A California state appeals court ruled Monday that the state's stem cell research program "suffers from no constitutional or other legal infirmity," leading the way for approximately $3 billion in grant money to be awarded to researchers. The Court of Appeal of the State of California First District upheld last year's lower court decision upholding the constitutionality of the program, operated by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The lower court determined that the stem cell program was being administered with sufficient state control and did not violate ballot initiative or conflicts of interest rules.

The research program, known as Proposition 71, was approved in a 2004 state referendum by a 59 percent margin. In its ruling, the appeals court noted the delay in research that the litigation had caused:

The objective of the proposition is to find, "as speedily as possible," therapies for the treatment and cure of major diseases and injuries, an aim the legitimacy of which no one disputes. The very pendency of this litigation, however, has interfered with implementation for more than two years.
The lawsuit against the program was brought by the California Family Bioethics Council and two anti-tax organizations - the People's Advocate and the National Tax Limitation Foundation. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said they would consider an appeal after reviewing the court's opinion, admitting that the California Supreme Court refuses to hear many appeals.

Croatia might drop its suit against Serbia at the highest UN court and seek an out of court settlement with it, a Croatian negotiator said yesterday.

The decision reflects the country's scepticism about its case after the court cleared Serbia of genocide in Bosnia.

Like Bosnia, Croatia also sued Serbia at the International Court of Justice for genocide committed here during the 1991 war, when Serbia backed Croatian Serbs' armed rebellion against Croatia's independence from the ex-Yugoslavia.

“In our work with state and local governments throughout the country, we see many common problems with ADA compliance,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department is issuing the Tool Kit to help state and local government officials gain a better understanding of how to ensure equal access to government programs and services for all of their citizens with a disability.”

The Tool Kit is a commonsense guide to achieving ADA compliance. Chapters 3 and 4 of the Tool Kit, released today, address the ADA requirement of ensuring effective communications for people with disabilities. “People who are deaf or hard of hearing, those who are blind or have low vision, and individuals with other types of disabilities are entitled to equal access to state and local government programs, services and activities,” added Assistant Attorney General Kim. “These new chapters of the Tool Kit contain practical guidance, including checklists and action steps, that state, county and city officials can use to identify and resolve ADA compliance issues in government agencies and programs across the country, including public hospitals, courts, law enforcement agencies, 9-1-1 emergency communication systems, and recreation programs.”

During the past six years, through its Project Civic Access initiative, the Civil Rights Division has worked cooperatively with city and county officials to improve access for more than 2 million people with disabilities. The Department has reached 152 agreements that improve access for people with disabilities to city and county office buildings, courts, polling places, emergency shelters, museums, parks, law enforcement and corrections facilities, and websites.

A grand jury in Mississippi Tuesday refused to indict Carolyn Bryant on charges of manslaughter for the 1955 kidnap and murder of Emmett Till due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Carolyn is the wife of Rob Bryant, who, along with his half brother J.W. Milam, was acquitted in 1955 by an all-white jury on all charges related to the murder. Rob Bryant later confessed to the killing. A friend of Till called the grand jury's decision racist, telling AP "we had overwhelming evidence, and they came back with the same decision. Some people haven't changed from 50 years ago."

The Till case leads a series of attempts by federal law enforcement authorities to settle unfinished civil rights cases. Following a probe of investigative errors, the US Justice Department re-opened the case in 2004. Last year, the FBI reported that no federal civil rights charges would be filed in the Emmett Till case, and subsequently turned over to the local Mississippi district attorney.

Charges have been brought against former interim president of Liberia Gyude Bryant for embezzling $1.3 million during his tenure from October 2003 until January 2006, according to a Liberia government statement Tuesday. The indictment was based on an audit conducted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which monitored the interim government after former President Charles Taylor stepped down in August 2003. Taylor is currently awaiting trial at The Hague before judges of the Special Court for Sierra Leone on crimes against humanity charges.

On Monday, current Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf announced the government's plans to prosecute all present and former government officials involved in corruption. In December, two former finance ministers and a former minister of commerce were charged with corruption; however, the men were subsequently freed. Bryant has denied the charges against him and is expected to face trial in an intermediate court in Monrovia.

Monday's agreement is only the latest joint effort by the western states. Last year, Arizona and New Mexico formed the Southwest Climate Change Initiative, and the governors of California, Oregon and Washington issued a joint statement in 2003 calling for regional action to address global warming. Elsewhere in the country, several Northeastern states have created the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants through a regional cap-and-trade program, and some Midwestern states signed on to the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium, to establish a voluntary registry for companies to report their emissions-reduction efforts.

Efforts to establish national emissions limits have gained traction in Congress since the Democrats became the majority party, with at least four major proposals emerging. President Bush opposes mandatory carbon dioxide (CO2) limits but has proposed reducing emissions through the use of alternative fuels. A coalition of businesses and environmental groups has called for federal legislation, including a cap-and-trade program, to limit emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. In September, California became the first US state to restrict greenhouse gas emissions when Schwarzenegger signed a bill authorizing a state board to set emissions targets for various industries.