suspect, the high court said. People crossing the border have less expectation of privacy than elsewhere, and searching the inner reaches of a car is not the same thing as a strip search or other intrusive search of the driver, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court." Here is the Court's opinion in Flores-Montano.

United States Supreme Court Arguments: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today:

Johnson v. California, No. 03-6539:

Question Presented: Whether to establish a prima facie case under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the objector must show that it is more likely than not the other party's peremptory challenges, if unexplained, were based on impermissible group bias?

Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, No. 03-339, consolidated with United States v. Alvarez-Machain, No. 03-485:

Question Presented: For United States v. Alvarez-Machain: 1) Whether federal law enforcement officers, and agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration in particular, have authority to enforce a federal criminal statute that applies to acts perpetrated against a United States Official in a foreign country by arresting an indicted criminal suspect on probable cause in a foreign country; 2) Whether an individual arrested in a foreign country may bring an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 1346 (b), 2671 et seq., for false arrest, notwithstanding the FTCA's exclusion of "[a]ny claim arising in a foreign country," 28 U.S.C. 2680(k), because the arrest was planned in the United States. For Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain: 1) Whether the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. 1250, creates a private cause of action for aliens for torts committed anywhere in violation of the law of nations or treaties of the United States or, instead, is a jurisdiction-granting provision that does not establish private rights of action; 2) Whether, if the ATS does provide a cause of action, it does so only for violations of jus cogens - e.g. non-derogable - norms; and 3) Whether a detention that lasts less than 24 hours, results in no physical harm to the detainee, and is undertaken by a private individual under instructions from senior United States law enforcement officials constitutes a violation of the law of nations and is therefore actionable under the ATS.

"High Court to Hear Alien Tort Claims Act Arguments":

Feeling the sting of international human rights litigation, the business community and the Bush administration will try to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court this week to eliminate tort liability under a 215-year-old statute. Carter G. Phillips of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, high court counsel in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, says federal appeals courts -- including the 9th Circuit, from which Sosa comes -- "have launched a misguided legal revolution."

Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal has this report.

"Court to Examine Age Bias in Workplace": "The Supreme Court said Monday it would consider workplace protections for older employees, in a case that could make age bias suits tougher to prove. Justices will take up an appeal from police officers in Mississippi's capital city to decide if older employees have rights similar to those of minorities when it comes to discrimination claims." Gina Holland, of the Associated Press, has the rest of the story.

"Court Takes Case on Felon Gun Owners": Anne Gearan of the AP reports here that "The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether people convicted of crime overseas can be barred from owning a gun in the United States. U.S. law forbids felons from owning guns, with a few exceptions for antitrust and trade violations. The government has contended that the law covers felons convicted overseas. Lower federal courts have disagreed over the issue, and the Supreme Court took a case involving a Pennsylvania man to resolve the conflict."

"Supreme Court Weighs Execution Methods": Gina Holland of the AP has this report on yesterday's argument.

"3 Court Battles Begin Over Abortion Law": The AP reports here that "[t]he federal ban on a type of late abortion was challenged in three courtrooms across the nation Monday as abortion-rights activists argued that the law is so broad it infringes on women's basic right to choose."

"Must California City Officials Follow Statutes They Believe To Be Unconstitutional? More on the San Francisco Gay Marriage Controversy":

FindLaw columnist and U.C. Hastings law professor Vikram Amar offers a nuanced view of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's position vis-a-vis gay marriage. Amar contends that in the end, Newsom's position (that he can bypass state statutes that he believes violate federal constitutional rights) is unpersuasive. However, Amar also argues that the reason it's unpersuasive is very different from the reasons Newsom's opponents typically give.

"Shirt slogans arouse anger, controversy": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"Court tells attorney to return part of fee. Appeals justices rule he must repay $27,500 of $50,000 ad litem amount": The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports here: that "The Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio recently ordered a lawyer to pay back more than half of a $50,000 ad litem fee. In the case Holt Texas, Ltd. v. Hale, the San Antonio appeals court ordered lawyer Oscar Hale Jr. to give up $27,500 of his $50,000 ad litem fee. The justices, in an opinion written by Justice Phylis Speedlin, ruled that Hale overcharged for his time as an ad litem, which is a person who looks after a child's best interest in court."

"Judges choose some lawyers more often. State official says it's unclear anything unethical was done": The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports here that:

Lawyers normally receive a couple of thousand dollars when they're appointed to represent children's best interests in court. This court-appointed duty, known in Latin legalese as an ad litem, received sudden attention when word got out that state Rep. Jaime Capelo received $50,000 for one case.

Though his fee was on the high end, Capelo was not the only elected official to receive tens of thousands of dollars for an ad litem appointment. Nor was he the only local state representative to receive $50,000, according to official reports.

For the past 10 years, the Texas Supreme Court has required counties to report ad litem assignments. The court's intent was to allow for public scrutiny and deter abuse of the system.

The Caller-Times has examined monthly ad litem reports from Nueces County to the Texas Supreme Court from January 1998 to December 2003. The review discovered the following issues with the reports:

+They are incomplete;

+Omissions include payments of tens of thousands of dollars, including Capelo's $50,000;

+Of the 17 reported payments of $10,000 or more, seven went to people holding public office or people who would become elected officials, including Capelo, state Rep. Vilma Luna and County Judge Terry Shamsie.

+Some district judges regularly paid a higher dollar amount than others;

+Some lawyers were chosen more than others; and

+At least one judge gave several assignments to a friend.

"Harrelson appeal rejected again": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that:

The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to consider claims that Charles Harrelson was wrongly convicted of the 1979 assassination of a federal judge in San Antonio.

Announced without explanation, the justices' decision represented a third and perhaps final rejection of a lengthy appeal financed by the convicted killer's movie-star son, Woody Harrelson.

The denial means Charles Harrelson likely will die in the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Colorado where he was sent after attempting to escape an Atlanta federal prison. The 65-year-old is serving two sentences of life without parole.

Texas' Baby Moses Law: The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "In an unprecedented move, a young mother who gave her tiny newborn to nurses at a local hospital last month now has her baby back in her own arms. But the issue of returning the infant to his family has San Antonio on the cutting edge of setting the statewide precedent for giving back a child that was handed over under Texas' Baby Moses law." I first reported on the Baby Moses Law here.

"Mother's capital murder trial begins": The AP reports here that "[a]n East Texas woman who had 14 Bibles in her living room believed she heard God's voice telling her to kill her children on the night she fatally bludgeoned two of her sons and badly injured a third, her attorney said Monday as her capital murder trial began."

School Finance: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports "School finance solution elusive" and "Business leaders urge school funding boost." The San Antonio Express-News reports: "Senator pushes income tax." An editorial in the San Antonio Express-News is headlined: "Sen. Shapleigh's income tax proposals find local supporters."

By popular demand: Daubert on the Web is a web-based resource for all things Daubert. Fellow Texas attorney Jim Dedman is keeping up with this site's Texas link, as well as his own blog (and somehow, he finds time to practice law and write screen plays). Absolutely amazing!

"Trial begins for mother who stoned sons to death": The AP has this report.

"SEC probes El Paso reserves cut": The Houston Business Journal reports here that "El Paso Corp. said Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into the Houston-based company's recent slashing of its proven natural gas reserves. The SEC has subpoenaed the company's records related to the reserve revisions."

"Abortion resurfaces as wedge issue. Trials in three cities Monday challenge a ban on 'partial birth abortions,' while moves to criminalize harming a fetus gain.": The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

"High Court Weighs Ala. Execution Method": Gina Holland of the AP has this report.

"Court to Examine Age Bias in Workplace": Gina Holland also has this report.

"Supreme Court rejects appeal of actor's father": The AP reports here that "Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson, lost his Supreme Court appeal on Monday in a 1979 murder. Charles Harrelson is serving a life sentence in the death of U.S. District Judge John Wood, who was shot outside his San Antonio town house. His lawyer argued in a court filing that Harrelson was not adequately represented at trial by his defense attorney. Harrelson claims that he was not in San Antonio that morning and that his lawyer failed to collect evidence that other people were responsible for the death. Justices declined without comment to consider his case."

Texas Attorney Disbarred by the United States Supreme Court: Today, the Supreme Court entered an order disbarring former Dallas attorney Robert R. Wightman-Cervantes from practicing before the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Wightman-Cervantes was disbarred by the State of Texas:

On Jan. 11, the 298th District Court of Dallas County disbarred Robert R. Wightman-Cervantes [#21443200], 44, of Dallas. The court found Wightman-Cervantes brought or defended a frivolous proceeding. The court also found Wightman-Cervantes took a position that unreasonably increased the costs or other burdens of a case and delayed the resolution of the case. Wightman-Cervantes, in representing a client, engaged in conduct engaged to disrupt a proceeding. Wightman-Cervantes was also found to have communicated with another party regarding a case when he knew that party was represented by counsel. The court also found Wightman-Cervantes made a statement that was either false or with reckless disregard to its truth regarding the qualifications or integrity of a judge. Wightman-Cervantes failed to timely respond to notice of the complaint from the grievance committee. He violated Rules 3.01, 3.02, 3.04(c)(2), (c)(3), and (c)(5), 3.05(a), 4.02(a), 4.04(a) and (b)(1), 8.02(a), and 8.04(a)(1) and (a)(8). He was ordered to pay $48,700.72 in attorney’s fees, which is subject to reduction.

United States Supreme Court: The United States Supreme Court has issued this week's orders list. The Court granted certiorari in three cases: Small v. United States, No. 03-750, CIR v. Banaitis, No. 03-892, and Smith v. Jackson, MS, No. 03-907. The Court will also take a recess from Monday, April 5th until Monday, April 19th.

Nelson v. Campbell, No. 03-6821: Here is Findlaw's resource page on the case. This site includes links to the 11th Circuit's opinion, the Court's docket sheet, and the briefs.

United States Supreme Court: The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today:

Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, No. 03-101:

Question Presented: Whether the authority of the federal courts under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 706(1), to "compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed" extends to review of the adequacy of an agency's ongoing management of public lands under general statutory standards and its own land use plans.

Nelson v. Campbell, No. 03-6821:

Question Presented: Whether a complaint brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by a death-sentenced state prisoner, who seeks to stay his execution in order to pursue a challenge to the procedures for carrying out the execution, is properly recharacterized as a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254?

"Courtside: Testy Justices, Blackmun Memories": Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reports here that "[f]or two days this month, it appeared that several Supreme Court justices were at war with the world outside their marble palace. The events were a reminder that, even as it begins to turn its face to the public in the manner of other modern government institutions, the Supreme Court still thinks of itself as different -- above the fray and even beyond question. Justice Antonin Scalia was the source of the most prominent eruption."

"Courthouse in Denton is set to reopen": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has this report.

"Trial begins for mother who stoned sons to death": The AP has this report.

"Audits reveal DNA problems at DPS crime labs": The AP reports here that "[t]he same problems that shut down the Houston Police crime lab's DNA section more than a year ago have been found at Texas Department of Public Safety crime labs across the state, a newspaper reported Sunday. In a review of the 2003 DPS internal audits done at labs in Houston, Austin, El Paso, Garland, Lubbock, Corpus Christi, McAllen and Waco, the Houston Chronicle said it found procedural flaws, security lapses and poor documentation at some of the labs."

"Legislator's woes not over": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "State Rep. Jaime Capelo suffered a crushing primary election defeat earlier this month in what's been labeled the nastiest, most expensive Texas House campaign in recent Coastal Bend history. But an abrupt halt to Capelo's political career is not the only problem facing the Corpus Christi Democrat. Still looming in his future are federal and state civil lawsuits, a federal grand jury investigation into a $100,000 payment his opponents allege was a kickback, and a State Bar of Texas complaint lodged by his former law partners."

"Law flows sluggishly on access to rivers": "A fence still blocks the Guadalupe River's south fork at Lynxhaven Crossing despite court rulings decades ago that people have the right to enter and leave the narrow channel as it flows beneath Texas 39." The San Antonio Express-News has the rest of the story.

"Duel for 10th District waged on ties to Dems": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]here has been more discussion about Democratic politicians than Republican issues in the GOP runoff between Ben Streusand and Mike McCaul for the 10th Congressional District. Streusand has run ads tying McCaul to Democrats Bill Clinton and Janet Reno. McCaul has countered with an ad noting that Streusand contributed campaign money to Democrats Bob Krueger and Ken Bentsen. And Streusand didn't vote for President Bush in the 2000 Republican primary, McCaul says. The spate of Democrat-baiting has both candidates crying foul, each accusing the other of starting mudslinging that forced him to respond in kind."

"'Passion' case may test new law. Murder suspect could be state's 1st prosecution in death of fetus": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Dan Leach II -- who police said was so moved by the The Passion of the Christ movie that he confessed to killing his girlfriend -- may be the first person prosecuted under a state law defining a fetus as a person, experts said Friday. The law, which took effect Sept. 1, could be the difference between life and death for the 21-year-old Rosenberg man, who is charged with murder. Investigators are trying to determine if the victim, Ashley Nicole Wilson, 19, was pregnant when she died in January. If so, Leach could face a capital murder charge in the slaying of two people during the same act. Capital murder is punishable by death, while murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison."

"Perry reports progress, but no consensus on school aid": The AP reports here that "[a]fter meeting with Republican lawmakers, Gov. Rick Perry said Friday that areas of agreement on school finance are emerging although there's no consensus on a plan that would lead to a special legislative session."

"5th Circuit gives police new power in searches. Warrant unneeded in some instances": The AP reports here that: "[a] federal appeals court has opened the door for police in Texas and two other states to search residences and buildings for evidence without a warrant -- a ruling strongly criticized by two dissenting justices. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled police do not need an arrest or search warrant to conduct a swift sweep of private property to ensure their safety."

"Experts Predict High Court Reversal in Pledge Case": Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal reports here:

Sometimes even when you're right, you're wrong. And that's likely to be the fate of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when the U.S. Supreme Court finishes its review of the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. Despite the outrage following the 9th Circuit's decision, an overwhelming majority of constitutional scholars say the court got the law right -- but will still be reversed.

"Atheist, Rookie Lawyer Argues Before High Court": Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reports here that:

The Supreme Court showed few signs Wednesday that it would clearly resolve the hot-button controversy over whether the words "under God" belong in the Pledge of Allegiance. Although California atheist Michael Newdow, who had never argued a case at the high court, made a forceful presentation, several justices focused on whether Newdow had standing to challenge the wording, because of an ongoing custody dispute over his daughter.

"Court Revisits Tax on Contingency Cash": Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reports here:

Should a client pay taxes on contingent fee money? The long-simmering issue is now before the Supreme Court in a trio of cases. In nearly a dozen instances in recent years, the high court heeded the solicitor general's advice not to review the taxpayers' appeals. What makes this batch of cases different -- and possibly more attractive to the Court -- is that the government has begun losing. Now it is the government that is urging the high court to step in.

"Is Playing Paintball and Firing Legal Guns Terrorism? Three Disturbing Convictions Strongly Suggest Discrimination Against Muslim Americans":

FindLaw columnist and attorney Elaine Cassel discusses the case of the "Alexandria 11" -- eleven men who were indicted by Virginia federal prosecutors for alleged violations of the Neutrality Acts. These longstanding, rarely-applied acts make it a crime for Americans to attack countries with which the United States is at peace. Yet rather than actually attack another country, these men instead played paintball and fired off guns in Virginia in support of a group seeking to oust India from Kashmir. Cassel argues that their prosecutions -- and the decision to file terrorism charges against those who declined to plead guilty -- were the result of discrimination based on the men's religion.

"The Court Hears Oral Argument in the 'Under God' Pledge of Allegiance Case: Why the Court Should Reject This Pledge, and Why the Department of Justice Is Wrong To Support It":

FindLaw columnist and Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton weighs in on the controversial case that asks the Supreme Court to decide whether having the "under God" pledge of allegiance in public schools violates the Establishment Clause. Hamilton explains the tenor of the recent oral argument before the Court, argues that there is indeed an Establishment Clause violation, and argues that a decision to the contrary would not only be a legal error, but also lower the U.S.'s credibility in the international community.

"A Closer Look At The Case From Which Justice Scalia Has Refused To Recuse Himself: The Momentous Stakes, and the Larger Political Context":

FindLaw columnist and former counsel to the President John Dean offers a new take on the controversy over Justice Antonin Scalia's refusal to recuse himself from a case involving his fellow duck hunter and dinner companion, Vice President Dick Cheney. Dean focus not on the recusal issue itself but on the underlying case, asking: Why does Scalia want to vote on this case, in particular? And with Scalia's vote, what is the outcome at the Court likely to be?

"Rally set to protest Baylor's policy on homosexuality": The Waco Tribune-Herald reports here that "[o]rganizers of a gay rights rally in downtown Waco Saturday say they expect 1,000 demonstrators to voice their criticism of Baylor University for its treatment of gay students. A group calling itself United4Change will protest the university's policies at 11 a.m. Saturday at Heritage Square. It is led by Matt Bass, a former Truett Seminary student who had to drop out of school after his scholarship was withdrawn when he admitted to officials he supported homosexual marriage. Bass, 24, who stayed in Waco after withdrawing from school to help bring attention to issues facing gay students, said he hopes for a large turnout for the rally to 'help administrators understand the effects of discrimination.' Baylor officials, when asked for comment, responded only with a written statement affirming t he student code of conduct, which informs students of the university's stance on human sexuality issues and communicates expectations for how students conduct themselves on or off campus."

"Indictment threat on DeLay's mind. Defense fund reportedly discussed": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay apparently is preparing for the possibility that a Travis County grand jury may indict him on charges of violating state campaign finance laws.

DeLay, R-Sugar Land, told a group of Houston supporters earlier this month he may need to raise more money for a legal defense fund.

A Capitol Hill newspaper reported Thursday that he has discussed with other Republicans the possibility of temporarily stepping down from his leadership position if he is indicted.

DeLay and a committee he founded, Texans for a Republican Majority, are the subject of a grand jury investigation being led by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat. The investigation focuses on whether TRM spent corporate money to influence the 2002 state House races in violation of Texas law.

"Man admits to crime after seeing 'Passion'": The Fort Worth Star=Telegram reports here that "[a] Rosenberg man who told authorities that he killed his pregnant girlfriend and made it look like a suicide confessed after seeing The Passion of the Christ and consulting with a spiritual adviser, Fort Bend County authorities said Thursday."

The Houston Chronicle reports here that "TV show, film play part in man's killing of girlfriend, confession."

"Perry letter to donors is called misleading": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[i]n a recent fund-raising appeal that one government watchdog likened to a shakedown, Gov. Rick Perry's campaign asks donors to reactivate an 'account' that has 'lapsed.' 'As I re-viewed our end-of-year 2003 audit report, I no-ticed that you had not sent your contribution to the Governor's committee,' Perry campaign Chairman James Huffines writes in the Feb. 17 solicitation. Included is a separate 'Member Account Summary' with the word 'LAPSED' in bold red letters next to 'membership status.' It asks the would-be donor to 'please reactivate your account today!' Tom 'Smitty' Smith, director of the Texas branch of Public Citizen, a public watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, described the appeal as 'outrageous.' 'This looks like a shakedown to get small donors to think that they owe an annual or monthly contribution to the governor. It looks like a demand letter,' Smith said."

The latest on school finance: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "State leaders shirking school finance reform."

"Senate bill makes it crime to hurt fetus": "Spurred by the high-profile killing of Laci Peterson and her unborn child, the Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would make it a separate crime to harm a fetus during the commission of a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman. President Bush has pledged to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The 61-38 Senate vote to approve the bill, which the House passed last month, came after a debate dominated by the abortion issue. Abortion rights advocates view the bill as a disguised effort to infringe on a woman's right to an abortion, saying it treats the fetus as a legal entity separate from the pregnant mother. The bill's supporters said it is an anti-crime measure. 'This bill is about simple justice,' said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, the bill's chief sponsor." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the rest of the story.

The Washington Post reports here that "Congress clears bill making harm of a fetus a crime. Critics fear abortion is next attack on abortion."

"Bar plans suit in Tulia case": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "State Bar of Texas officials intend to file a lawsuit seeking sanctions against the prosecutor in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug bust. The case against Terry McEachern will be heard in a Panhandle district court and punishment could range from a public reprimand to loss of his law license if the finding goes against him, said Dawn Miller, chief disciplinary counsel with the State Bar of Texas."

"Court thwarts death sentence over race issue": The Houston Chronicle reports here:

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the Texas attorney general, thwarting an attempt to reinstate a death sentence in a case that has drawn international attention.

The three-judge panel's decision blocked an effort by Collin County District Attorney John Roach to restore Victor Hugo Saldano's death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court threw the sentence out because Saldano's ethnicity was considered in the trial's penalty phase.

Saldano, 32, of Argentina, was condemned for the 1995 abduction, robbery and shooting of Paul King in that North Texas county.

The appeals court ruling reaffirms the authority of Attorney General Greg Abbott and his predecessor, now U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, to assert that testimony about Saldano's ethnicity should not have been allowed.

Roach had sought to intervene in the appeal.

"Immigrant who had no interpreter may win new trial": The Houston Chronicle reports here:

A Mexican immigrant who had no interpreter during his 2001 sexual assault trial in Brazoria County may get a new trial because of a ruling Wednesday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The high court ruled that Jose Medrano Garcia's constitutional rights were violated, reversing a decision from Houston's 14th Court of Appeals that upheld Garcia's conviction and eight-year prison sentence.

The 14th Court was ordered to determine if the outcome of Garcia's trial might have been different had he been able to comprehend the proceedings.

Garcia could get a new trial if the 14th Court determines he was harmed by the trial court's failure to provide him with an interpreter. The 14th Court also could conclude that the jury still would have convicted Garcia even if he had been able to understand what the witnesses were saying.

The Court of Criminal Appeals previously has said that providing an interpreter to a defendant who does not understand English is required by the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which gives a person the right to confront his accuser.

"Death penalty obscene, Tutu says": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in Texas to visit an inmate condemned for the 1992 slaying of a Houston man, denounced the state's application of the death penalty as an 'obscenity' that does more to harm society than to protect it. 'I am passionately opposed to the death penalty for anyone,' the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner told reporters after spending about 45 minutes with inmate Dominique Green on Texas Death Row in Livingston's Polunsky Prison Unit. 'I think, myself, that it is an obscenity ... that brutalizes society.' Tutu, an Episcopal clergyman from South Africa, took a detour from his U.S. book tour, for God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time, to visit with Green at the urging of author and death penalty opponent Thomas Cahill and former state court Judge Sheila Murphy of Illinois, one of the condemned man's lawyers."

"Like a conversation between friends.' Peace Prize laureate visits convicted killer. Tutu calls death penalty `vindictive'": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Dominique Green, a Houston man who has spent 11 years on death row, on Wednesday for the first time met the man who taught him to strive for a meaningful life: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu. The archbishop, known for his work against apartheid in South Africa, took time from his latest book tour to meet Green, convicted of capital murder for the 1992 shooting of a Houston man. He also used the opportunity to speak out against the death penalty."

Here is my post on this meeting from last Saturday.

"School finance options discussed": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[s]chool finance reform and a possible upcoming special legislative session were on the front burner at a meeting Wednesday of south Tarrant County school and business officials and state representatives. On the table for discussion were a handful of property and business taxing options proposed by state lawmakers and the potential elimination of the Robin Hood school finance system, in which money from rich school districts is redistributed to poor ones in order to maintain equity."

"Justices consider God's role in pledge": "In an unusually personal but legally impressive pitch to the nation's highest court Wednesday, atheist Michael Newdow implored the justices to stop daily school recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance because he says the words 'under God' endorse specific religious beliefs." The Knight Ridder News Service has the rest of the story.

"Supreme Court, atheist take on 'under God' debate": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "U.S. Supreme Court justices peppered a California atheist with tough questions Wednesday as he pressed the idea that it violates the Constitution for public school students to recite the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Michael Newdow, who won a federal appeals court decision on the issue in San Francisco two years ago, told the high court the words were offensive to non-believers and amounted to 'indoctrinating children' in government-supported theology."

"Change in custody law favored": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services too often does not allow the relatives of children removed from minority homes to temporarily care for or adopt the children, the chairwoman of a House oversight committee said Wednesday. And it will likely take changes in the law next legislative session to force the agency to alter its behavior, said state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, who heads the House Select Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care."

"Perry's tropical trip stirs up a storm from some Texans": The San Antonio Expres-News has this report which begins: "Gov. Rick Perry's trip to the Bahamas with campaign donors drew a rough reaction from some Texans, documents released by his office show. 'With all due respect, have you LOST YOUR MIND?' asked a Lockhart woman in an e-mail to Perry. 'This little trip to the Bahamas ... has convinced a long-term, middle-aged conservative to vote you out of office.' The letters and e-mails from 16 people were among documents related to the Presidents Day weekend trip that were released in response to a Public Information Act request by the San Antonio Express-News."

"A flap over foreign matter at the Supreme Court. House members protest use of non-U.S. rulings in big cases": Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, reports here that "Republican House members are protesting the court’s increasing use of foreign legal precedents in interpreting the Constitution. Republican House members Tom Feeney of Florida and Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, joined by more than 50 co-sponsors, will propose a non-binding resolution next week that would express the sense of Congress that judicial decisions should not be based on foreign laws or court decisions."

Texas Supreme Court: No cases will be submitted to the Texas Supreme Court this week.

Court of Criminal Appeals: No cases will be submitted to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this week.

United States Supreme Court: The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today:

Littleton, Co. v. Z.J. Gifts D-4, LLC, No. 02-1609:

Question Presented: Whether the requirement of prompt judicial review imposed by FW/PBS, Inc. v. Dallas, 493 U.S. 215 (1990) entails a prompt judicial determination or a prompt commencement of judicial proceedings for adult business licensing schemes.

Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, No. 02-1624:

Questions Presented: 1. Whether respondent has standing to challenge as unconstitutional a public school district policy that requires teachers to lead willing students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. Whether a public school district policy that requires teachers to lead willing students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes the words "under God," violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as applicable through the 14th Amendment.

"A Killer Called 'Youngster'": Miriam Rozen of the Texas Lawyer reports here:

Nine years after killing a woman and sexually assaulting the victim's mother, Texas death row inmate Anzel Keon Jones is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will decide that executing someone who committed crimes while under 18 is unconstitutional. At least one other Texas execution has been halted pending a decision, and Jones' attorney expects all 27 of the state's death row inmates who were under 18 at the time of their crimes to seek stays.

"Justice Scalia's Persuasive But Elitist Response to the Duck Hunting Controversy":

FindLaw columnist and Columbia law professor Michael Dorf discusses the continuing, heated controversy over Justice Antonin Scalia's refusal to recuse himself from a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney -- despite the fact that Scalia and Cheney went duck hunting together. Dorf argues that a careful look at the relevant law on recusal shows Scalia's defense of his decision is persuasive. But Dorf takes issue with the elitist tone, and implications, of Scalia's opinion explaining his choice not to recuse himself.

"Prosecuting Professional Sports: When a Hockey Player Breaks His Opponent's Neck, Is It Battery?"

FindLaw guest columnist and first-year Brooklyn Law School student Michael Lynch takes on an intriguing legal issue: Can violence in the context of a sport ever be a crime? Lynch argues the answer is yes -- and offers as his example a recent attack that occurred during a Vancouver professional hockey game. When Todd Bertuzzi broke Steve Moore's neck, Lynch contends, he appears to have committed criminal battery -- and if so, he should be prosecuted for the offense.

"Cornyn says election-year rhetoric drowning out border debate": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Sen. John Cornyn conceded Tuesday that immigration reform, and a proposal to extend the length of stay of Mexican visitors to the United States, are receiving opposition in Congress during a heated election year. Cornyn, R-Texas, told border business leaders that changes to current laws face an uphill battle because 'political extremists' dominate the debate."

"Robin Hood must go, governor says": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[w]hile Texas lawmakers haven't reached consensus on how to finance education, top leaders agree that the share-the-wealth funding system known as Robin Hood should be replaced if a special legislative session is called, Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday."

,b>"School-funds case irks judge": "The judge hearing a legal challenge to how Texas funds public schools called his assignment 'the worst' Tuesday and wondered aloud whether lawmakers will save him from a trial." The San Antonio Express-News has the rest of the story.

"Cornyn: Gay marriage threat to families. At hearing, he urges amendment to ban unions": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "U.S. Sen John Cornyn of Texas, leading the charge for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, warned Tuesday that leaving the issue to the courts could result in legal polygamy and the breakdown of families."

"Texas HMO law comes under fire from high court": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

Texas' groundbreaking law allowing patients to sue their HMOs in state court was scrutinized Tuesday as a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared to side with the insurance companies.

The issue in two cases before the high court is whether patients can hold insurers accountable when they override doctors' medical decisions and refuse to pay for prescribed drugs or services.

Texas and nine other states let patients who believe they were harmed by those decisions sue insurers in state courts, where they can collect large amounts of money for lost wages, pain and suffering. Insurers argue the suits belong in federal court, where patients can get only the amount of health insurance coverage they were denied.

"Dems may get edge in education debate. Dewhurst plans to reinstate two-thirds rule": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[i]f there is a special session on school finance this spring, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst plans to reinstate a tradition that will make it more difficult to win Senate approval of private school vouchers and other controversial proposals. Dewhurst said the Senate would require a two-thirds vote to debate all legislation. As presiding officer, he set that requirement aside during the highly charged partisan debate over redistricting last summer, prompting 11 Democratic senators to shut down Senate business by fleeing to New Mexico."

"Death row inmate awaits Perry OK on commutation": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a] man facing execution for his role in a death during a 1993 robbery is waiting for a decision by Gov. Rick Perry on a recommendation that his sentence be commuted to life in prison. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended unanimously in January that the sentence for Joe Lee Guy, 32, be commuted. Guy was the armed lookout in the robbery of Howell's Grocery and Market in Plainview. Ronald Springer and Thomas Howard entered the store, shot Larry Howell, 62, and his mother, French Howell, 81. Larry Howell died shortly after the shooting. His mother survived her injuries. Springer and Howard were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. An attorney for Guy is wondering why the governor hasn't signed off on the matter."

"Man on death row wants life in prison": The AP has this report.

"DeLay PACs helped fund anti-rail effort. $30,000 given to opposition group": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay remained silent last fall when the Metropolitan Transit Authority put its light-rail referendum before voters. Money spoke for him instead. Two political action committees controlled by DeLay gave $30,000 to Texans for True Mobility, which spearheaded a high-dollar effort against Metro's proposal to expand its light rail beyond the Main Street line."

"Law to free the night sky of glare sees light of day. Stars may be easier to see in Fort Bend": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a] law designed to protect the night sky from light pollution and help people see the stars took effect Tuesday after several weeks of fine-tuning and debate. In a 4-1 vote, Fort Bend County commissioners passed an ordinance regulating outdoor lighting in the unincorporated areas of the county. The ordinance, which does not affect existing lights, was supported by stargazers and astronomers who use the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park. Opponents saw it as a veiled attempt at zoning and an infringement on property rights."

"Criminal investigation possible, Shell confirms": Reuters reports here that "Royal Dutch/Shell confirmed Tuesday that it faced a possible criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice over its move in January to cut its estimated oil and gas proven reserves. Sources familiar with the matter said last week the Justice Department had become involved in an investigation, raising the stakes in a crisis that has cost Shell's two top executives their jobs and lost shareholders' billions of dollars of value."

"Judge stays out of flap over Confederate plaques": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"Supreme Court gets major test of patient protection laws": The AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court stepped into the argument over protection for HMO patients on Tuesday, and justices seemed unpersuaded that patients with a beef against their health plans should be able to collect large damage awards. A majority of the nine justices seemed to agree with the insurance industry that HMO patients like Ruby Calad have other options, and cannot sue their health plans in state courts, where juries are often generous to a sympathetic victim."

United States Supreme Court: The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today.

Blakely v. State of Washington, No. 02-1632:

Question Presented: Whether a fact (other than a prior conviction) necessary for an upward departure from a statutory standard sentencing range must be proved according to the procedures mandated by Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000).

Aetna Health, Inc. v. Davila, No. 02-1845 and Cigna Healthcare of Texas v. Calad, No. 03-83 (consolidated cases):

Question Presented: Whether the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) § 502(a) prevents individuals from filing state lawsuits against their health maintenance organization when the HMO refuses to pay for recommended treatment.

"Secrecy in Tax Court Proceeding Challenged": Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal reports here that:

The losing parties in a major civil tax fraud case are asking the Supreme Court to hear their claims that secret reports by special trial judges in the U.S. Tax Court violate due process. The petitions address a long-simmering controversy in the tax bar over whether the reports, which include findings of fact and opinion in some of the court's most complex and serious cases, should be public -- or at least available to federal appellate courts on review.

"How Should Harassment Victims' Claims of 'Constructive Discharge' Be Treated? A Question the Supreme Court Soon Will Confront":

FindLaw columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a sexual harassment issue upon which the Supreme Court will soon hear oral argument. It's undisputed that, for an employer to be automatically liable for a supervisor's harassment, the harassed employee must suffer a "tangible employment action." But does being forced to quit -- that is, suffering a "constructive discharge," in legal parlance -- count as a "tangible employment action"? Or must an employee be formally fired to get the benefit of automatic employer liability?

"PAC gifts get look in state investigation": The AP reports here that "U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's national fund-raising committee contributed to 15 Texas legislative candidates whose campaign finances are under a state criminal investigation because of possible improper contributions during the 2002 election. While Delay's national fund-raising committee is not the focus of the investigation, he helped found the probe's target, Texans for a Republican Majority, and records obtained by The Associated Press show the breadth of his influence in providing financial support to Republican candidates in Texas."

Looks like Dawson County will remain dry: The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports here that "[a] petition drive to force a local option election to authorize the sale of beer and wine in Lamesa failed to reach the required 1,098 valid signatures, according to Dawson County Tax Assessor and Voter Registrar Diane Hogg. Petition organizers submitted 1,332 signatures, but 'we verified 926 good signatures,' she said. For a signature to be valid, the signee is required to provide a printed name, an address, date of birth and the date. In addition, the signee must be a registered voter and a Lamesa resident, Hogg said. 'Some of that was missing (from the 406 invalid signatures),' she said."

"Judge dismisses part of Dynegy lawsuit": "A Texas judge has dismissed a former Dynegy executive's claim that his former bosses told him to artificially manipulate profits and losses." The Corpus Christi Caller-Times has the Corpus rest of the story.

Environmental Court?: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that:

Thousands of animal control, code compliance and trash violations flooding municipal courts are prompting city officials to consider creating a separate court just to hear those cases.

They would call it the Environmental Court.

"We want the city to be clean and attractive," said Jackie Mitchell, assistant director of the municipal court. "This court would help to address that and make sure the city is the best it can be.

"We anticipate a dedicated court would be effective in discouraging those violations within the city of Fort Worth," she said. "We want to encourage compliance to city codes and ordinances."

Details on the proposed court are scheduled to be presented today during the Public Safety Committee meeting, immediately after the regularly scheduled 10 a.m. City Council meeting at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St. Cost estimates on creating a new court were not available.

At issue is whether to create a separate court -- with its own judge and staff -- to handle the estimated 3,000 to 4,000 cases of trash violations, code compliance cases and animal control cases filed each year.

Those cases now are mixed in with traffic and parking violations in the city's five municipal courts downtown. There is a sixth municipal court that focuses on school attendance.

Officials say a key benefit from such a court would be that one judge could focus on these issues and be very familiar with the laws governing these violations.

"I think it's an excellent idea," said City Councilman Jim Lane, an attorney who heads the Public Safety Committee. "These issues are a specialty area.

"It will take a load off the other judges, centralize the cases, and we'll have a judge familiar with all those issues."

If the committee approves of creating the court, the proposal will go to the full council for consideration. If the council approves, the new court could be created in the coming months, Mitchell said.

NASCAR: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[s]ettlement negotiations in a lawsuit against NASCAR could produce a second Nextel Cup date for Texas Motor Speedway, The Charlotte Observer has learned. A source close to talks in a lawsuit against NASCAR filed by two Speedway Motorsports Inc. shareholders said Monday that a settlement could result in the International Speedway Corp. selling both the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham and the Darlington (S.C.) Raceway to Speedway Motorsports, which is the parent company of TMS. If such a deal is made, two of three remaining Cup dates from Rockingham and Darlington would be moved -- one to TMS and the other to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, giving those Speedway Motorsports-owned tracks two dates each per season."

"Plaques still barred from high court site":: The San Antonio Express-News reports here that:

Confederate soldiers' descendants lost a battle Monday to restore commemorative plaques to the Texas Supreme Court building, but they vowed to continue their fight.

State District Judge Paul Davis denied a request by the Sons of Confederate Veterans for a court order to restore the plaques, which were removed after objections by the NAACP in 2000.

At the time, then-Gov. George W. Bush was running for president and Confederate symbols were a point of controversy in the national race.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans argued they were illegally removed, noting there was no public hearing before the action.

Davis agreed with the state attorney general's office that he lacks authority to order the plaques restored. The state is arguing that the Texas Historical Commission has such jurisdiction, not the courts.

Lawyer Bill Kuhn, representing the Confederate group, said he would appeal to the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin.

In the meantime, the Sons of Confederate Veterans plans a Monday-through-Friday midday vigil, complete with the Confederate battle flag, outside the Supreme Court building, said member Terry Ayers.

Such a vigil also was conducted after the disputed plaques first were removed.

"That building was dedicated to my great-grandfather," a Confederate soldier, Ayers said.

One of the plaques depicted a Confederate battle flag and quoted Robert E. Lee. The other bore the Confederate seal and said the building was dedicated to Texans who served the Confederacy.

They were replaced in 2000 with two other plaques, one noting that the building was constructed with money from a Confederate pension, and thus "at that time" designated as a memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy.

The other plaque said the courts are entrusted with giving equal justice "regardless of race, creed or color."

Kuhn said his group has no problem with the plaque on open courts. But it wants the other new plaque removed, objecting to the phrase "at that time," and the two original ones put back.

Assistant Attorney General John Morehead said the new plaques can be taken down only with the approval of the Historical Commission, State Preservation Board or the Legislature.

The case has highlighted the controversy between those who say they want to honor the South's heritage through Confederate symbols, and those who say the symbols are too weighted with slavery's memory to be displayed in such places as the building that houses the state's top court.

Public School Finance: The Houston Chronicle reports: "Perry, legislators to seek school finance solutions." The San Antonio Express-News reports: "Perry hasn't decided on school-funding session." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: "Perry won't call a special session without consensus."

"Supreme Court focuses on fairness": "Some Supreme Court justices expressed concerns Monday about whether appeals by Texas death row inmates have been handled fairly." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Patients' right to sue, sparked by local case, goes to high court": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"Supreme Court won't hear Branch Davidian case": The AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court refused today to hear an appeal questioning the conduct of a federal judge involved in lawsuits over the FBI siege of the Branch Davidian complex near Waco. The high court did not comment in rejecting a pair of appeals from survivors and from families of children who died in the fire that swept the complex in April 1993."

"Court to Decide Pledge of Allegiance Case": The AP reports here:

The historic challenge to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance might never have reached the Supreme Court if not for a collision of faith between two parents - one an atheist, the other a born-again Christian.

Normally, the personal sagas of the parties in a Supreme Court case are just a footnote to the constitutional principles. But the clash between the parents threatens to derail the entire case, which will be heard by the high court on Wednesday.

The case was brought by Michael Newdow, an atheist who does not want his 9-year-old daughter exposed to the phrase "under God," which Congress inserted in 1954 in a Cold War expression of abhorrence of godless communism.

The girl's mother, Sandra Banning, is a born-again Christian locked in a bitter custody dispute with Newdow, whom she never married. Backed by former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, she has told the justices that her daughter has no objection to reciting "under God" in school each day.

Should the justices wish to sidestep the church-and-state issues, the custody quarrel between the former lovers presents them with an easy out. They may just decide that Newdow, because he did not have custody at the time, could not sue without the mother's consent, and dismiss the case outright.

"Defendant pleads guilty in immigrant smuggling case": The AP reports here that "[a] man charged in a deadly smuggling attempt that killed 19 illegal immigrants pleaded guilty Monday to helping transport and conceal the 3-year-old Honduran son of one of the surviving immigrants. Juan Carlos Don Juan pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting based on the concealment or harboring of illegal immigrants and unlawful transportation of them in a tractor-trailer. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced June 21."

"South Texas lawmaker hospitalized": The AP reports here that "Democratic state Rep. Roberto Gutierrez remained hospitalized Monday after doctors diagnosed him with an immune system disorder, and he probably won't be able to campaign in advance of an April 13 runoff election, his son said. Gutierrez, a seven-term lawmaker from McAllen, had been had been preparing for the runoff election with opponent Veronica Gonzalez."

Certiorari Granted: The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases today:

Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, et al. v. Thompson, No. 02-1472 consolidated with Thompson v. Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, No. 03-853 and

Wilkinson v. Dotson, No. 03-287.

Order List: The United States Supreme Court has released this week's order list.

"The Supreme Court Confronts the Alien Tort Claims Act: Should the Court Gut the Law, as the Administration Suggests?":

FindLaw columnist and Brooklyn law professor Anthony Sebok discusses a controversial law, the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), which will be the subject of a Supreme Court oral argument later this month. As Sebok explains, the ATCA has been interpreted, for over 200 years, to allow aliens to bring tort suits in U.S. federal courts. But now, the Bush Administration is arguing that this interpretation was wrong, and that, in any event, the statute must be narrowed by the Court because it raises separation-of-powers issues.

Today's Oral Arguments at the United States Supreme Court: The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases today.

Tennard v. Dretke, No. 02-11309, consolidated with Smith v. Dretke, 02-11309: Question Presented: Does the Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia, which found the death penalty for mentally retarded persons unconstitutional, apply if the crime cannot be attributed to mental retardation?

Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Court of Nevada, No. 03-5554: Question Presented: Whether a state statute requiring persons stopped under reasonable suspicion by a police officer to identify themselves violates the Fourth Amendment.

"March 2004 Docket Watch":

During the next two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court reviews whether individuals may sue their HMOs under state law for negligently refusing to cover recommended treatment, or if the law is pre-empted by ERISA. The Court will also consider whether a school district's teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment's establishment clause because it contains the words "under God."

The Legal Times has this Docket Watch.

"11th Circuit Judge Urges High Court Review in Exxon Case":

U.S. Supreme Court experts say justices allow legal questions to "percolate" in lower courts before settling a matter. But in a dissent from an 11th Circuit refusal to reconsider an ExxonMobil appeal, one judge is urging the Court to declare which side of a circuit court split is right. At stake is a $500 million dispute and the ability of plaintiffs from one state to bring federal class actions against defendants in another state.

Jonathan Ringel of the Fulton County Daily Report has this report.

"Showdown. Supreme Court will hear case by atheist hoping to cut the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance":

When Michael Newdow tells the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the words "under God" don't belong in public schools' Pledge of Allegiance, he will truly stand alone. As of last week, Newdow, who is arguing his own case, planned to have no one with him as his battle culminates in his first oral argument before the justices. His solitary stance symbolizes his resistance to pleas that he let a Supreme Court veteran argue his case. Says Newdow: "They're stuck with me."

Tony Mauro of the Legal Times has this report.

"Governor's travels raising some concerns": "Defending a trip he took to the Bahamas with a group that included campaign donors, Gov. Rick Perry suggested Texans can decide what's right. 'Where I go and who I talk with is, you know - it's a pretty open piece of information that the people of the state of Texas by and large make a decision,' Perry told reporters when asked about the trip." The San Antonio Express-News has the rest of the story.

"High court to review case of Houston killer with 67 IQ": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]wo years after banning executions of mentally retarded killers, the U.S. Supreme Court today considers a Houston murderer's claim that federal judges reviewing Texas death sentences have failed to follow the high court's lead. At issue is not whether Robert Tennard, who has an IQ of 67, is mentally retarded. That question is still pending in a lower court. Instead, this case centers on whether Tennard got a fair chance to convince Harris County jurors to take his low intelligence into account when deciding his punishment for fatally stabbing his neighbor."

Next Update: The Texas Law Blog will not be updated until tomorrow morning.

"Hutchison shepherds high-tech agreement": The AP reports here that "Sandia National Labs and three universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area agreed Friday to a partnership to boost research in emerging high-tech fields including biotechnology and nanotechnology. The so-called 'memorandum of understanding' was negotiated in part by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and involves the University of Texas-Arlington, the University of Texas-Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. No specific research projects, funds or new jobs are included in the deal, but the partnership should provide an economic boost to Texas as the state tries to entrench itself as a center for high technology, Hutchison said."

"Member of Tyler gang draws 131-year sentence": The AP has this report.

"Nobel winner, inmate forge death row bond. Tutu to visit convicted killer next week": "After months of correspondence sparked by their shared views on forgiveness, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a Texas death row inmate are set to meet next week. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an international symbol for human rights and peace, and Dominique Green, condemned for the killing of a Houston man during a 1992 robbery, began their connection more than a year ago when Green read one of Tutu's books about reconciliation after the end of apartheid in South Africa." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Malpractice filings fall after cap. Doctors predict lower health care bills as law's foes say patient care suffering": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]he number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Harris County has fallen dramatically since Texas lawmakers imposed a cap six months ago on the amount of money juries can award. The sharp drop has been welcomed by physicians and insurance companies who backed the $250,000 limit on awards for pain, suffering or other noneconomic damages. Doctors say fewer multimillion-dollar jury awards will translate into lower health care costs and improved patient care. But lawyers and other opponents of the measure that took effect Sept. 1 say the drop in filings proves the limits are too severe, leaving bad doctors unaccountable for causing deaths or life-altering injuries."

"Supreme Court to hear Texans' suits against HMOs": The AP reports here that:

Ruby Calad's hysterectomy nearly five years ago required extensive surgery, but she had to leave a Houston hospital after one day because her insurance company refused to pay for a longer stay.

She was rushed to the emergency room a few days later with complications she said could have been avoided had she remained hospitalized. She said since she did not heal properly in the days after the procedure, she remains in constant pain and needs more surgery.

Her ordeal even led to the breakup of her marriage, she said.

Calad blames her insurer, Cigna Heathcare of Texas, and the case stemming from her lawsuit against the company will be argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Texans split on immigration plan": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Texans are sharply divided over President Bush's beleaguered proposal to ease the nation's immigration laws, according to a statewide survey released today. The latest Scripps Howard Texas Poll constitutes yet another signal of the deep divisions over Bush's plan to create a temporary guest worker program aimed at more than 8 million undocumented workers in the United States. Bush has conceded that the election-year proposal has an uncertain future in Congress. Forty-eight percent of the 1,000 Texans surveyed randomly by telephone endorsed Bush's plan, 45 percent opposed it and 7 percent declined to give an opinion. The proposal drew the most support among Hispanics -- 55 percent -- compared with 49 percent among Anglos and 37 percent among black people."

"Texans believe illegal immigration is a serious problem": The AP has this report.

"Perry's tax-cap plan denounced by leaders": "The Texas Municipal League, which represents more than 1,000 cities and towns across the state, on Friday denounced a proposal by Gov. Rick Perry to hold down property taxes as a heavy-handed attempt to limit the powers of local officials." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the rest: of the story.

"Medicare law effort causing fallout for Bush": The Knight Ridder News Service reports here that "[e]nactment of a sweeping Medicare law last year was supposed to be the crowning achievement of President Bush's 'compassionate conservatism' as he prepared for re-election. By providing a federally subsidized prescription-drug benefit for senior citizens, albeit a limited one, administration officials thought they usurped a major issue from the Democrats and cut into Democratic support among seniors age 65 and over. And that's an especially important voting bloc in key battleground states such as Florida. But less than four months after he signed it into law on Dec. 8, Bush's Medicare-reform dream has turned into a nightmare and a potential drag on his re-election bid." The article lists some of the problems facin the Bush Administration.

Texas Supreme Court: The Texas Supreme Court has issued this week's orders. No opinions were issued today.

"Lawyers Team Up in Fight for Gay Marriage. Separate suits challenge N.Y. law on same-sex unions": The New York Law Journal reports here that "[i]dealistic young attorneys from two straight-laced Manhattan firms recently jumped into the thick of the battle over gay marriages. Ceremonies have been performed by local officials in defiance of social convention and, as in New York state, the law itself. The associates, undertaking two separate challenges to the New York law against same-sex marriage, see their activism as a continuation of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s."

"Scalia Stands Firm on Cheney Recusal": Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reports here that "Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia refused Thursday to recuse from a pending case in which duck-hunting companion Vice President Dick Cheney is a named party. In a rare memo, Scalia wrote that he is duty-bound to stay in the case, which he said involves Cheney in an official capacity only. 'A rule that required members of this Court to remove themselves from cases in which the official actions of friends were at issue would be utterly disabling,' said Scalia."

Bribery on the border: The AP reports here that "[t]hree Eagle Pass men were arrested in a bribery scheme that involved obtaining confidential records from government computers for money, authorities said. A federal grand jury handed up two indictments Wednesday against Louis Alfonso Krezdorn, 30, an unlicensed private investigator, and his father, Louis Valdez Krezdorn, a customs enforcement inspector at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry. They are charged with conspiracy to gain access to federal computers for personal gain and pay bribes to a public official, officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office said."

Immigration news: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[i]mmigrants often become victims of green-card scams."

"Prosecutors to give findings in sheriff inquiry to counties": "Collin County District Attorney John Roach said Thursday that his office is dropping almost all of the criminal cases developed during its investigation of Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles and turning the evidence over to other agencies." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the rest of the story.

"Governor boosts plan for research on Gulf. Reserve won't infringe on industries": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[p]racticing conservation Texas-style, Gov. Rick Perry has proposed setting aside a 250,000-acre swath of the Gulf Coast for research and education, without infringing on the shrimping, fishing and energy exploration that occurs in its waters. The proposal earlier this month is the latest step in a multiyear effort by coastal scientists to establish a National Estuarine Research Reserve in Texas, a state where private landowners often shun regulations and where industry, development and erosion have altered much of the coastline."

"Baylor athletes claim gender discrimination. Suit says school violates Title IX": The AP reports here that:

The world's largest Baptist university "knowingly and illegally" discriminates against female students in its athletic programs, seven members of a Baylor University rowing club allege in a federal lawsuit filed this week. "Female students have historically been and continue to be underrepresented in Baylor University's intercollegiate athletic programs," attorneys Samuel J. Schiller and Ray Yasser said in the petition, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Waco. The students claim Baylor's failure to recognize their club as a varsity sport violates federal Title IX, which bans gender discrimination in academics and athletics at schools that receive federal money. Complaints include a lack of boats and oars for the rowing team; an unpaid student coach; and no scholarships, locker room or university-provided uniforms.

"Baylor University Releases Statements On Title IX Lawsuit": "Baylor University released the following statements today from the Office of General Counsel and from Baylor Athletics Director Ian McCaw in response to a Title IX lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Waco."

"DNA retests fail to resolve doubts. DA won't re-examine inconclusive cases": "New DNA tests on evidence from Houston's troubled crime lab were inconclusive in 14 cases, and prosecutors said Thursday they may not conduct further tests, raising concerns that questions about the quality of work used to convict defendants may never be answered." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"DPS demotes DNA chief at McAllen lab": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"26% of cons here paroled into handful of poor areas. Study takes look at prisoner re-entry": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a]bout 26 percent of all convicts who were returned to Harris County on supervised parole in 2001 ended up in some of Houston's poorest neighborhoods, according to a report released today. The report, the first phase in a three-year study, looks at statewide statistics on prisoner release but will focus in its later phases on Harris County and Houston, the destination of the largest percentage of returning prisoners."

"Budget doesn't allow photographing in child abuse cases, committee told": "Plans to photograph Texas children in abuse and neglect investigations - prompted by the December death of a San Antonio boy - will not be implemented unless funding is assured next year, legislators were told Thursday." The San Antonio Express-News has the rest of the story.

"Rest of Tulia deal may be $1 million": The AP reports here that "[c]ities and counties not part of a $5 million settlement reached between Amarillo and plaintiffs in a now-discredited drug bust continue to hammer out an agreement that sources say may reach $1 million. Twenty-six counties and three cities would pay amounts ranging from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars each under the agreement, which has not been finalized, several sources involved in the negotiations told the Amarillo Globe-News in Thursday's editions."

"FCC cites Howard Stern and Bono for indecency": The AP reports here that "[f]ederal regulators continued their crackdown on indecency today, issuing a fine for a broadcast of the Howard Stern radio show and ruling that an expletive uttered by rock singer Bono on NBC violated broadcast standards. The Federal Communications Commission proposed fining Infinity Broadcasting the maximum $27,500 for a Stern show broadcast on WKRK-FM in Detroit. The FCC also overruled its staff and said that Bono's expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards program was indecent and profane, but issued no fine."

"Skilling won't get frozen assets any time soon": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Ex-Enron CEO Jeff Skilling will not be able to get at any of his $66 million in frozen assets any time soon. Today U.S. District Judge Sim Lake denied Skilling's request that a government freeze on about $55 million in liquid assets be lifted. The government also froze his River Oaks home and a Dallas condo."

Memorandum of Justice Scalia: Justice Scalia has issued this memorandum in the Cheney cases.

"Businessman sues after firms mistakenly list him as deceased": The AP reports here:

A businessman whose Social Security number was confused with his deceased mother's says a bank's mistake has cost him more than $250,000.

David Jokinen says that J.P. Morgan Chase Bank told credit bureaus Equifax, Trans Union and Experian Information Solutions that he was deceased. Two of the financial data companies stopped assigning Jokinen a credit score because they had him listed as dead.

Jokinen, without a credit score, could not refinance the mortgage on his Sugar Land home or qualify for a 0.9 percent loan to buy a used luxury car.

The bank mistake was made, Jokinen contends, when it was converting a joint credit card to his name after his mother's April 2001 death.

Jokinen on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit in Houston against Chase, the credit bureaus and an Equifax subsidiary. He contends he lost money in out-of-pocket expenses, unnecessary interest charges and time lost from work. An attorney for Jokinen, in addition to seeking actual damages, wants a jury to award exemplary and punitive damages.

During the 27-month ordeal, Jokinen wrote letters, made calls, filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and testified before a Congressional committee.

Chase, when contacted about Jokinen's situation by the Houston Chronicle and other media representatives, had apologized and promised to fix the error.

"There might still be some negative information reflected on his credit report because of excessive inquiries by Chase," said Kamran Mashayekh, an attorney with the Tien law firm, which represents Jokinen.

"'Memogate' opens window on judiciary fights": The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

Court of Criminal Appeals: The Court of Criminal Appeals issued this hand down list yesterday. The Court did not publish any opinions yesterday.

"High Court Set to Mend a Split on Job Suits. Circuits diverge on 'constructive' firing." The National Law Journal reports here that:

The U.S. Supreme Court this month will address a circuit split that has the Bush administration, business community and civil rights groups weighing in. The high court will decide in Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders if a constructive discharge -- an employee's resignation due to a work environment so intolerable that there was no choice but to quit -- is the kind of "tangible" employer action that imposes strict liability for supervisors' actions.

"The Real Story Behind the Release of Justice Blackmun's Papers and Tapes. What They Reveal, and Do Not Reveal, About the Man and the Court."

FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Edward Lazarus -- who was once a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun -- discusses a new angle on the public release of Justice Blackmun's papers and tapes. Much has been made of all that the Blackmun material has revealed, but what was left out? Lazarus explains how Justice Blackmun's personality shaped the record he left. Lazarus also discusses the persective Blackmun's papers afford on the crucial 5-4 Court decision not to overrule Roe v. Wade.

"Grasslands become battleground in debate over drilling": The AP has this story which begins:

An oil man gazes out over the vast New Mexico grasslands known as Otero Mesa and envisions a pipeline linking wells that produce clean-burning natural gas and keep fuel prices down.

An ecologist sees a unique ecosystem that is home to hundreds of species of animals and plants, and he wants it to stay that way.

What happens next is up to the federal government, and officials are getting plenty of input from people like oil and gas producer George Yates and grasslands expert Walter Whitford, turning this stretch of high desert into a battlefield for broader questions about oil and gas drilling on public lands across the country.

Update to yesterday's post on Texas A&M football player arrested for DWI: The AP reports here that "[a] Texas A&M football player arrested on a drunken driving charge says he didn't yell racial slurs outside a fast-food restaurant as alleged in a police report, his attorney says. Geoff Hangartner was charged early Monday with driving while intoxicated after police said they followed his vehicle from the restaurant to a nearby home where he failed a field sobriety test. Teammate Cole Smith, who was in the vehicle, was cited for public intoxication. 'Geoff completely denies making any kind of racial epitaph,' his attorney, Jim James, said in a story in Thursday's Bryan-College Station Eagle. 'He finds any kind of racial slur absolutely abhorrent. My client did not make any kind of racial comment and did not exit the vehicle.'"

Today's Bryan-College Station Eagle reports here: "Attorney denies player used slurs."

"ID cards to be tested to speed airport check-in." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a] 90-day pilot federal program will begin in June to allow 'registered travelers' to buy special identification cards that will speed them through airport security in exchange for submitting their background information. David Stone, acting head of the Transportation Security Administration, said Wednesday that such a card, which would contain a fingerprint or other biometric, could aid in verifying passengers' identities. Select airports, including Love Field in Dallas, are potential candidates for the pilot program, Stone told members of the House aviation subcommittee. Several airlines will also be candidates, including American and Southwest, he said."

"Candidate Friedman aims to bring his Kinky ideas to politics in Texas." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Kinky Friedman started running for governor as a joke. Then he found out that Texans think our government is already a joke. Now, the bestselling author and humorist says he's seriously going after Gov. Rick Perry's job in 2006. As Friedman says, 'How hard could it be?'"

Extremists to be sentenced today. The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[a]n East Texas couple who stockpiled an arsenal of illegal weapons, including the makings of a sodium cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands, will be sentenced May 4 in a Tyler federal court. William J. Krar and his common-law wife, Judith L. Bruey, have remained jailed in a Smith County detention facility since their arrest last spring. A misdelivered package led FBI agents on April 10 to uncover the cache of weapons in a Noonday storage facility, where the couple kept the arsenal hidden behind boxes of hardhats, jockstraps and other miscellaneous items. Agents also found anti-Semitic, anti-black and anti-government books and pamphlets that Krar allegedly sold to right-wing extremists."

Voting from the other side. The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Angelita Aguero was among an estimated 4,000 Bexar County voters who asked for a mail-in ballot in last week's primary election, Bexar County election records show. The problem is, Aguero has been dead since August 2003. And she isn't the only one who appears to have wanted to vote from beyond. A computer at the Bexar County election office recently flagged the names of 41 deceased people who somehow sent applications to vote by mail. The applications are being forwarded to the Bexar County district attorney, officials confirmed Wednesday. But officials there said they aren't optimistic about finding a culprit. 'It happens in nearly every election, and it's just near impossible to investigate,' said Cliff Herberg, chief of the district attorney's white-collar division. No ballots were sent to the deceased, and there is no indication any dead person managed to receive a ballot, election officials said. 'That's the important thing to stress here,' Bexar County Elections Administrator Cliff Borofsky said. 'No ballots were sent out to deceased individuals. No dead person voted.'"

"Travis DA accused of double standard. Republican questions lack of Morales probe." "Texas Republican Chairman Tina Benkiser Wednesday said the fact that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle never investigated former Attorney General Dan Morales proves Earle's probe of Republican House races is politically motivated." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Travis DA, lawyer clash over papers": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[a] Travis County prosecutor blames outside requests for documents for slowing his investigation of pro-Republican campaign spending in 2002, while a critic insists the documents will show the probe is tainted by collaboration with news organizations. Andy Taylor, an attorney for the Texas Association of Business, charged Travis County District Attorney Ronald Earle, a Democrat, with leaking information from a grand jury, resulting in 'inappropriate and unethical collusion between a politically motivated prosecutor and the press.' On Tuesday, Taylor submitted 83 requests for communications between Earle and five defeated Democratic House candidates, other partisans and their lawyers. Earle called the requests 'another way to keep us from doing our job.'"

"Lawsuit clouds medical residents' Match Day. Antitrust challenge says traditional program restricts students' opportunities via collusion." The Houston Chronicle reports here:

Match Day, a 52-year-old tradition of deploying medical residents, arrives in Houston and around the nation today, one of the indelible images of medical school.

But this year it comes under a cloud: An antitrust lawsuit alleging that medical schools and teaching hospitals illegally collude to restrict students' opportunities could overturn the whole process.

The suit, filed in 2002, won't go to trial in a Washington federal court until 2006, but it clearly has the medical establishment troubled. The defendants have hired lobbyists with connections to two U.S. senators who are seeking legislation that would derail the suit: Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats.

At stake are damages that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars -- which would undoubtedly be passed on to patients in higher bills.

At issue is the National Resident Matching Program, known in medical circles as the Match. More than 80 percent of first-year residency positions are offered exclusively through the program, which is based on the rankings of preferred graduates by hospitals and the rankings of preferred hospitals by graduates. Both sides agree in advance to accept the pairing, which is done by computer.

The suit, filed by three former residents, contends the program forces doctors in training to accept placements without negotiation, contributing to low pay (about $40,000 annually), long hours (80 to 100 hours a week) and, as a result, potentially dangerous work environments.

McCaul vs. Streusand: The most expensive congressional race in the country. The Houston Chronicle reports here:

The Republican primary runoff candidates for the 10th District are digging deep into their own pockets to finance what has become the most expensive congressional race in the country.

Houston mortgage banker Ben Streusand and Austin lawyer Mike McCaul are among the nation's three largest spenders of their own money for congressional races.

As of Feb. 18, Streusand had contributed more of his own money than any other congressional candidate -- $1.34 million, or 96 percent of the $1.4 million he has raised.

McCaul, meanwhile, was the third biggest personal spender at $647,000, or 70 percent of the $929,000 he raised.

Such contributions have helped make this the costliest congressional race in the country to date, with more than $2.6 million being spent, according to campaign finance reports.

And there is an expensive April 13 runoff to come between the two candidates. Streusand won 28 percent and McCaul 24 percent in eliminating six others in the March 9 primary.

"Skilling's wealth of defense. Ex-Enron CEO budgets $23 million for attorneys": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"Delta accused of losing Alzheimer's patient from El Paso": The AP reports here that "Delta Air Lines lost an 80-year-old man with Alzheimer's disease who was supposed to have been given an escort between flights in the Atlanta airport, his relatives said. Antonio Ayala disappeared Monday after his flight landed and he was not found until nearly 24 hours later, near a bus station in downtown Atlanta, several miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport."

"Supremes Consider Risks of Self-Representation. Case led by Kenneth Starr asks justices to give trial courts the chance to appoint defense counsel when appropriate": The Legal Times reports here that: "[i]n a 1975 Supreme Court ruling, criminal defendants won the right to represent themselves. But ever since, lower courts have been disagreeing -- sometimes dramatically -- over how to implement that right. The justices will have a chance Friday to revisit the issue when they take up Egwaoje v. United States, No. 03-691, at their private conference. The Court will decide whether to add the case and dozens of others to the docket for argument and decision in the fall. Former Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, D.C. partner at Kirkland & Ellis, is representing Benjamin Egwaoje in the case pro bono. Starr is urging the Court to overrule its 1975 precedent Faretta v. United States and hold that judges may 'in appropriate circumstances insist that a defendant proceed with the assistance of counsel.'"

It is always someone else's fault: The National Law Journal reports here: "Long-Shot Legal Tactic. Gambling addicts who volunteer to be banned sue casinos for not kicking them out."

$2,500 for class members; $19 million for attorneys: The Beaumont Enterprise reports here that:

A Beaumont district judge has approved a $149 million settlement that affects millions of Bridgestone and Firestone tire customers.

The settlement, which resolves 30 class-action lawsuits nationwide, pays plaintiff's attorneys $19 million.

The 45 plaintiffs named in the suits will get $2,500 each, and those affected but not named in the suit can get their tires replaced.

About 110 lawyers had objected to the settlement, which stemmed from the 2000 recall of 14.4 million tires amid concerns they could explode.

The lawsuits claimed damages based on the tires' "propensity to fail," and no one included in the suits suffered injury or property damage.

Judge Donald Floyd of the 172nd District Court stated in his final judgment that "the plaintiff had not sustained any injury or damages and that most courts would not recognize her no-injury claim."

Floyd signed the 69-page judgment late Friday, and it was made public Monday.

Firestone agreed to the settlement to avoid prolonged litigation, according to Floyd's judgment.

An estimated 10 million to 15 million consumers who bought ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires between 1991 and 2001 are eligible to have their tires replaced, which is expected to cost Firestone about $70 million.

The settlement includes $55.5 million Firestone is spending on consumer education and manufacturing a safer product.

Firestone spokeswoman Marina Marich said the company is pleased with Floyd's decision.

"As we have said all along, the settlement is fair and in the best interest of everyone involved," Marich said in a telephone interview. "We're glad to have this behind us."

Mitchell Toups, the Beaumont-based lawyer who is lead co-counsel for the objectors, said they'll appeal Floyd's decision to the Beaumont 9th Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court.

"This will be reversed," Toups said.

If a higher court reverses Floyd's decision, the parties could be forced to renegotiate or go to trial.

Firestone has a duty to educate consumers and replace defective products "whether the lawyers show up or not," he said.

Toups said he wants everyone in the class to get something besides replacement tires, like discount cards.

"The only people getting anything are the attorneys," he said.

"Tax system said key to school finance reform": Yesterday I posted to "part one of a two-part series on the [S]tate's efforts to reform the public school finance system. Part one focused on the state’s tax system and alternatives for reform. Part two focuses on the possible consequences of scrapping the current system." [Source = Laredo Morning-Times]

"Rosenberg police stop minorities more often. Council receives statistics for 2003": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[p]olice here stopped and searched minority motorists at a rate three times higher than Anglos, the latest figures on racial profiling show. The statistics, presented to the City Council on Tuesday, were compiled by police during 2003 as required by state law. In 2002, the first time the figures were collected, Rosenberg officers were more than three times as likely to search blacks and Latinos than Anglos, and last year's figures were almost identical, said Alex del Carmen, professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Texas at Arlington."

"Lawyer wants DNA evidence tossed out": "An attorney wants a judge to throw out DNA evidence against his client accused in a 1993 murder in Hidalgo County after learning about the clandestine closure of the Texas Department of Public Safety's DNA lab last summer." The San Antonio Express-News has this report.

"Longtime S. Texas federal judge being treated for stomach cancer": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Filemon Vela, a senior U.S. judge who has fought crime along the U.S.-Mexico border for nearly 25 years, now is waging a personal battle against stomach cancer. Vela, 68, appointed by President Carter, hasn't been on the bench in a month and is being treated as an outpatient at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, according to friends and colleagues. A resident of Brownsville, he checked out of the hospital Tuesday and is staying in Houston to continue chemotherapy."

No beer for you!: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a] second Tarrant County judge has denied a southwest Arlington Hooters restaurant's application to sell beer. Judge Vincent Sprinkle ruled in Fort Worth on Tuesday that the license warranted refusal based on the general welfare and morals of the surrounding community and on the public sense of decency. The judgment was similar to another judge's ruling, which took two years to play out in court."

No beer bongs either!: The San Antonio Express-News reports here: "New Braunfels councilman wants beer bongs off rivers."

$0.38 per gallon in taxes: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Texas is getting shorted in funding for its highways, and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Tuesday demanded that Texas cease being a 'donor' of federal gas tax monies to other states. 'Of every federal gas tax dollar collected in Texas, just 90.5 cents are returned to the state for its road programs,' Hutchison, R-Texas, said at a news conference at a Fort Worth service station. The federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Texas collects an additional 20 cents per gallon in gasoline tax."

"Fired bailiff talked with judge's foe": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[t]he day after winning a bitter primary election, state District Judge Wayne Salvant fired a veteran bailiff, saying the man had been disloyal in talking to the judge's political opponent. Bailiff Tommy Young was fired around noon the day after the March 9 primary after working 11 years in Criminal District Court No. 2, including nine years for Salvant."

"Panel lists options for school finance": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a]fter studying school finance for months, top lawmakers have produced a report that includes a laundry list of potential taxes but no specific instructions for replacing the state's share-the-wealth Robin Hood system. House and Senate Democrats refused to sign onto the report released Tuesday, just weeks before a special session that Gov. Rick Perry has promised to call if lawmakers can reach consensus on the issue."

"Perry now holds ball on schools": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[a] select panel Tuesday presented dozens of options for funding and shaping Texas schools, but left the details to Gov. Rick Perry and other Republican leaders who have vowed to slash property taxes and bolster education."

"Judge denies request to postpone Lea Fastow sentence": The AP has this report.

"Capital Punishment Faculty and Students Take Case to U.S. Supreme Court, March 22": The University of Texas School of Law has this press release.

"Two A&M players arrested after shouting racial slurs": The AP reports here that "[t]wo Texas A&M football players have been charged with alcohol-related crimes after they shouted racial slurs outside a fast food restaurant. Police, who were called to the restaurant to investigate, followed a sport utility vehicle driven by A&M football player Geoff Hangartner from the restaurant early Monday to a nearby home where Hangartner failed a field sobriety test, The Bryan-College Station Eagle reported in Tuesday's editions. Hangartner was charged with driving while intoxicated. His passenger and teammate, Cole Smith, was cited for public intoxication, according to the newspaper. Coach Dennis Franchione said the charges against his players are unsettling. Nine members of the 2003 football team have been arrested since September, the newspaper reported."

"Crying Murder When A Woman Refuses a C-Section: The Disturbing Implications of a Utah Prosecution":

FindLaw columnist and Rutgers law professor Sherry Colb discusses the controversial Utah prosecution of a pregnant woman who refused a Caesarean section and allegedly therefore caused the death of one of her unborn twins. Colb discusses facts that ought to make us hesitate before trusting doctors' C-Section decisions, and explains the legal principles that ought to apply to the woman's case.

"Senate approves money for border projects": The Brownsville Herald reports here that "[t]he Senate approved a bill Friday that could make $50 million available for infrastructure projects on the border, some of which might go toward conserving water in the Rio Grande Valley. If it passes in the House and is signed by President Bush, the legislation will allow about $50 million from the North American Development Bank to be used for grants and loans for environmental infrastructure projects along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a news release from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who sponsored the legislation."

"Tax system said key to school finance reform": Today's online edition of the Laredo Morning-Times has "part one of a two-part series on the [S]tate's efforts to reform the public school finance system. Today’s piece focuses on the state’s tax system and alternatives for reform. Tuesday’s piece will focus on the possible consequences of scrapping the current system." Part two has not yet been posted to the Laredo Morning-Times website.

Illegal gambling? You decide.: The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal has this editorial on DA Bill Sowder's enforcement of State gambling law.

"Trial begins in '94 slaying": The San Antonio Express-News has this report.

Immigration: The AP reports here: "Illegal immigrants face hardships in houses run by smugglers."

"Officers find 38 immigrants hiding inside Houston shop": The Corpus Christi Caller-Times has this report.

"Agents' probe at law school criticized. Army's review sees procedural lapses": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]wo Army counterintelligence special agents exceeded their authority last month when they roamed the University of Texas law school seeking names of individuals who had attended an Islamic law conference. A review of the controversial incident by the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) concluded that the agents and their commander failed to follow established military procedures by referring the incident to higher headquarters."

"Agents went outside their bounds, Army reports": The AP has this report.

"Candidate linked tto legislators during remap": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a]s state lawmakers prepared to redraw the state's congressional districts, Houston businessman Ben Streusand offered a job to House Speaker Tom Craddick's sister and donated $16,000 to the political account of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Streusand now is a GOP runoff candidate in the new 10th Congressional District, which was born from that legislative battle. Spokesmen for Streusand, Craddick and Dewhurst on Monday said Streusand never discussed congressional redistricting with them or drawing a district to favor his election. Streusand's campaign manager, Marc Cowart, said that if lawmakers had drawn a district for Streusand, they would not have put his home in the district represented by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands. Cowart said Streusand moved to Spring to run for the 10th Congressional District seat, which has no incumbent."

"Lawyer wants DNA evidence disqualified. Disclosure of DPS lab problems prompt request": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]he attorney for a man accused of a 1993 slaying in Hidalgo County will ask a judge to throw out DNA evidence against his client because of questions about the reliability of the lab that processed it. The attorney, Hector J. Villarreal, wants a federal investigation of the state Department of Public Safety's decision to close its DNA lab in McAllen for three months last summer. He also is seeking a probe into why lab officials reviewed as many as 300 criminal cases processed there without informing the defendants or their attorneys."

"Feds seek death in immigrant smuggling. Victoria truck case will be first time execution sought": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday the government would seek the death penalty against a man accused of driving a truck found with dead undocumented immigrants near Victoria. It's the first time capital punishment will be sought in a human-smuggling case. Truck driver Tyrone Williams, 32, a Jamaican immigrant from Schenectady, N.Y., is accused of driving a sealed tractor-trailer crammed with more than 74 undocumented immigrants, 19 of whom died. It is one of the largest instances of smuggling fatalities in U.S. history."

Pro Bono Attorney's Efforts Pay Off: The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[f]ifty-nine years after he narrowly survived the Battle of Iwo Jima, Navajo code talker Teddy Draper Sr. finally has been awarded the Purple Heart by the U.S. Marine Corps. The 80-year-old Arizonan also has won long-overdue veterans benefits for the hearing loss, temporary blindness and other injuries he sustained from a mortar blast in the 1945 battle in Japan. And he credits both recent developments to his pro bono attorney, George P. Parker, Jr., of the San Antonio law office of Houston-based Bracewell & Patterson."

Bracewell & Patterson, L.L.P.'s press release is availablehere.

"Enron prosecutors go to bat for Lea Fastow": "Enron prosecutors are coming to the aid of Lea Fastow in papers aimed at convincing a judge to sentence her to only five months in prison, in part because her husband's testimony is critical and 'is likely to bear additional fruit.' Enron Task Force prosecutors Linda Lacewell and Andrew Weissmann filed objections to the pre-sentence investigation of Lea Fastow that indicate the prosecutors very much want U.S. District Judge David Hittner to follow the agreed plea bargain. They list several reasons, including that her husband has helped them indict two top officials and that he can help further." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Judge approves $149 million Bridgestone-Firestone settlement": The AP reports here that "[a] Beaumont judge Monday approved a $149 million settlement of 30 class-action lawsuits against Bridgestone-Firestone North American Tire. The settlement, approved by State District Judge Donald Floyd, comes more than three years after the 2000 recall of 14.4 million Firestone tires amid safety concerns. More than 100 objectors had contested the settlement. The settlement calls for Firestone to pay an estimated $70 million to replace tires, $41 million to manufacture certain tires with materials that provide better high speed capacity, $15.5 million on a consumer education and awareness campaign and $19 million for attorneys fees. The company also has paid $3.5 million to notify class members of the settlement plan."

"Should Martha Stewart's Lawyer Have Strongly Advised Her to Testify? Assessing the Defense in the Stewart Case, Part One":

In the first of a two-part series of columns on the Martha Stewart defense, FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden examines Stewart's decision not to testify, and the considerations that may have caused Stewart and her attorney, Robert Morvillo, to choose this option. Hilden offers a list of pros and cons of Stewart's taking the stand, and argues that the decision that she wouldn't testify was a reasonable -- and probably corrrect -- one.

"Ted Kennedy as Appeals Strategist": Dan Christensen of the Miami Daily Business Review reports:

The running fight between the White House and Senate Democrats over appellate court nominees has escalated another notch with U.S. Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy's warning to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that its decisions will be tainted if it allows President Bush's recess appointment to immediately begin deciding cases.

Bush named William H. Pryor Jr., the former attorney general of Alabama, to the court in a recess appointment on Feb. 20. By doing so, he temporarily bypassed the Senate, where a filibuster had stalled Pryor's appointment.

In a March 5 letter addressed to each of the 11th Circuit judges at Atlanta, Sen. Kennedy of Massachusetts wrote that "a serious question exists" about the constitutionality of that appointment.

Kennedy, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the judges of the 11th Circuit, which covers Florida, Alabama and Georgia, to address the "purported" recess appointment of Pryor "so that the validity of his participation in cases be resolved in advance, without subjecting future decisions to challenge."

Kennedy's accompanying 10-page legal memo accuses the president of taking action "to evade the constitutional requirement of advice and consent" in his zeal to put Pryor in an 11th Circuit robe, "rather than to serve any legitimate constitutional goal."

In his memo, Kennedy buttressed his position by citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year in Nguyen v. United States. In that case, the justices held that a decision rendered by an improperly constituted appellate court panel is invalid.

"Jury Selection Starts in Libel Suit Against New York Times": Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer reports here that "[j]ury selection begins today in a 'defamation by implication' libel suit against The New York Times brought by Franklin Prescriptions Inc., a Philadelphia company that says the newspaper harmed its reputation by using an image from Franklin Prescriptions' Web site to illustrate an article about illicit online drug sales. In the suit, Franklin Prescriptions claims that use of its Internet site as a graphic to illustrate the article, headlined 'A Web Bazaar Turns Into a Pharmaceutical Free for All,' implied that it was guilty of illicit conduct. The company says it never sells drugs online, but that the illustration implied that it does -- even though the company's name was never mentioned in the article. But the Times insists in court papers that the article isn't even capable of defamatory meaning and that Franklin Prescriptions has yet to muster any evidence that it suffered any damages in the form of lost sales or profits."

"Group is no ordinary PAC": The San Antonio Express-News reports here:

On election night 2002, Uvalde lawyer Leland Kerby received a call from Texans for a Republican Majority, an Austin group that had just helped the GOP snag a historic majority in the 150-member Texas House.

John Colyandro, TRMPAC's executive director, wasn't phoning to celebrate.

Instead, he wanted Kerby to determine whether Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine truly lived in his district, and if not, prepare to stop Gallego's re-election, which he won with 71 percent of the vote, from being certified.

Gallego has said the house in question was being remodeled at the time.

Kerby had folks look into the matter and, as he retells it, said to Colyandro: "I've got this guy, I've got him cold."

The late-hour effort fizzled a few days later when Colyandro canceled the project; after all, 88 Republicans won House seats, giving the GOP its majority and setting up Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, to become the first Republican speaker in more than a century.

But the up-and-down episode lingers as a sign of how TRMPAC proved different from other political operations — rollicking, groundbreaking and in the end possibly illegal, at least according to Travis County prosecutors. They suggest the group misspent corporate funds for political purposes — a characterization Colyandro and others dispute.

Prosecutors are looking into how TRMPAC and the Texas Association of Business, the state's leading business lobby group, spent millions of corporate dollars to launch a powerful wave of partisan change. The wave could peak in November, with Republicans possibly winning a 22-10 margin in the Texas congressional delegation thanks to the contours of U.S. House districts redrawn by the GOP-led 2003 Legislature.

"Texas AG takes aim at phony notarios": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[t]he state's top lawyer has declared war on scammers of immigrants, and he wants to enlist the Mexican government to help him launch a cross-border assault. Since taking office 15 months ago, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been on a mission, using a law enacted in 2001 to go after predators who take immigrants' money in exchange for exaggerated, phony promises of quick legalization."

"DPS secretly shuttered DNA lab. State senator troubled by lack of transparency during review": "For more than three months last year, the Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the accreditation of all public DNA labs in the state, quietly shut down the DNA division of its own regional crime lab in McAllen. During that time, the DPS began a review of perhaps as many as 300 criminal cases but chose not to notify most of the prosecutors or police, and none of the defendants or defense attorneys, involved in those cases, the Houston Chronicle has learned." The Houston Chronicle has the rest of the story.

"Housing Authority free-speech policy is subject of 2nd inquiry": The El Paso Times reports here:

The argument of a free-speech case against the El Paso Housing Authority, which was dismissed two years ago by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, is being resurrected in a court of inquiry, court records show.

The request for a court-led criminal investigation was sought by lawyer Fernando Chacon, who has stuck with the free-speech case even after it was dismissed by an appellate court because his client, El Pasoan Jesus "Chuy" de la O, died.

De la O, who filed the case in 1999, died in April 2002 at age 74. His lawsuit had alleged that the Housing Authority's rule that prevents door-to-door political campaigning at its apartment communities is unconstitutional.

Chacon in February asked 34th District Court Judge William Moody to seek a court of inquiry into the matter because de la O's argument was found to have merit by the court of appeals. Moody agreed and asked Steven Ables, a district judge in Kerrville, Texas, who serves as the administrative judge for El Paso County, to convene a court of inquiry to investigate the matter.

"While a mandate was not issued from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, because of the untimely death of Jesus de La O, the court clearly stated that the blanket denial of political campaigning was clearly an unconstitutional restriction for both the tenants to receive political information and the candidates to campaign," court documents show Moody stated in his request to Ables for a court of inquiry.

Ables responded earlier this month by appointing 409th District Court Judge Sam Medrano to preside over the court of inquiry.

Al Velarde, spokesman for the Housing Authority, said that even before the court of inquiry was convened, the agency had been working toward resolving the matter by amending its policy to allow for political and religious solicitation.

"The matter will be resolved," Velarde said.

According to court records, the Housing Authority required a three-day advance notice of political campaigning and had a blanket ban of this activity on Sundays.

"Waiting for votes from Zapata rekindles specter of LBJ's win": The San Antonio Express-News has this report.

"Cuellar weighs recount choice": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Henry Cuellar, the Laredo lawyer who missed unseating incumbent U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez by 126 votes in the Democratic primary, will have to move carefully in deciding whether to ask for an official recount. In addition to costing up to $14,000, such a move could potentially result in more votes for Rodriguez, experts said."

"Reyna nets GOP nomination for appeals court": The Waco Tribune-Herald reports here that "[i]n a primary election race that went down to the wire Tuesday, Republican Felipe Reyna beat Lynnan Locke Kendrick, 52 percent to 48 percent, for a seat on the Waco-based 10th Court of Appeals. Reyna was appointed to the post by Gov. Rick Perry last year, but had to win the election for a full term. He attributed the close results to a lack of funds that limited his ability to win name recognition from remote parts of the 16-county district."

"Anti-abortion demonstrators given option for avoiding further citations": "Anti-abortion activists fighting a month-old city ordinance banning outdoor assemblies in school zones during certain hours were able to avoid additional tickets Wednesday by standing five feet apart, on the advice of Waco police, according to one participant." The Waco Tribune-Herald has the rest of the story.

"Gov. Perry's next career": The Houston Chronicle has this op-ed.

"`Pushy' Wright prosecutor knows drama. Connecting with jurors is key to Siegler's success": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Kelly Siegler knows where to draw the line. During a recent notorious murder trial, she knew it would make good courtroom drama to drag in a bloody mattress, tie her fellow prosecutor down and straddle him to illustrate how she believes a young mother killed her husband with 193 stab wounds. But she also knew to limit her demonstration to just a few hypothetical jabs of the knife, following her gut feeling for what makes a box of 12 jurors skeptical."

"Governor commutes sentence in case of mentally retarded Houston killer": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

After presiding over 82 executions, Gov. Rick Perry on Friday granted his first commutation in a death penalty case, granted a life sentence to a mentally retarded Houston killer.

Robert Smith, 36, had been sentenced to death in the 1990 murder of James Michael Wilcox, who was shot to death as Smith fled a clothing store robbery.

Perry commuted Smith's sentence based on a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The decision had been expected since Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal had recommended in January that Smith's sentence be reduced after his own expert diagnosed Smith as retarded.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot execute the mentally retarded. Smith has an IQ of 63, reads at the third-grade level and has difficulty with basic skills such as making change at a store.

"Expected ruling on juvenile crimes affects two other Harris County cases": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]he U.S. Supreme Court's order to postpone the lethal injection of a Harris County man who committed murder when he was 17 has spurred local prosecutors to back away from the scheduled executions of two other inmates with similar cases. The three Harris County killers who were scheduled to die this year will get a reprieve until after the Supreme Court considers whether the death penalty is constitutional for juvenile crimes. They were the only inmates in the nation with scheduled executions for murders committed when they were younger than 18."

Texas Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has issued this week's orders. The Court did not release any opinions.

"Fired Dallas police chief sues city": The AP reports here that "[f]ired Dallas Police Chief Terrell Bolton on Thursday sued the city and the city manager who abruptly dismissed him six months ago, claiming wrongful termination. City Manager Ted Benavides cited poor job performance in August when he fired Bolton, the city's first black police chief. Bolton's lawsuit argues that he was denied due process because, according to the city charter, he should have been demoted rather than fired outright. 'I regret that it has come to this,' Bolton said in a news release. 'But we tried to give the city a chance to do the right thing and they refused.'"

"Can Doctors Resort to Self Help to Screen Out the Litigious? Why Websites Offering Exactly This Service Are Entirely Legal":

FindLaw guest columnist and attorney Paul Scott discusses the legality of a controversial website, Doctorsknow.us. The site provided public information about plaintiffs, attorneys, and expert witnesses involved in past medical malpractice cases, and made that information easily searchable. Scott argues that it was not only legal, but legitimate for the site to provide the information that it did, and for doctors to use the site to refuse to grant non-emergency treatment to litigious plaintiffs, their attorneys, and plaintiffs'-side expert witnesses.

"Defaming The Dead: A Legal Remedy for Absurd Charges That LBJ Murdered JFK":

FindLaw columnist and former counsel to the President John Dean criticizes the common law rule that defamation suits may not be brought on behalf of dead persons whose reputations have been attacked. Dean also suggests, however, that other legal avenues may be open for those who seek to mend such reputational damage. Dean takes as a case in point the explosive, and dubious charge that LBJ was involved in a conspiracy to murder JFK. If this charge is false, is there a remedy for the harm it has caused to LBJ's widow Lady Bird, his daughters, and to his lasting reputation? Dean explains what the legal options are.

"Faith, Hope, Charity and Terror Charges. Accused charity says it was denied a real hearing": The National Law Journal reports here that:

Constitutional lawyers are criticizing judicial treatment of one of the largest Muslim charities in the U.S., arguing that the organization -- shuttered on charges of aiding terrorism -- has been denied a meaningful hearing. Rebuffed by the Supreme Court, the charity alleges that secret evidence and a breach of federal rules have prevented a fair trial. Says professor Jonathan Turley, "It's very difficult to see how the Holy Land Foundation was given due process."

"California Supremes Halt Same-Sex Marriages": Pam Smith of The Recorder has this report.

"City pays for justice": The Amarillo Globe News reports here that "[t]he road has spanned five years and countless miles, but the 46 people arrested in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting took a major step Thursday toward the end of their journey. The news that the city of Amarillo would settle with the Tulia defendants for $5 million and the dissolution of the task force that conducted the sting was met with a combination of joy and introspection by people finally nearing their objective - justice."

"$5 million settlement reached in Tulia lawsuit": The AP reports here that "[p]laintiffs in a civil-rights lawsuit settled for $5 million involving a now-discredited drug bust accomplished their goal of dismantling the task force they say targeted blacks, the attorney for the two women who filed the lawsuit said Thursday."

"Probe demands Demos' records": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that:

Travis County authorities who have been investigating Republican campaign spending since early last year are now seeking information from two Democratic legislators including former House Speaker Pete Laney, D-Hale Center.

Prosecutors described four requests placed in a public file Thursday as part of an effort to compare the campaigns for House speaker of victorious Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and those of Laney and Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin.

The Travis County district attorney revealed subpoenas for Laney; Kuempel; Rep. Barry Telford, D-DeKalb; and Barry Miller, Laney's former chief of staff.

Miller is identified in a subpoena as executive director of the Texas Partnership, a group that supported incumbent House Democrats from 1996 until its dissolution last year. Telford was the partnership's last treasurer.

"Laney subpoenaed in speaker race inquiry": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Travis County prosecutors, accused of unfairly singling out Republicans in their campaign fund-raising investigation, said Thursday that they had subpoenaed records from former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney, D-Hale Center. District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, is investigating whether state laws were violated in the internal election that made Tom Craddick of Midland the state's first Republican House speaker in 130 years."

"Tax-cap plan draws mixed reviews": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Gov. Rick Perry's proposal to place a firm cap on local property tax increases was hailed by anti-tax activists Thursday, but it got a cool reception from representatives of cities, counties, businesses and even a top Senate Republican. Local government advocates, citing mounting costs for homeland security and health care, said the proposal could burn a financial hole in their budgets and do nothing to solve the school funding crisis."

"Perry seeks to put lid on taxes": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday he wants to empower Texans by reining in local property taxes, but cities and counties said limiting their money-raising ability could hamper services including public safety. 'Under my plan, if local governments want to raise property tax revenue beyond what it costs to keep up with growth and inflation, they will have to take an important new step: Convince the voters,' said Perry, whose plan would also limit appraisal increases to 3 percent annually. 'Voters, not government, will be in the driver's seat.'"

"Gov. Rick Perry Calls for 'True Property Tax Relief.' Proposals Will Protect Homeowners, Employers by Capping, Controlling Taxes": The Governor's press office has this release.

"Perry details proposal to reduce taxes": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

Gov. Rick Perry unveiled his tax cut proposal in Houston on Thursday to a frenzied welcome from supporters and dire warnings from opponents.

Perry wants to limit home appraisal increases to 3 percent a year, make elected officials responsible for appraisal values and cap local government tax collections unless voters approve additional taxes.

Perry also promised to decrease school taxes and get rid of the 'Robin Hood' system of school tax distribution, which shifts money from rich districts to poor ones. He offered no specifics on how much taxes would be cut or where he would get funding to replace the money lost in the cuts. He said his plan will be "revenue neutral."

"Retests back crime lab findings. Private firm's results support DNA evidence in 14 more cases": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "DNA retests released Thursday support the findings of the Houston Police Department's troubled crime lab in 14 cases, including a capital murder in which earlier retests were inconclusive."

"Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Participates In The Arrest Of 8 Texarkana Area Podiatrists, Assistants. 134-Count Indictment Charges Health Care Fraud, Racketeering, Bribery, and Obstructing Justice": "Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit participated with federal authorities in the Texarkana-area today to arrest six podiatrists and several of their associates, charging them with numerous felony offenses included in a previously sealed 134-count indictment. Eight arrests were made and others are expected. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury under seal on February 19 and unsealed today, names podiatrists James Naples, Frederick Day, Glenn Feeback, Philip Hahn, Gregg Petty and John White. Also charged are non-licensed associates Linda Velvin, Cynthia Capps and Shannon Richardson. All were associated with New Boston General Hospital Inc. in New Boston." The Attorney General's Office has the remainder of this press release.

"Judge to set trial date for Skilling, Causey": The AP reports here that "Enron Corp.'s former chief executive and former top accountant should learn Thursday when they will face a jury on criminal charges related to the company's meltdown.
Former CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling, 50, is the highest-ranking former Enron executive indicted so far in the scandal. Charged with fraud, conspiracy and insider trading, Skilling is accused of participating in widespread schemes to mislead government regulators and investors about the company's earnings. His co-defendant, former Enron chief accounting officer Richard Causey, faces the same charges accusing him of being the 'principle architect' of schemes to manipulate finances."

"Enron nets SEC nod for reorganization plan": The Houston Business Journal reports here that "[t]he Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a reorganization plan from Enron Corp., after it settled a dispute over an anti-monopoly law that threatened to botch its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Reuters reported on Wednesday."

But its really me!: The First Court of Appeals issued an interesting opinion today that begins:

James Mayol, appellant, appeals from an order denying a change of name. Appellant filed an application for a name change in district court seeking to have his name, James Mayol, changed back to his birth name, Barnabas Akech Malou. The trial court denied the change of name noting that appellant failed to produce documentation establishing the correct identity of James Mayol. In his sole point of error, appellant claims that the trial court erred in denying his petition for change of name because he presented sufficient documentation to establish the identity of appellant as James Mayol. We affirm.

"Killer's friend acknowledges false statements": The AP reports here that "[a] longtime friend of a convicted killer in the yogurt shop murders of four teenagers has acknowledged he lied to authorities investigating the grisly crime.
Patric Norris Davidson of Austin on Monday pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, admitting that he conspired to make false statements to law officers."

"Police say drunken dad put young son behind wheel": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

Yesterday's CCA Opinions: The Court of Criminal Appeals released five published opinions yesterday.

Yesterday's CCA Hand Down List: The Court of Criminal Appeals hand down list is available here.

"Demos who spoke up for speaker shunned": The San Antonio Express-News has this report.

"And then there were seven-GOP's redistricting efforts are paying off": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[w]ith Lloyd Doggett's win and Chris Bell's loss, seven of 10 Anglo Democrats targeted in a GOP congressional map head to November. The map was meant to give the GOP a majority as large as 22-10 in the Texas delegation. Bell's defeat adds to a Democratic toll that includes Jim Turner, who didn't run again, and Ralph Hall, who became a Republican. Of those remaining, five are in GOP-leaning districts; one has no GOP foe; and Doggett faces Republican Rebecca Armendariz Klein in Democratic-leaning District 25."

"Perry to propose cap on increasing property appraisals": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Gov. Rick Perry today will unveil a major tax reduction proposal for local homeowners that is expected to include new limits on property appraisal increases and caps on how much money is raised from property taxes. Perry is coming to Houston, epicenter of the Texas tax revolt movement, to detail his concept, being offered as a way to reform the so-called 'Robin Hood' school finance system. The proposal includes a limit on annual homestead property appraisal increases, perhaps as low as 3 percent, according to a source familiar with the plan. The current cap is 10 percent a year."

"Senators tell board to step in for Sutton. Ellis says legislative action may be needed": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "State senators on Wednesday likened Josiah Sutton, who was freed from prison by DNA tests but not yet pardoned, to defendants in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug bust and said they will seek a legislative solution to the Houston man's case if he is not formally cleared soon."

Apathy: "Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference": The Houston Chronicle reports here: "Voter apathy keeps growing for primaries."

Wish you were here: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Texas' Democratic Party leaders have delivered a familiar message, although in slightly revised form. If they tell Democrats to hightail it up to Oklahoma, then every single Democrat had better hit the highway. Or hit the highway. Ten months after his fellow House Democrats holed up in the Holiday Inn Ardmore, state Rep. Glenn Lewis of Forest Hill must be wondering why he passed up the frequent-guest points. He decided to stay in an Austin Holiday Inn when fellow Democrats took a stand across the Red River. His defeat Tuesday was their pointed way of saying, 'Wish you were here.' Lewis, 49, a Fort Worth lawyer and five-term Texas House moderate Democrat, was beaten by Marc Veasey, 33, fresh from the local office of U.S. Rep. Martin Frost."

Justice Smith promises to finish term: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that:

Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith promised to serve until the end of the year after losing a sometimes-bitter Republican Party primary race that pitted him against the state's GOP leadership.

Smith lost Tuesday's election to San Antonio appeals court Justice Paul Green, drawing 47 percent of the vote to Green's 53 percent. The secretary of state's office still had not posted complete returns by late Tuesday afternoon.

Despite being the incumbent, Smith was considered the underdog because Green had been endorsed by Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and other Republican Party officials.

"I intend to serve out the remaining 10 months of my term before seeking new opportunities," Smith said. On the bench for about 14 months, the 42-year-old justice was an Austin attorney before being elected in 2002.

"I will leave it to others to analyze the effect of Perry's and Cornyn's involvement in this race," Smith said. "I want to thank all the conservative leaders and voters who supported this campaign."

"Perry gives a boost to Republican candidates": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[w]hen Paul Green won his bid to unseat Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven W. Smith, the first person he thanked after his family was a man who wasn't there - Gov. Rick Perry. Perry skipped the election-night party in favor of, as the governor put it, 'hangin' at the house and watching returns.' But Green, a judge on the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio, said Perry was there when it counted."

"Perry's push aids 2 statewide GOP candidates": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Gov. Rick Perry wasn't on the ballot, but he went two for two -- almost two for two, anyway. Perry took a personal interest in two statewide races in the Republican primary Tuesday, and both his candidates advanced. In one, appellate Judge Paul Green of San Antonio, who was backed by the governor, unseated incumbent Justice Steven Wayne Smith from the Texas Supreme Court. In the other, Perry appointee Victor Carrillo led a four-candidate field for the GOP nomination for the Railroad Commission. Carrillo, however, was barely forced into a runoff with Robert Butler, a retired state employee from Palestine."

Proposed tax relief: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here: "Perry to propose tax-relief measures for homeowners."

I'll have a cheesburger, no pork, please: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here: "House votes to block fast-food obesity suits."

"Dallas, Denton sheriffs indicted": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a] day after being soundly defeated in primaries, the sheriffs of Dallas and Denton counties were indicted late Wednesday by a Dallas County grand jury probing their dealings with a jail commissary contractor. Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles was indicted on a second-degree felony charge of transferring more than $100,000 in political contributions from several campaign accounts to personal investment and checking accounts. Denton County Sheriff was indicted on two third-degree felony charges of lying to the grand jury. Lucas campaigned for the Precinct 1 post on the Commissioners Court but was defeated in the Republican primary."

Off to S.A.: I will be in San Antonio for a conference tonight and therefore the Texas Law Blog will not be updated until tomorrow morning.

"Internet providers join forces to sue hundreds of spammers": The AP reports here that "[s]ome of the nation's largest Internet providers, in an unusual joint effort, said today they filed six lawsuits against hundreds of people who were accused of sending millions of unwanted e-mails in violation of the new U.S. law against 'spam.' The legal actions by Microsoft Corp., America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and Yahoo! Inc., represent the first major industry actions under the 'can spam' legislation that went into effect Jan. 1. The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in California, Georgia, Virginia and Washington state, were announced at a news conference."

"The impact of '3 strikes' laws a decade later. Supporters cite a drop in crime and cost savings, while critics note other expenses and the law's harsh nature.": The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

Incumbants Win Re-Election at the CCA: Lawrence "Larry" Meyers, Cheryl Johnson, and Michael E. Keasler all won re-election to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

"Tort reform, redistricting created challenges for incumbents": Supporting the new Republican leadership and its agenda proved to be poison for the political careers of several Democratic legislators. Seven Democrats, including longtime Houston Rep. Ron Wilson, were defeated in Tuesday's primary or headed for runoffs. Five were tied directly to support for GOP-backed legislation and Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick." The AP has the rest of the story.

"Incumbent leads for Railroad Commission": The AP reports here that "[i]ncumbent Victor Carrillo led the pack Tuesday in the Republican primary for the Texas Railroad Commission. Carrillo had 49 percent of the vote and was assured of at least a runoff spot with 46 percent of precincts reporting. Challenger Robert Butler of Palestine was second with 24 percent of the vote. K. Dale Henry of Mullin and Douglas Deffenbaugh of San Antonio followed with 15 percent and 13 percent, respectively. The Republican establishment put its weight behind Carrillo, whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed to a vacated commission seat in February 2003."

"Perry warns lawmakers not to increase taxes": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[j]ust as legislators are mulling over ways to pay for education changes, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued a stern warning Tuesday against broad tax increases. Perry said he might call a special legislative session on education and school finance overhauls around April 1. 'The worst thing that we can do is to come into a special session and create a whole bunch of new taxes in the name of educational excellence,' Perry said in a speech before Texas cattle raisers."

"Denton will appeal county border case": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a] judge's ruling on what constitutes the Tarrant-Denton County border -- an imaginary line extending from the northern Dallas County border west to Wise County -- does not mean the long-running dispute is finished, according to Denton County officials. Denton County officials say the judge's ruling enters yet a third description of the border into the disagreement. At issue is taxable property worth millions over the next decade."

"Texans favor Edwards as running mate": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here:

With his major Democratic rivals out of the race, Sen. John Kerry breezed to victories in Texas and three other Southern states Tuesday night.

But the welcome won't be nearly so friendly when the Massachusetts senator tries to wrest votes from the president's home state in the November general election.

After North Carolina Sen. John Edwards left the race a week ago as Kerry's last major opponent, Texas became little more than an afterthought in Kerry's march toward the Democratic nomination. Kerry also picked up uncontested victories in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.

With 82 percent of the vote counted in Texas, Kerry had 66 percent and Edwards 15 percent, according to early returns from The Associated Press.

Although Edwards had left the race, CNN exit polls showed the popular Southern senator as Democrats' leading choice for the vice-presidential spot. Edwards has a strong residual following in Texas and had been on track to beat Kerry in the state before he left the race, said Ty Meighan, director of the Scripps Howard Texas Poll, which is conducted for the Star-Telegram and other state media outlets.

"Dems punish Craddick allies. Kerry cruises to victory in 4 states; Bush passes delegate threshold Three reps face losses in primary": The AP has this report.

"Kerry wins Texas and 3 other states": The AP has this report.

"Ballot counting machine may have undercounted. Problem could affect close races from Nueces County": The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports Cohere that "Nueces County's primary race might not be over. Election officials late Tuesday said they were investigating reports of undercounting on the machine used to count early ballots and Republican ballots. Nueces County Clerk Ernest Briones said the problems could have affected about 1,000 votes and could change the results of any race that was close after early ballots were counted, namely the state District 34 House race and the Nueces County Commissioner Precinct 1 race."

"S.A.'s Green unseats controversial Smith": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "Steven Wayne Smith, a Texas Supreme Court justice viewed by some as a rebel with a radical cause, was defeated late Tuesday by a well-funded challenger from San Antonio, Paul Green. With nearly all precinct results reported, Green held a comfortable lead over Smith in the Republican primary. 'This state wants judges that follow the law, that are not activist judges,' Green, 52, told his supporters at an election party in Austin. 'I am committed to that proposition.' Smith, 42, congratulated Green for a well-run campaign."

"Incumbent Texas Supreme Court justice loses re-election bid": The AP reports here that "[t]wo years after defeating an opponent who had the backing of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, incumbent GOP Justice Steven W. Smith found the political tables turned on him in his bid for re-election to the Texas Supreme Court. Paul Green, endorsed by Perry, defeated Smith in Tuesday's primary."

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Candidate backed by Perry may oust Supreme Court incumbent."

Justice Green Defeats Justice Smith for Place 5 on the Texas Supreme Court: County-by-county results can be viewed here.

Texas Elections: The Secretary of State's Office has this website devoted to Texas elections.

"Bexar computer glitch delays counting of votes": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[t]abulation computers for Bexar County's almost-new $8.5 million touch-screen voting system had to be re-programmed midway through Tuesday's count, momentarily throwing the local party primaries into disarray for the second time in two years. Tabulation of the Bexar County votes was delayed for about 11/2 hours, beginning about 8 p.m."

"Republican committee tries to stop lawsuit. GOP lawyer said Democrats' case is politically motivated": "Lawyers for Texans for a Republican Majority today will go to court to try to stop what they say is a politically motivated lawsuit. Four Democratic candidates who lost in November 2002 have accused the Republican Majority political action committee of hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate donations that were used to defeat them and other Democratic candidates for the Legislature. The lawsuit is covering some of the same ground as a Travis County grand jury investigation into whether Texans for a Republican Majority, created at the behest of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, illegally used corporate donations as campaign expenditures." The Austin American-Statesman has the rest of the story. [Registration required]

"Voters cast ballots, voice views on Texas primary day": The Austin American-Statesman has this report. [Registration required]

"Child molester has no regrets about castration": The AP reports here that "[a] former YMCA employee accused of sexually assaulting a boy during a field trip says he has no regrets about undergoing voluntary castration. But David Wayne Jones, only the second inmate to undergo the surgery in Texas, said Monday he's innocent of a sexual assault charge that could send him back to prison for the rest of his life."

"Dearth of drama taking a toll at Texas' polls today": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

Today's Texas Legal History--Baker Botts: The Handbook of Texas Online provides the following look at the history of Baker Botts:

The law firm Baker Botts was officially established in 1866 by Houston lawyer Peter W. Gray and Walter Browne Botts under the name Gray and Botts. Botts, a member of a distinguished family of lawyers in Virginia, served in the Texas legislature and as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army. The firm became Gray, Botts, and Baker when former Harris County district judge James Addison Baker joined in 1872. Gray died in 1874, and James A. Baker joined in 1887, when the firm became Baker, Botts, and Baker.

For the first thirty-four years of the firm's history, its partners were primarily trial lawyers, railroad lawyers, or both. In the late 1800s, as the commercial importance of Houston grew, Baker, Botts, and Baker became general counsel for several railroads-the Missouri Pacific, the Houston and Texas Central, and the Houston, East and West Texas (the latter two later became part of the Southern Pacific system). As railroad work increased, Robert S. Lovett joined the firm, which by 1892 was known as Baker, Botts, Baker, and Lovett. The firm then served as general attorneys for all the Southern Pacific lines in Texas. Lovett became general counsel for the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads in 1904 and later served as chairman of both systems.

After the turn of the century, not only did the number of attorneys increase, but the firm's areas of practice expanded, and its structure changed to resemble that of modern law firms with a managing partner and strong centralized management.

Today's Rule of Evidence: Texas Rule of Evidence 409 provides:

Evidence of furnishing or offering or promising to pay medical, hospital, or similar expenses occasioned by an injury is not admissible to prove liability for the injury.

Evidence of offering to pay may be admissible for other reasons, e.g., impeachment, agency, ownership, or control.

"Abbott says police can keep 911 calls confidential": The AP reports here that:

Recordings of 911 calls made moments after a mother and son were shot and killed by a masked intruder can remain confidential, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. Tricia and Kevin Whitaker were fatally wounded when family members surprised a masked intruder in their Sugar Land home in December. Two other family members survived the attack. Abbott said police did not have to release tapes of the 911 calls because they would show who called police and what was said to dispatchers about the attack just moments after shots were fired. Abbott's opinion was issued Thursday in response to requests by the Houston Chronicle and other media outlets under the Texas Public Information Act.

Dog-gone-it!: The AP reports here that "[d]ogs have allegedly been biting off less than they can chew. The district attorney's office filed five misdemeanor counts against Texas-based Big Bark Bakery claiming the company short-weighted treats in several brands of doggie biscuits sold at a Camarillo specialty store. Big Bark-produced biscuit packages were lighter than advertised, Senior Deputy District Attorney Terence Kilbride said. Inspectors found dog biscuits labeled 3 ounces when they actually weighed less than 2 ounces, the prosecutor said"

New and Improved!: The Legislative Council has released the "new and improved" online version of the Texas Statutes.

"Gay Marriage and Judicial Activism": Per Curiam has this post.

1897 Technology in the Courtroom: Jim Dedman has this post.

Criminalizing PDA: The Curmudgeonly Clerk has this report on Indonesia's attempt to make kissing in public a crime.

"Liberals organize, but lack funds. Conservative groups benefit from alumni private donors, businesses": The Daily Texan has this report.

"Why the Supreme Court Was Wrong To Allow States to Discriminate Against Theology Students, and What States Can Still Constitutionally Do":

FindLaw guest columnist and Senior Litigation Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice Walter Weber discusses the scope of the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Locke v. Davey. Locke held that a student could not use a State of Washington scholarship to study theology, in light of a provision in the State's Constitution forbidding it. Weber contends that after this holding, voucher systems that allow money to be used for private school education, as well as cases ensuring religious speakers access to public forums, still remain intact.

"The California Supreme Court's Recent Holding: A 'Presumed' Father Has Greater Rights Than a Biological One":

FindLaw columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman discusses a significant recent California Supreme Court family law decision. In the decision, the Court upheld a preference for custody by a "presumed" father, married to a child's mother, over custody by the child's biological father. As Grossman notes, the case raises both statutory issues -- for the Court was called upon to interpret an outdated statute that pre-dated authoritative paternity testing -- and constitutional issues.

"BU President Sloan speaks out against gay relationships": The Waco Tribune-Herald reports here that "Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. called same-sex relationships immoral and 'incredibly destructive' at a student chapel service Monday, after a week of controversy over an editorial in the student newspaper defending gay marriage."

The Austin American-Statesman reports "Valley's old-time election system under fire. Politiqueras' use of influence being challenged."

"Medicare Nominee Avoids Senators' Queries": The AP reports here that "Mark McClellan, President Bush's choice to run Medicare, said Monday he won't answer senators' questions about his opposition to importing prescription drugs from Canada before he takes over the government health program. Republican leaders in the Senate want to vote to confirm McClellan by the end of the week, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tries to put in place the Medicare overhaul that Bush signed last year. However, McClellan's rejection of the request from Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrats Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan sets up the prospect that they will use Senate procedures to drag out the confirmation."

"Group wants court reporter prosecuted": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Judicial Watch, a national public interest organization, has asked Montgomery County officials to prosecute a court reporter who worked here for 18 years without a license. The group also wants the county to arrange to recover the public salary and professional fees paid to Joanne Bergh, who since has resigned. It did not name an amount. The district attorney's office confirmed Monday that a criminal investigation of Bergh, until recently the court reporter in County Court at Law No. 3, is under way."

"Tax talk all the buzz in Capitol. March 29 could bring schools special session": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]alk at the Capitol finally turns to taxes this week, the remaining piece in a school finance puzzle that could lead to a special session as early as March 29. Lawmakers studiously avoided discussion of taxes during the primary election season. There are 45 contested primary races for House seats and five for the Senate."

Today's Primary Election News: The AP reports "New districts being put to test in today's primary." The Houston Chronicle reports "HoustonChronicle.com - Justice [Department] to monitor elections in 3 counties." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports "Primaries more important at local level." The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports "GOP big ticket on today's ballot." The Amarillo Globe News reports "amarilloPrimary polls open for Texas voters." The Waco Tribune-Herald reports "Primary election offers most contests in GOP column." The Beaumont Enterprise reports "Decision Day is at hand."

"Cornyn endorses District 10 candidate McCaul": The Brenham Banner-Press reports here that "[o]n the eve of primary voting, U.S. House District 10 candidate Michael McCaul picked up an endorsement from his former boss, who also happens to be a member of Congress. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is serving his first term in Congress, urged voters to send McCaul to join him in Washington during an endorsement stop here Sunday. McCaul is one of eight candidates for the District 10 seat. The newly configured 10th District stretches from Austin to Katy, and includes all or part of Harris, Travis, Burleson, Lee, Bastrop, Austin, Waller and Washington counties."

"Is that legal? Not likely, but it's sure fun to watch": The Beaumont Enterprise has this report.

"Primary Texas Politics: Presidential race takes a back seat": The AP reports here that:

With the Democratic presidential nominee assured, the Texas primary drama turns to what many Lone Star State voters are infinitely familiar with - new congressional districts.

Candidates for Congress in Tuesday's primary are squaring off in Republican-drawn districts that received federal court approval in January and could give the GOP a commanding advantage in the state's 32-member congressional delegation.

Republican legislators pushed through the new districts last year, despite two out-of-state boycotts by Democrats.

Also before the voters are a race for Texas Railroad Commission and contests for the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, State Board of Education and Texas Legislature.

"Odessa cable company refuses political ads": The AP reports here that "[a] cable company that has run commercials for state and federal election campaigns will not air ads for candidates in local West Texas races. The decision by Cox Media, which handles advertising for Odessa cable company Cable One, surprised some candidates and a campaign strategist."

"Reliant Resources subsidiary facing criminal indictment": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

Houston-based Reliant Resources disclosed this afternoon that the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco has notified the company it intends to seek a criminal indictment against one of its subsidiaries.

Reliant said the indictment will be based on allegations that the subsidiary, Reliant Energy Services, engaged in price manipulation on two days in June 2000 by curtailing its power plant generation in California. That came during the state's energy crisis.

Reliant also said it understands the U.S. Attorney's office is likely to seek indictment against 'certain former and current employees of Reliant Energy Services.' The company said none of those people is an officer of Reliant Resources.

"Study: Texas near bottom for legal fairness in U.S.": "At No. 45, Texas ranks near the bottom among the 50 states in a study of legal fairness by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform. More than 1,400 senior attorneys were surveyed for the state liability systems study. In its third year, the U.S. Chamber survey is considered by many as a standard by which companies, policymakers and the media can judge the legal fairness of states." The Austin Business Journal has the rest of the report.

"Ex-nurse charged with killing patients seeks brief release": The AP reports here that "[a] former nurse charged with killing 10 elderly patients wants to attend her son's high school graduation, but a judge on Monday said a sheriff will have to decide whether she can be temporarily released from jail. During a hearing Monday, state District Judge Roger Towery ruled on several motions filed by the attorney for Vickie Dawn Carson Jackson, who was fired from Nocona General Hospital in 2001 after being suspected in up to two dozen patient deaths."

"East Texans settle lawsuit over pipeline": The AP reports here that "[a] settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit filed by nine East Texas landowners against the operator of a natural gas pipeline. The landowners sued Gulf South Pipeline Co. in 2000, complaining of pipeline-related problems on their land."

"Court Rules on Defendant-Counsel Rights": The AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court ruled Monday that while people pleading guilty to crimes are entitled to an attorney, judges don't have to warn them of the disadvantages of not seeing a lawyer. Justices used the case of an Iowa man convicted of drunken driving to clarify rights under the Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which guarantees legal assistance to those accused of crimes. In its 9-0 ruling, the court reaffirmed that people facing prison time are entitled to attorneys at critical stages of the process, including a plea hearing."

Today's Orders List: Today's orders list is now available from the United States Supreme Court. The Court did not grant certiorari in any cases today.

"Court Won't Hear Boy Scouts' Appeal": Anne Gearan of the AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal from the Boy Scouts over what the organization claims is discrimination because of its policy against hiring gays."

Supreme Court Opinions: Howard Bashman is reporting that the United States Supreme Court has issued two opinions today. The orders list is not yet available. SCOTUSBlog has this report on the two opinions.

"Attorneys working to clear man's name in rape case": The Austin American-Statesman reports here that "[a] man freed from prison last year after new DNA tests showed he did not commit the rape he was convicted of in 1998 is still trying to get his record cleared, his attorneys said. David Dow, director of the Texas Innocence Network, is trying to clear Josiah Sutton's name through a court order to vacate the conviction, as well as a governor's pardon based on innocence, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday. State District Judge Joan Huffman is scheduled in mid-April to hear arguments on vacating the conviction of Sutton, 22." [Registration required]

"Investigated PAC paid phone bank with corporate money. Documents shed light on PAC's defense that corporate money didn't benefit candidates": The Austin American-Statesman reports here that "[t]hree weeks before the Nov. 5, 2002, election, Texans for a Republican Majority used corporate money to pay telemarketers to locate GOP and swing voters in 15 state House districts. The political action committee never disclosed to Texas campaign finance authorities the $65,000 it paid for the phone bank, arguing that the corporate-funded activity was an administrative expense that did not directly benefit any candidate. State law bars using corporate or union money for political activities, but it allows political committees to spend that money on administrative expenses." [Registratiobn required]

"The California Constitution and Same-Sex Marriage: Even if California's Anti-Gay-Marriage Statutes Violate the State Constitution, San Francisco Was Still Wrong Not To Wait for the Courts":

FindLaw columnist and U.C. Hastings law professor Vikram Amar discusses a crucial but sometimes overlooked provision of the California Constitution that relates to the same-sex marriage debate. As Amar points out, this provision suggests that rather than simply begin performing same-sex marriages, San Francisco should have waited for an appeals court decision in its favor. Amar discusses the provision's language and notes why, in his view, it applies -- and ought to apply -- to San Francisco.

"New U.N. High Commissioner For Human Rights Louise Arbour: The Issues She Should Focus On Now, From Abusive Counter-Terrorism Tactics to Rights Violators Who Are Members of the Rights Commission":

FindLaw guest columnist and human rights attorney Noah Leavitt offers some very specific suggestions as to the agenda that new U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour should pursue. Leavitt discuss why Arbour's predecessor, Mary Robinson, was successful, and explains why the situation Arbour will face is especially challenging, with some human-rights-abusing countries influencing the U.N.'s human rights agenda. He also explains why Arbour's background suggests she is generally well suited for the job.

"Aggressive Billing Tactics Lead to Disbarment. A dispute over $40 ends with a Georgia attorney losing his license": "Lawyers have all sorts of billing arrangements with clients, but the Georgia Supreme Court decided that a Marietta attorney's methods were so bad that he should be disbarred. Bobby Glenn Adkins Jr. charged clients for the time he spent defending himself from grievances they filed against him with the State Bar of Georgia's discipline authorities, according to the high court's March 1 ruling." Jonathan Ringel of the Fulton County Daily Report has the rest of the story.

"Uneasy Alliance. Opponents to gay marriage now working together in consolidated case":

Two Christian law firms that want San Francisco's same-sex marriages declared illegal have so far fought the city independently. Now that Judge Ronald Quidachay has consolidated the cases, Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund and Florida-based Liberty Counsel will have to work together. But clearly, neither wants to play second fiddle. Attorneys from both groups say they haven't discussed how the merged cases will be tried, but expect to do that soon.

Pam Smith of The Recorder has this report.

"DA calls open poker tourneys illegal": "Do bar and restaurant card tournaments requiring entry fees and promising prize money violate state gambling laws? District Attorney Bill Sowder says they do." The AP has the rest of the story.

"Gay rights battle not just about marriage. State-backed civil unions a major step": The Houston Chronicle has this report which begins: "[w]hen the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Texas' sodomy ban last year, Justice Antonin Scalia furiously predicted a 'massive disruption of the current social order' and warned that barriers to gay marriage would be next to fall."

"Bush law affects teacher licensing": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

Although meant to get highly qualified teachers into classrooms, the country's No Child Left Behind law has encouraged policy-makers to lower teacher-licensing standards in Texas and could promote lightened standards nationwide, critics say.

Signed by President Bush in 2002, the federal education law mandates that all minority and poor children read and do math at grade level by 2014. It has been considered one of Bush's top domestic priorities.

However, the new law motivated -- at least in part -- the recent decision that will allow instructors with no previous education training to receive a government license to teach grades eight through 12 in Texas.

"Group aims to purge politics of partisanship": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here:

Take a morsel of Democrat, add a pinch of Republican, then drain the combination of all political partisanship and you have a recipe for what some call an "Independent Texan." That is what members of a fledgling political movement want to achieve as they begin to pick and choose who they like and, perhaps more important, who they do not like this election year.

"Leading Ladies. Gains by female politicians have stalled elsewhere, but women are succeeding in Texas politics": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has this report.

"Young voters' apathy targeted. Groups' grass-roots efforts meant to engage civic-minded 18-to-24-year-olds": The AP has this report.

"Rumors swirl about rumors that started with a rumor": The San Antonio Express-News has this report.

"Wal-Mart employee's attire gets him fired": The San Antonio Express News reports here that:

Daniel A. Lorenz regularly wore a collared shirt to work, but it clearly wasn't the type expected in the Wal-Mart Supercenter's dress code. He says he was fired last week upon reporting for duty in his priest's shirt with Roman collar, an Arab headdress and six crosses. Supervisors had warned Lorenz that his job was at risk over his appearance, which they said violated dress codes and upset customers and fellow workers, particularly Catholics.

Upcoming House Meetings: The Texas House of Representatives has three meetings scheduled this week.

On Wednesday, March 10th at 10:00 AM, the Public School Finance Committee will hold a meeting in Capitol Extension E1.030.

On Thursday, March 10th at 10:00 AM, the Public School Finance Committee will hold a meeting in Capitol Extension E1.030.

On Friday, March 12th at 10:30 AM, the Licensing & Administrative Procedurs Committee will hold a meeting in the Commissioners Meetin Room in Pharr, Texas. This meeting will "[s]tudy ways to reduce the incidence of underage drinking in Texas [] [i]nclud[ing] an analysis of [the] best practices in other states."

Around the State: The following headlines appeared in Sunday papers across the State of Texas:

The Houston Chronicle reports:

"House races to provide top show. Redistricting has heated up contests, party politics as primaries approach."

Dueling wills fuel battle over oilman's millions. Pair stand accused of forging document."

The San Antonio Express-News reports:

"Kerry offers a Texas-size vision in S.A. visit."

"State may close troubled facility for mentally retarded."

"Remap making for racial races."

"Robert Rivard: Rumors of news: A time to publish, a time to not publish."

"Governor bites back at rumors." [Saturday's Express-News]

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

"City joins housing funds lawsuit."

"Bush has kept promises, Hutchison tells faithful."

"Heated congressional contests take center stage in primaries."

"Test your knowledge of Texas history with these questions."

"Gov. Perry Announces Appointment of Maultsby Judge Of 303rd Judicial District Family Court in Dallas County": The Governor's Press Office has this press release.

New York Times Feature on Justice Blackmun: The New York Times has a feature collection on the letters, notes, and unpublished drafts of opinions (Flash required).

"Friends for Decades, but Years on Court Left Them Strangers": Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times reports:

When Harry A. Blackmun was named to the Supreme Court, his mother warned that the appointment would change his relationship with Warren E. Burger, his friend since boyhood who had become chief justice the previous year.

Justice Blackmun, in an oral history, described his response: "Mother, it just can't. We've been friends for a long time."

"`Well, you wait and see,' " his mother replied. "Of course, she knew Warren intimately," he told his interviewer, adding, "and she was wiser than I was."

"Blackmun Papers Are a Window on Court's Daily Life": Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reports:

A cornucopia of inside information about the Supreme Court went on view Thursday as the Library of Congress released papers of the late Justice Harry Blackmun. Initial peeks indicate that Blackmun, who retired from the Court in 1994, cooperated extensively with the authors of the controversial 1979 book "The Brethren" and that the Court in his time was the scene of numerous vote changes that altered the outcome of major cases, including Roe v. Wade.

"Justice Harry Blackmun's Papers. Documents, Oral History Reveal Supreme Court's Inner Workings": NPR has a special page on the Blackmun Papers.

"Roe v. Wade was nearly reversed, papers show": Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times has this article which begins:

In spring 1992, Justice Harry Blackmun's struggle to preserve the right to abortion that he had articulated for the Supreme Court two decades earlier was headed for bitter failure.

Five justices had voted in a closed-door conference to uphold provisions in a restrictive Pennsylvania abortion law. Roe v. Wade was in peril.

Then, suddenly, everything changed. A letter from Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Blackmun had long since written off as a potential ally, arrived at his chambers.

"Dear Harry," the letter began. "I need to see you as soon as you have a few free moments. I want to tell you about some developments in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and at least part of what I say should come as welcome news."

"The Changing Battlefield in the Gay Marriage War: The Progress of a Civil Rights Movement Outside and Within the U.S. Supreme Court":

FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Edward Lazarus explains the long, strange trip that has taken us from 1986's decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, to 2003's decision in Lawrence v. Texas, overruling Bowers. How did a Supreme Court that voted 5-4 to uphold a law criminalizing gay sodomy, come to strike down an anti-sodomy law 6-3 -- with even the dissenters on the defensive on gay rights issues? Lazarus argues that on gay rights, a legal revolution and a moral revolution have occurred contemporaneously.

"The California Constitution and Same-Sex Marriage: Even if California's Anti-Gay-Marriage Statutes Violate the State Constitution, San Francisco Was Still Wrong Not To Wait for the Courts":

FindLaw columnist and U.C. Hastings law professor Vikram Amar discusses a crucial but sometimes overlooked provision of the California Constitution that relates to the same-sex marriage debate. As Amar points out, this provision suggests that rather than simply begin performing same-sex marriages, San Francisco should have waited for an appeals court decision in its favor. Amar discusses the provision's language and notes why, in his view, it applies -- and ought to apply -- to San Francisco.

"State AGs Come Down Against Gay Marriages": The AP has this story which begins: "[g]ay marriage has stirred up a passionate whirlwind of moral convictions, religious beliefs and politics, sweeping the divisive question onto the desks of state attorneys general, the top law enforcers in each state."

"Cameron sheriff blames politics for escapes": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[o]ne week after three prisoners escaped from his jail, the upcoming primary battle between Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu and four challengers has shaped up as a referendum on who is best suited to restore order to a chaotic jail system."

"Governor speaks out on marital rumors. In first public comments on talk that's traveled around the state and nation, Perry says his marriage is fine and castigates those who spread rumors online.": The Austin American Statesman reports here (registration required) that:

Gov. Rick Perry, speaking out for the first time about a widely circulated rumor about his personal life and professional future, said Thursday that he has been targeted by 'an obvious, orchestrated effort' launched by political foes.

For almost two months, variations of the rumors have swirled around the Capitol, been repeated among friends across the state, been investigated by reporters from around the nation, been gossiped about in Washington and been posted on Web sites that harbor political ill will toward Republicans in general and Perry in particular.

In almost all versions, the main theme has been the same: Perry, caught in an act of infidelity, is headed for divorce from wife Anita, who has moved out of the Governor's Mansion. The rumors also say Perry will resign.

Perry said it's all false.

"Report: Perry blames political foes for 'smear campaign'": The AP reports here that "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is denying widespread rumors that he and his wife plan to divorce over his alleged infidelity and that he will resign from office, according to a published report Friday. Perry told the Austin American-Statesman in a copyright story that political enemies are responsible for the 'smear campaign.'"

"Voters to have more leeway at polls statewide": The AP reports:

Provisional voting will be available statewide for the first time in Tuesday's Texas primary.

Among those who may cast a provisional ballot are voters whose names do not appear on the voter registration roll at the polls. The ballots are not counted until voters' eligibility is verified after the election. Also eligible are first-time voters who are on the voter list but who do not have identification at the polling place. A registered voter who tries to vote in a different precinct also can cast a provisional ballot.

Provisional ballots are not counted until the voter registrar and local ballot board verifies a voter's eligibility. The affidavit that a provisional voter must sign also acts as a voter registration application, ensuring that the voter is registered for future elections.

"Political leanings at issue in races for top criminal court": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram takes a look at the three races for seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

"Judges help ease boycott backlog": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here on the boycott and backlog of juvenile cases in Tarrant County:

To avert a possible shutdown of the juvenile justice system, Tarrant County's family court judges are hearing cases caught up in the boycott of three associate judges by defense attorneys and prosecutors.

State District Judge Frank Sullivan said he heard four cases Monday after the six family court judges agreed earlier to a weekly rotation to help state District Judge Jean Boyd when her docket became overloaded.

"We said all along that no one is going to shut it down out there, and we meant it," Sullivan said. "There are enough of us around to keep that from happening."

Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry alerted officials in January that his prosecutors were boycotting the courtroom of Associate Judge Kim Brown, saying that her rulings were "not in the best interest of public safety." Prosecutors began the boycott Jan. 29, saying they believed that Brown was releasing some defendants too quickly, and without sanctions.

Last week, defense lawyers called for their own boycott of not only Brown but also associate judges Tim Menikos and Ellen Smith to highlight what they say is the "destructive nature" of the prosecutors' walkout.

Both sides are using a legal provision that allows them to ask that a state district judge, and not an associate, hear their cases. By boycotting the three associate judges, the prosecutors and attorneys would have forced Boyd to personally hear each case.

"U.S. may ease rule on border crossings": "Millions of Mexican citizens who make brief visits to the United States are likely to be exempted from requirements that they be fingerprinted and photographed, the Homeland Security Department said Thursday." The Los Angeles Times has the rest of the story.

"Condemned killer given stay; lawyers cite retardation issue": The AP has this report.

"Prosecutor recovering from attack by defendant": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a] top Harris County prosecutor was recovering from a fractured nose and concussion Thursday after a man who had been convicted of armed robbery lunged across the courtroom and repeatedly punched him in the head. Assistant District Attorney Marc Brown was cross-examining the brother of defendant Wilbert Lillie when the attack occurred Wednesday morning, witnesses said. Lillie, 21, had been found guilty that morning and the penalty phase of his trial was under way. Witnesses said the brother testified that Lillie is a good person, but Lillie apparently took issue with Brown's questioning."

"Jurors send Wright to prison. Wife who claimed abuse gets 25 years for killing husband": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Susan Wright was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday by a jury that believed parts of her harrowing tale of domestic abuse, but not her claim that she acted in self-defense when she stabbed her husband 193 times with a butcher knife."

That's quite a load!: The AP reports here that:

A father facing drug charges argues that a trooper made an unconstitutional search by changing his son's apparently soiled diaper and finding a bag of crack hidden inside.

The diaper change was a search conducted without probable cause, Walter H. Martin argued in asking the court to throw out the evidence. Martin, 30, goes on trial next week. His wife, Tawana Fairley, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the fall.

Trooper Douglas Humphrey found the drugs in June after pulling Martin over for speeding. Humphrey learned Martin was a suspect in a drug investigation, and a search by a drug-detection dog led Fairley to admit she had marijuana, court documents said. When Humphrey lifted the 18-month-old boy, he noticed "a large load" in the baby's diaper. The trooper then found the cocaine inside.

"Dallas carjacker wins reprieve from execution": The AP reports here that "[a] condemned inmate was spared this evening less than an hour before he could have been taken to the Texas death chamber for killing a man who was shot 10 times in the head. Lawyers for Yokamon Hearn, 25, contend he may be mentally retarded and want time to pursue the claim. The U.S. Supreme Court has barred the execution of the mentally retarded. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to the delay but also set an accelerated briefing schedule to ensure the appeals would not be prolonged, said Dallas County prosecutor Lori Ordiway."

"Texas governor's race gets Kinky": The Houston Chronicle has this report.

"Wright gets 25 years in prison for murder": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Susan Wright was sentenced to 25 years in prison today for the murder of the husband she stabbed 193 times and buried in the couple's back yard. Wright, 27, began crying silently upon hearing the jury's sentence and declined to make a statement before being taken into custody. She will be eligible for parole in 12 1/2 years."

"Dallas carjacker heads to Texas death chamber": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a] condemned inmate described by a prosecutor as an 'equal opportunity carjacker' was headed to the Texas death chamber tonight for the slaying of a Dallas-area man who was abducted then shot in the head 10 times. Yokamon Hearn, 25, was sentenced to lethal injection for the 1998 death of Frank Meziere, a 23-year-old Plano stockbroker. Hearn was taken at gunpoint from a self-service car wash in Dallas where he cleaning his black Ford Mustang convertible. Hearn would be the ninth convicted killer executed in Texas this year and the second in as many nights."

"Court throws out only conviction in 9/11 attacks": The AP reports here that "[a] German court today overturned the world's only conviction for the Sept. 11 attacks and ordered a retrial for a Moroccan found guilty last year of aiding the Hamburg cell of suicide hijackers. Mounir el Motassadeq's conviction on more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization was flawed because the lower court failed to properly consider the absence of evidence from a key witness who is in U.S. custody, the Federal Criminal Court ruled. The jailed 29-year-old's case was sent back to court in Hamburg."

"Michigan to charge Texas serial killer due for release": The AP reports here that "Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said today he is moving to prosecute the confessed serial killer of 13 people in an effort to keep the man from being released from a Texas prison in two years. Coral E. Watts, 50, is serving a burglary sentence that came in a plea bargain barring the government from using his confessions. Cox said a first-degree murder charge was to be filed later in the day in a Ferndale court against Watts in the 1979 stabbing death of a suburban Detroit woman."

The AP also has "A summary of some cases involving Coral Eugene Watts."

Another example of "Do what I say, not what I do.": The AP reports here that "[a] [New Mexico] lawmaker was charged with drunken driving, hours after attending a bill-signing ceremony to highlight the state's newest effort to crack down on DWI offenders. Republican Joe Thompson, 37, the House minority whip, apologized after his arrest early Wednesday."

"Jury deliberates sentence for woman who stabbed husband": The AP reports here that "[a] jury on Thursday began deliberating the punishment for a woman convicted of murder for stabbing her tied-up husband 193 times. On Wednesday the jury rejected Susan Wright's claims that she killed Jeffrey Wright in self-defense after suffering years of spousal abuse and convicted the 27-year-old former topless dancer of murder. Wright faces anywhere from probation to 99 years in prison. Prosecutors want her to serve at least 45 years behind bars, but Wright's attorneys argued Thursday for probation for the mother of two."

"Papers: Roe V. Wade Was Almost Overturned": The AP reports here that "[t]he Supreme Court was ready in 1992 to effectively overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy got cold feet, and the vote went the other way. Internal notes in the papers of late Justice Harry A. Blackmun provide a glimpse of the secretive dealings that led to the court's ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that year. Blackmun's extensive records from 24 years on the court were opened Thursday, the fifth anniversary of his death."

Today's Texas Legal History: From the Handbook of Texas Online:

WALTHALL, JAMES DU BOSE (1876-1916). James Du Bose Walthall, attorney general, son of Thomas J. and Alice (Du Bose) Walthall, was born in Perry County, Alabama, on March 12, 1876. He attended Marion Academy at Marion, Alabama, and the University of Texas, from which he received his LL.D. degree in 1903. He practiced law in San Antonio until 1907, when he was appointed assistant attorney general by R. V. Davidson. In 1910 he became first assistant attorney general under Jewel P. Lightfoot. Walthall served as attorney general under Governor Oscar B. Colquitt from March 3, 1912, to January 1, 1914. He represented the state in De Grazier v. Texas, involving the constitutionality of the Baskin-McGregor Liquor Bill, and in the Tex-line depot case, a suit of the Railroad Commission against the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad, which upheld interstate rates in and out of Texas. He also defended and won before the United States Supreme Court the gross receipts tax case and the franchise tax system case as applied to foreign corporations. In addition he won fifteen cases that upheld the validity of the Texas intangible tax statute. In 1914 Walthall returned to San Antonio to practice law. On March 16, 1915, he married Mary Carson of Indianapolis, Indiana. He lost his life in the fire that destroyed the San Antonio Country Club on March 26, 1916.

"The Trouble With Hiibel. Is your name really a deep, dark secret?": Dahlia Lithwick has this article at Slate. "The legal issue is simple: Do the cops have the right to demand your ID before they have ascertained that you've done something wrong, and can you be arrested for refusing to comply?"

The Blackmun Papers: The Harry A. Blackmun Papers at the Library of Congress are now available to the public.

"Baylor's Bluster": The Daily Texan reports here on The Baylor Lariat's editorial in support of gay marriage.

"Inmate voluntarily undergoes castration": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[a] former YMCA employee accused of sexually assaulting a boy during a field trip underwent voluntary castration this week. David Wayne Jones is only the second inmate to undergo the surgery in Texas, which is the only state where it is allowed by the prison system."

Race and campaigns: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[t]he Tarrant County Black Bar Association on Wednesday called for a judicial candidate to be reprimanded for conducting what the group called 'racial politics' at its worst. The association accused Fort Worth lawyer Michael Deegan of attempting to win votes in Tuesday's Republican primary by sending out a mailer that shows that his opponent, Judge Wayne Salvant, is black. Deegan, who is white, denied the accusation."

Coming to a home near you: Passion Party: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has an article this morning that begins:

It could have been a Tupperware party, Pampered Chef wingding or baby shower. On one side of the apartment was a buffet of chips, dips and cold cuts; on the other, an array of lotions, potions, lingerie and books.

"He's been gone two weeks," said Kellie Torres, 38, as she discussed her husband's homecoming from Alaska later in the day. "I'm gonna surprise him."

Despite the November arrest of a Burleson sales consultant for the California-based Passion Parties organization, the festivities don't show any sign of stopping. The Johnson County consultant, Joanne Webb, was charged with selling two sexual devices to Burleson undercover police. The charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Texas law bans selling "obscene devices," defined as any device designed or sold for "stimulation." But the law does not ban adult novelties or toys.In February, Fort Worth attorney BeAnn Sisemore filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Texas' sexual-devices sales ban is unconstitutional; Sisemore's clients, including Passion Parties sales consultant Andrea Spencer, 37, of Fort Worth, continue doing business as usual.

"Killer's final words for his mother": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Marcus Bridger Cotton calmly told his mother that he loved her, then smiled at her moments before his execution Wednesday for fatally shooting a Fort Bend County prosecutor in 1996."

"Man is put to death for killing an assistant DA": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has this report.

"DeLay, GOP believed use of corporate cash legal, files say": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his operatives planned from the start to use corporate money to influence the 2002 legislative races but believed it was legal, according to documents released Wednesday in a civil lawsuit.

Though part of the lawsuit, the documents are a road map for Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's grand jury investigation into possible criminal campaign finance violations for use of corporate money to help in the Republicans' takeover of the Texas House.

The documents show an intricate web of campaign activity among DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority, Texans for a Republican Majority, House Speaker Tom Craddick and Republican House candidates.

"Bush ads to include images from 9/11": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "President Bush unveiled a $10.5 million campaign advertising blitz Wednesday, using images from the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks to burnish his reputation and reclaim momentum a day after John Kerry all but locked up the Democratic nomination."

News from the Susan Wright trial: The former topless dancer was convicted yesterday for the murder of her husband. Wright tied him to the bed and inflicted 193 stab wounds. She then buried his body in the back yard. This morning's edition of the Houston Chronicle has this report on the case.

"Railroad killer loses his appeal": The San Antonio Express-News reports here that "[t]he Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday denied an appeal from condemned serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz, the Mexican drifter and so-called railroad killer whose multiple slayings landed him on the FBI's Most Wanted List. In a brief five-paragraph order, Texas' highest criminal appeals court rejected an allegation in which Maturino Resendiz challenged the validity of his conviction and the resulting death sentence."

Smith v. Green: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has endorsed incumbant Justice Steven Wayne Smith for the Supreme Court of Texas. The San Antonio Express-News has this report. Justice Paul Green of the 4th Court of Appeals is Justice Smith's opponent.

"Primary to decide lively battle for state Supreme Court seat": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "Steven Wayne Smith knew when he successfully challenged a Texas Supreme Court appointee of Gov. Rick Perry in the 2002 Republican primary that he would become a prime target in 2004. He was right. Paul Green, a justice on San Antonio's 4th Court of Appeals, is touting endorsements from Perry and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in his bid to make Smith's tenure on the high court a short one. Green also has raised more than three times as much money as Smith. But Smith is fighting back with his message of social conservatism and has the backing of many leaders in that wing of the GOP."

"3 Criminal Appeals court seats at stake": The San Antonio Express-News reports here on next weeks primary election (two seats will be decided in the primary and one seat has a democratic contender).

"Susan Wright guilty of murder for stabbing husband 193 times": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[a] jury has found Susan Wright, a former topless dancer and mother of two, guilty of murder for tying her husband to a bed and stabbing him 193 times, then burying him in their back yard."

"Woman's Heart Cut Out; Boyfriend Charged": The AP reports here that "[a] 20-year-old woman who turned down her boyfriend's marriage proposal on Valentine's Day was found stabbed to death, her heart cut out of her body. Police arrested the boyfriend a short time later."

"Judge rules against gay students in Lubbock": The AP reports here that "[a] federal judge on Wednesday ruled against a group of gay high school students who sued the Lubbock school district after they were prohibited from meeting on campus."

Today's Texas Rule of Evidence: Rule 1003. Admissibility of Duplicates.

Generally, a party must offer into evidence the original in order to comport with the best evidence rule. See Tex. R. Evid. 1002 (providing that "[t]o prove the content of a writing, recording, or photograph, the original writing, recording, or photograph is required except as otherwise provided in these rules or by law"). A duplicate is:

[A] counterpart produced by the same impression as the original, or from the same matrix, or by means of photography, including enlargements and miniatures, or by mechanical or electronic re-recording, or by chemical reproduction, or by other equivalent techniques which accurately reproduce the original.

Tex. R. Evid. 1001(d). Rule 1003 provides that:

A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original unless (1) a question is raised as to the authenticity of the original or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.

Court of Criminal Appeals: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals did not release any opinions today. The Court's hand down list is available here.

State schedules two executions in as many days: Marcus Cotton is scheduled for execution tonight and Yokamon Hearn is scheduled for execution tomorrow night.

Today's oral arguments at the United States Supreme Court: The Court will hear arguments in two cases today:

Sabri v. United States, No. 03-44: Whether petitioner is entitled to dismissal of the indictment charging him with three counts of bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 666(a)(2), on the ground that the statute is facially unconstitutional.

Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, et al., No. 02-1689: When can citizenship in a diversity jurisdiction suit be determined?

"Who's Recusing and Who's Refusing?":

The continuing furor over Justice Antonin Scalia's hunting trip with Vice President Dick Cheney has cast a spotlight on the murky world of Supreme Court recusals, where justices decide to recuse -- or not -- without review by their fellow justices or others. A Legal Times survey sheds some light on who steps aside most often, who stays put, and which cases have prompted the judicial do-si-do.

Tony Mauro of the Legal Times has this report.

"The Supreme Court's Recent Ruling that Federal Age Discrimination Law Protects the Old, but not the Young: Dodging the Deeper Issue":

FindLaw columnist and Columbia law professor Michael Dorf discusses a recent Supreme Court decision interpreting the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). While the majority of the Court held that the act does not protect those who face discrimination due to their youth, two dissenters disagreed. Dorf argues that, while this is a close case, there is much to be said for the dissenters' point of view.

"Group seeks records of closed Perry council meeting": The Houston Chronicle reports here that:

The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas filed an extensive public information request Tuesday, prompted by closed-door policies of Gov. Rick Perry's newly created management council.

The group, which seeks to ensure the public's business is conducted in public, sought agendas and 10 other types of written records related to the first meeting of the Governor's Management Council on Feb. 25.

Perry chose to shut the public out of all but his own introductory comments at the meeting attended by 11 'executive branch' agency heads and other officials.

In order to ensure a 'free flow of information,' Perry said after the meeting ended, it's 'quite appropriate to close the doors.'

Foundation attorney Joseph Larsen, of the Houston firm Ogden, Gibson, White, Broocks & Longoria, said that particular comment alarmed the open-government advocacy group, which is based in Dallas.

"Gender test ordered in divorce case": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[h]er driver's license indicates she's a man, but Linda Gail Carter insists she's a woman. On Tuesday, a judge ordered Carter to undergo genetic testing to determine her true sex as part of her lawsuit to dissolve her marriage to another woman."

News from the Susan Wright murder trial: The Houston Chronicle reports "Jury sequestered, to resume work today. Intense cross-examination closes Wright trial."

"Baylor president assails gay marriage editorial": The AP reports here that "Baylor University's president says he is 'justifiably outraged' over a student newspaper editorial defending gay marriage. Robert Sloan Jr.'s strongly worded statement ran Tuesday in The Baylor Lariat, the newspaper of the world's largest Baptist university."

The City of Fort Worth is studying the effect of sexually oriented business on the community and considering the way in which they are regulated.: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Star here that "City leaders imposed a three-month moratorium on new topless bars, nude clubs and other sexually oriented businesses while they consider changing city regulations."

"Schools prepare for harder TAKS": The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[m]ore than 200 Tarrant County-area students repeated third grade this year because they could not pass the state's standardized reading test, despite increased efforts and resources from school districts. And now the burden on third-graders has increased. Those students must correctly answer two more questions -- 22 out of 36 -- when third-graders across Texas take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills today."

"Corruption in Texas Schools: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "[t]he Fort Worth school district scandal ranks among the worst public corruption cases involving Texas schools." The article also takes a look at other high-profile public school investigations.

Racial divide: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports here that "Hispanic and black motorists were stopped and searched more often than Anglos in most police jurisdictions in Tarrant County last year, according to reports released this week that detail traffic stops. Anglos are still ticketed more often, and there were no substantiated cases of racial profiling in 2003, the police reports show."

"Profiling gap closes a bit. But latest HPD figures show disparities still exist": The Houston Chronicle reports here that "[t]he gap between the odds of an Anglo person and a black or Hispanic getting arrested and searched in Houston is narrowing slightly, according to new Police Department statistics. But the 2003 data, compiled as required by the state's racial profili