Court upholds rejection of Bush road rule
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling striking down a Bush administration rule on road building in national forests.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reaffirmed a 2006 lower court ruling that rejected a Bush administration's policy that reversed the so-called roadless rule, approved by former President Bill Clinton during the last days of his administration, The New York Times reported.
The Clinton rule imposed limits on road building on national forest land, and the Bush policy was intended to allow states to set their own rules on such development.
Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental group involved in the case, told the Times Wednesday's ruling protects about 40 million acres of "these last pristine, public lands from development."
Tom Troxel of the Intermountain Forest Association, a forest industry group, said Wednesday's ruling is not the end of the matter.
"There's still a lot of questions about what it means," Troxel said, noting that the 9th Circuit court ruling is at odds with a 2008 federal court ruling in Wyoming that invalidated the Clinton administration rule.
Ex-Rep. Jefferson guilty of corruption
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A federal jury in Virginia Wednesday found former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., guilty of corruption charges.
Jefferson, 62, was indicted in 2007, about two years after government agents found $90,000 in his freezer. The cash was payment from an FBI informant in a transaction captured on video, prosecutors alleged during Jefferson's trial, which began June 16.
The jury in Alexandria, Va., deliberated five days before finding Jefferson guilty Wednesday on 11 of 16 counts against him, The Washington Post reported.
Jefferson was charged with abusing his congressional authority to solicit and receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for promoting products and services in Africa, especially Nigeria. He maintained he was acting as a private businessman and pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Defense lawyers argued during the trial that Jefferson had been "stupid" and used "awful judgment" but was not guilty of a crime.
Jefferson, who lost his bid for re-election in 2008, could go to prison for the rest of his life, the Post said.
'Squeaky' Fromme said near release
FORTH WORTH, Texas, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Lynnette "Squeaky" Fromme, who pointed a pistol at U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975, is due to be released from prison soon, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said.
Fromme, 60, is scheduled for release Aug. 16 because her sentence has expired, bureau spokeswoman Traci Billingsley told The New York Times. Billingsley added she had no knowledge of Fromme's plans after her release.
Fromme has been held lately at a federal prison near Forth Worth, Texas.
She was a follower of Charles Manson, who orchestrated seven murders in California in 1969, including that of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.
The Times said Fromme has been arrested more than a dozen times before she pointed the .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol at Ford in Sacramento. A Secret Service agent saw the weapon and wrested it from her hand.
A little more than two weeks later, radical Sarah Jane Moore actually fired a shot at the president in San Francisco, but her aim was spoiled by an alert bystander. Moore was paroled at the end of 2007.
Fromme briefly escaped from the federal women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., in 1987, but was recaptured the next day, Christmas Day.
Senators debate Sotomayor's qualifications
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Senators picked up their debate Wednesday on the fitness of Sonia Sotomayor to be an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Democrats and Republicans, speaking by party in one-hour blocks, praised or criticized her judicial record and her off-the-bench remarks.
If confirmed, Sotomayor, now a U.S. appeals court judge in New York, would be the first Hispanic and third woman on Supreme Court.
Several senators chided the body for injecting politics into the confirmation process during recent years.
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., one of a handful of Republicans backing her nomination, said he supports her confirmation because "she has the accomplishments and qualifications needed."
"There's been no significant finding against her," Bond said during the second day of debate. "I do not believe that I should refuse to support her merely because I disagree."
"She has a deep understanding of the real lives of Americans," Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said in support of her confirmation to succeed retiring Justice David Souter. "She knows that our diversity ultimately makes America stronger."
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said he would vote against her nomination because "she has not stuck to the letter of the law. ... I find little predictability (in her rulings) and the implications they may have."
In the Judiciary Committee hearings and on the floor, Republicans brought up Sotomayor's "wise Latina woman" comment -- suggesting that a Latina would make a better judgment than a white male -- as an indication that she would let her personal views intrude into her rulings.
However, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who led the Judiciary Committee as a Republican, offered a different take on her comment.
"I think she should be commended," he said. "Why shouldn't a woman stand up for women's capabilities? ... What's wrong with a little ethnic pride?
"Isn't it time for a little diversity on the U.S. Supreme Court?" he asked.
