Nation digest 02/21/04

California judge denies stay of gay marriages

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gay and lesbian couples won another reprieve Friday when a judge declined to immediately stop San Francisco from granting them marriage licenses, saying conservative groups failed to prove the weddings would cause irreparable harm. Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay denied the Campaign for California Families' request for a temporary restraining order, but said the group had the right to a hearing on their argument that the city is violating state law. The conservative group argued that the weddings harmed all the Californians who voted in 2000 for Proposition 22, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

N.M. town briefly offers gay marriage licenses

BERNALILLO, N.M. -- Dozens of gay and lesbian couples arrived in this rural town Friday to get married after a county clerk announced she would grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but the offer was soon revoked. The Sandoval County clerk's office granted licenses to 26 same-sex couples before New Mexico attorney general Patricia Madrid issued a late afternoon opinion saying the licenses were "invalid under state law." County Clerk Victoria Dunlap said she had decided to grant the licenses after County Attorney David Mathews determined New Mexico law is unclear on the issue.

Bush installs nominee blocked by Senate

WASHINGTON -- Bypassing Senate Democrats who have stalled his judicial nominations, President Bush installed Alabama Attorney General William Pryor on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. Bush praised Pryor as "this leading American lawyer" and complained that the Senate had unfairly blocked him and other White House nominees. Pryor was immediately sworn in in Alabama. The recess appointment, which will last only until the end of 2005, was the second Bush has used to sidestep Democrats who have mounted successful filibusters against Pryor and five other appeals court nominees.

Rover Spirit digs in; Opportunity hits the road

LOS ANGELES -- NASA scientists got another look beneath the surface of Mars after the rover Spirit dug a trench in the soil of Mars Friday, while its twin, Opportunity, prepared to examine a rock dubbed "El Capitan." The soil was being studied by instruments on each rover's arm for evidence of water, which would suggest the dusty, frigid Red Planet could have been hospitable to life at one time. Spirit used one of its six wheels to create a trench 2.8 inches to 3.1 inches deep. Opportunity made its longest drive yet, about 50 feet. Opportunity was to study a rock named "Stone Tablet" and an area of soil, while also doing remote sensing of "El Capitan," which, unlike its namesake in Yosemite National Park, is probably about as high as a street curb.

Judge acquits one of four in 'Virginia jihad' case

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A judge on Friday acquitted a man charged in an alleged conspiracy to aid the Taliban. The judge dismissed all charges against Caliph Basha ibn Abdur-Raheem, 29, after the prosecution rested its case, saying there was little evidence in the two-week trial to meaningfully link him to the conspiracy. The government alleged that Abdur-Raheem was part of a network that used paintball games to train for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamic organization that has been labeled as terrorist by the U.S. government. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema also threw out some of the charges against the remaining three defendants. All four men are U.S. citizens from the Washington suburbs.

Utah passes bill to end firing squad executions

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah lawmakers sent the governor a bill Friday to eliminate firing squad executions. However, four death row inmates who have already chosen to die in a hail of bullets will get their way. The House gave final approval to the measure, which would change Utah's method of execution to lethal injection. Gov. Olene Walker is expected to sign the measure. Idaho and Oklahoma retain the firing squad on their books as an option but have not used it in modern times.

-- From wire reports