AP is reporting that the California Supreme Court has declined to issue an order stopping same-sex marriages from being performed and to nullify those 3,400 ceremonies already conducted. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer had argued that the constitutionality of the marriages is for the courts to decide, and not San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. The Court did not speak to whether or not it might later decide the issue should it make its way up through the lower courts, but gave the parties until March 5 to file new legal briefs. Read more on the issue on JURIST'S Paper Chase.

In Friday's federal courts roundup, Judge Ancer Haggerty of the US District Court for the District of Oregon has ruled that a 50 year old Portland, Oregon ordinance is unconstitutional. AP reports that the rule allowed prohibition of individuals from public parks if they had previously violated any city ordinance. The previous violation need not have taken place in a park. Haggerty ruled that the ordinance violated the First Amendment and was not necessary for public safety.... The National Football League has asked the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay of a lower court's ruling earlier this month. The NFL asked the court to block Maurice Clarett from entering the league's April entry draft while the appeals court considers an appeal. The league cited "potentially tragic consequences" if the stay were not issued. AP has the full story.... The US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Pfizer Inc.'s patent for the hypertension drug Norvasc is valid, and that the Indian drug company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories therefore infringed that patent by marketing a slightly changed version of the drug. Reuters has the full story. Read the full opinion here [DOC].... Judge G. Thomas Van Bebber of the US District Court for the District of Kansas has ruled that Washburn University does not have to remove a controversial statue on display in front of the school's student union. The statue, entitled "Holier Than Thou," has been criticized as offensive to Roman Catholics. AP has the full story. See the opinion here [PDF].... As reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart Friday. Read the ruling here.... Also reported earlier on JURIST's Paper Chase, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday made public its decision not to reconsider its December ruling in a medical marijuana case, Raich v. Ashcroft.

Leading Friday's law school news is an update in the trial of a former Appalachian School of Law student charged in a shooting rampage in January 2002. As anticipated, Peter Odighizuwa pleaded guilty today to avoid the death penalty for his actions; instead, he faces a sentence of six consecutive life terms plus 28 additional years. AP offers the full story here, and the Paper Chase's Winston Collier offers still more in his initial report on the matter.

In other news of national interest, the Los Angeles Times reports on another possible conflict of interest involving Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a hunting partner. In November 2001 Scalia hunted pheasant with Dean Stephen McAllister of the University of Kansas School of Law, two weeks after McAllister defended a Kansas law before the high court, and two weeks before he argued another. Scalia sided with Kansas in both cases, but denied "that spending time at a law school in which the counsel in pending cases was the dean could reasonably cause [his] impartiality to be questioned."

Elsewhere, the University of Washington School of Law played host last night to a mock trial between attorney Michael Newdow and two UW law students concerning the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance's "under God" clause. Newdow, an atheist, attracted national attention last year when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals endorsed his Establishment Clause argument in Newdow v. US Congress [PDF]. The moot court's panel likewise held for Newdow, who was using the mock trial as a preparatory exercise before his oral arguments to the Supreme Court in March. UW's Daily has the full story here.

In other law school news Friday, the Record reports on responses by both faculty and students to a recent study identifying various disparities among the genders at Harvard Law School. Most notably, the study indicates that women are less likely than men to volunteer in class discussion. Find more on the findings in the report, entitled "Study on Women's Experiences at Harvard Law School," in the Record's initial article here.

Lastly, the Texas Lawyer, which reported earlier this week that more students in Texas law schools are choosing careers outside the law, now reports that at least one school in the Lone Star state is addressing their concerns. Dean William Powers of the University of Texas School of Law has helped implement an alumni association for nonpracticing UT graduates and is considering curricular changes that would better prepare students for alternative careers. The school's Nonpracticing Alumni Advisory Council may be the only organization of its kind among American law schools. Read the full story on the council here.

Here's Friday's legal news from the US Department of Justice. FBI Director Robert Mueller said today that he would adopt most of the recommendations from the recent report on FBI disciplinary procedures and process conducted by former Attorney General Griffin Bell and Dr. Lee Colwell which had charged the Bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) with being inefficient and very unfair, and had proposed several changes for the disciplinary scheme. Read Mueller's response in its entirety here. The FBI also provides the OPR Commission's full report [PDF] and a Commission letter [PDF] to Mueller.... Also today, the Justice Department announced that it has signed agreements with nine counties and municipalities in the United States to enhance civic access for people with disabilities. The agreements are part of the DOJ's Project Civil Access program which strives to ensure that US cities and counties comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Today's agreements increase the total number to 69 country-wide. The DOJ has issued a related press release here.

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Peter Odighizuwa, a former law student who gunned down three people in a shooting rampage in January 2002 at the Appalachian School of Law, today pled guilty to the killings, according to AP. Odighizuwa was sentenced to six life terms plus 28 years following the plea, which was made by arrangement with the Buchanan County prosecution, who otherwise would have sought the death penalty. Odighizua murdered Dean L. Anthony Sutin (the editor of JURIST's coverage of the 2000 Presidential election recount), Professor Thomas Blackwell, and student Angela Dales after failing out of the law school in Grundy, Virginia.

In international law news Friday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has pledged UN support to help the African Union meet its goals of consolidating a common strategy for Africa's peace and security. Heads of AU member states are meeting today in Libya to consider issues concerning peace, stability and security and issues concerning agriculture and water supplies. The UN News Service has more. The Independent Advocacy Project, a group advocating good governance in Nigeria, has called on Nigeria to ratify the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption [PDF]. IAP has this press statement. AllAfrica.com has more.... As expected (see this previous report on JURIST's Paper Chase) the US announced today that it will not sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Read the full text of the US Department of State announcement. AP has the full story.

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AP reports that House Speaker Dennis Hastert today agreed to extend by two months the report deadline for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States investigating the events of September 11. Earlier in the week a spokeman for the Speaker had indicated he would not support the extension. The apparent reversal of course came following pressure by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, who argued that the convention needed the extra time, a position also supported by the White House.

UPDATE: Reuters reports that instead of meeting with the full 9/11 commission as members had hoped, President Bush announced today that he will only meet with the committee's chair and vice chair, and only for one hour.

A Cambodian court today charged Riduan Isamuddin, more commonly known as Hambali, with planning terrorist attacks in that country, according to AP. The Indonesian leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a terror group based in Southeast Asia and closely affiliated with Al Qaeda, has been described as "Southeast Asia's Osama bin Laden." The attack for which Hambali was charged was not specified, but the terrorist leader has been linked to other significant attacks in the region, including the August Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta. Jemaah Islamiah is also blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombing in Bali and could have connections with the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. Hambali was captured in August of last year.

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum's ruling from this morning dismissing the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart is now available [PDF].

In Friday's corporations and securities law news, Former NYSE chairman Richard Grasso's lawyer said his client will not return any part of the $139.5 million in pay he received last year and may go after an additional $50 million he believes he is owed. The SEC and New York Attorney General are investigating the compensation package given to Grasso. The Financial Times has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the federal judge in the Martha Stewart trial threw out the securities fraud charge against the celebrity homemaker. Read the indictment against Stewart here. AP has more.... North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore has directed the state's fund managers to vote against Michael Eisner, joining Massachusetts, California, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey in withholding support from Walt Disney Co.'s chief executive for the past two decades. Reuters has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit with seven states blocking Oracle's hostile $9.4 billion takeover of business software company Peoplesoft. The DOJ claims the merger would create a monopoly and stifle competition. Oracle plans to "vigorously challenge" the case. Read Oracle's statement concerning the lawsuit here. Read the DOJ statement here. Read New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's statemtent about joining the lawsuit here. BBC has more.... Former Wester Energy Inc. chief executive David Wittig, on trial for a loan conspiracy stemming from two transactions at a Topeka bank, was sentenced to more than four years in prison and fined $1 million. His co-defendant, former Topeka Capital City Bank president Clinton Odell Weidner II, was sentenced on Thursday to 6 1/2 years in prison for taking part in the same scheme. AP has more.... The federal judge in the Enron Nigerian barge deal has told the government and defendants to provide each other with documents and potential evidence by the April 1 deadline to ensure a June starting date for trial. As of now, the bulk of the documents are being held by the SEC. The Houston Chronicle has more.... Enron Corp. reached a settlement with debt holders of Osprey Trust, an affiliate of the bankrupt company, which allows Osprey investors to file a $3.6 billion claim against it in bankruptcy court. Read Enron's press release here. Reuters has more.... Pimco Advisors announced that it will probably face a civil and administrative action by the SEC for allowing a hedge fund to carry out a market-timing trading strategy in its products. The Street.com has more.... As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, the judge in the battle over control of Hollinger International Inc. dealt newspaper tycoon Conrad Black a blow when he ruled in favor of the current board of directors. The ruling forces Black to abandon a deal which would have given control of the company to two British businessmen. Read the court ruling here[PDF]. AP has more.... In the expanding scandal surrounding food giant Parmalat, a former Bank of America Corp. executive told investigators in Italy he misappropriated $27 million in a kickback scheme involving the company. The San Francisco Business Journal has more.... Coca-Cola Co. announced it has received grand jury subpoenas as part of a 7 1/2-month criminal fraud investigation of the company. The investigation stems from accusations from a former employee who claims the company engaged in fraud and accounting irregularities. AP has more.

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WNBC in New York is reporting that several gay couples exchanged wedding vows today in New Platz, located 75 miles north of New York City. Currently, the New York state legislature is considering a bill that would ban same-sex marriage. AP has more.

In environmental law news for Friday, the EPA has announced the release of four new rules requiring industries to upgrade facilities by installing Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACTs), which are mandated under the 1990 Clean Air Act. The standards are projected to protect against eye, lung, and skin irritation, liver and kidney damage, cancer, central nervous system dysfunction and other health problems by reducing national emissions of toxic air pollutants by some 88,000 tons per year within five years. US Newswire has more... In other news, AP reports that growing concerns over air quality at Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park may prompt the EPA to include the park when it declares 11 counties along Colorado's Front Range in violation of the Clean Air Act. The park has suffered recently from high levels of ozone and smog that have blown in from the Denver metropolitan area. Although Denver was the first city in the nation to come into attainment with National Ambient Air Quality Standards, it has generated some of the highest ground-level ozone ever recorded... Finally, AP notes that a federal grand jury has issued subpoenas to Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection employees who are suspected of receiving gifts from state contractors. Ongoing investigations have focused on employees in the agency's oil and chemical spill cleanup unit.

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AP is reporting that a federal judge in New York has dismissed the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart, the most serious charge she faces in her current stock trading trial.

As JURIST's Paper Chase indicated earlier this morning, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice has now released its report entitled The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, the product of a study undertaken at the behest of the National Review Board, a lay body established the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. A press release summarizing the study's principal findings is here. The Catholic Bishops conference has scheduled a press conference responding to the study for 11:30 AM ET - watch it live here. The Review Board has also released its own Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer takes the issue of gay marriage before the California Supreme Court Friday as he asks that court to rule on whether the city of San Francisco is violating the state constitution in issuing same-sex marriage licenses. California law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and others have argued that the California constitution also provides for equal protection, rendering any ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. The California Superior Court is already seized of the gay marriage question, so it is not guaranteed that the Supreme Court will act. Lockyer appears to be taking the case to court with some reluctance, and recently balked at a "directive" to do so from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger which he said was beyond the Governor's power. His official website has adopted a very low profile on the issue, providing but a single press release on gay marriage since San Francisco began isssuing licenses. Indeed, the California conservative Pro-Family Law Center filed suit yesterday to have Lockyer and Newson removed for breaching their oaths of office by supporting or being complicit with same-sex marriage (read their press release). AP has more.

Vice Chancellor Leo Strine of the Delaware Chancery Court Thursday blocked newspaper mogul Conrad Black's controversial sale of his majority share of the Hollinger International newspaper company (which controls London's Telegraph newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Jersualem Post) to the British Barclays concern (which controls the Edinburgh Evening Standard and The Scotsman, saying that Black "breached his fiduciary and contractual duties" to the company, which fired him as chief executive last year because of alleged irregularities in payments and compensation received. The BBC has posted the opinion here [PDF]. Hollinger Inc., Black's own holding company, offered this press release after the ruling. The Evening Standard has more.

In a ruling made public Thursday, a panel of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said it would not reconsider its December ruling in Raich v. Ashcroft [PDF] which had allowed Californians to grow and use medical marijuana to treat their medical illnesses. The Ninth Circuit order is here [PDF]. The plaintiffs in Raich provide a website with background and documentation. The New York Times has more. Writing in the wake of the December ruling, Boston University Randy Barnett (who argued Raich as an attorney for the plaintiffs), offered this analysis of the constitutional issues involved.

A tentative contract agreement reached late Thursday between three supermarket chains and 70,000 grocery clerks in Southern California who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union may soon end a bitter 4 1/2 month strike over the allocation of health-care costs. Precise terms of the agreement have not been released. AP has more.

Following the release of historical statistics on local sex abuse complaints against Roman Catholic clergy in Boston, Pittsburgh and elsewhere (previously reported in JURIST's Paper Chase), more figures released late Thursday by Catholic church officials showed that 4,392 of the 109,694 clergy members serving nationwide in the US since 1950 - i.e. about 4% of the total - had been accused of abuse. The figures were compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in a national study due to be released later today. AP has more.

A Tokyo court sentenced the former leader of a Japanese cult to death Friday for masterminding sarin nerve gas attacks on Tokyo subway trains that killed 27 people in 1995. Shoko Asahara was convicted on 13 charges and now faces hanging. Asahara's trial, which had gone on for eight years, became a focus of intense interest in Japan, with thousands of people lining up for a few seats in the courtroom on the day of the verdict. BBC News has more. NHK Japan offers this video report.

In Friday's US law and business press, the Recorder reports that a CA jury has found that chemicals used in IBM cleanrooms did not sicken two former employees who later contracted cancer.... The Recorder also reports that a CA appeals court has disqualified a Los Angeles attorney and all of his expert witnesses from an accident case after finding that the lawyer had not disclosed that he had obtained an opponent's confidential documents.... The Legal Intelligencer reports on a PA federal jury award of more than $3.2 million in a sexual harassment suit against FedEx.... The Sacramento Business Journal reports that a federal grand jury has indicted three men on fraud charges involving $25 million from the accounts of SureWest Communications, including an heir of the Kaiser family, founders of health care giant Kaiser Permanente.... The ABA Journal reports on a class action lawsuit against the US filed on behalf of Hungarian Jews seeking restitution for property taken from them in the Holocaust.... FindLaw's Writ features Cardozo law professor Marci Hamilton's column on the US Supreme Court's ruling in Locke v. Davey, as well as DC attorney Rodger Citron's book review of David Maraniss's They Marched Into Sunlight: War & Peace, Vietnam & America.

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Here are some of the legal stories running in Friday's foreign press... New Zealand's Scoop covers industry response to the Employment Law Reform Bill. While the Council of Trade Unions has filed a 77 page report, the Employers and Manufacturers Association has requested additional time to complete its submission... AllAfrica.com reports the Zimbabwe High Court will hear the bail application of a man accused of externalizing foreign currency. The Justice who referred the case has indicated that the matter may need to be further referred to the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of recent regulations that prevent judges from entertaining bail requests under defined circumstances.... In Australia, the Melbourne Agefeatures a Family Court experiment that will allow judges to directly interrogate separating couples and allow children a voice in determining their futures. Judges will also be granted significant control over selection of evidence to be heard in custody cases.

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On February 27, 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, prohibiting a President from being elected to more than two terms in office. Watch Term Limits and American Government, a CATO Institute Policy Forum recorded on the 50th anniversary of the 22nd Amendment in 2001.