World and Nation

[HTML_REMOVED]Justice Dept. to examine its use of NSA wiretaps[HTML_REMOVED]

WASHINGTON [HTML_REMOVED] The Justice Department's inspector general yesterday announced an investigation into the department's connections to the government's controversial warrantless surveillance program, but officials said the probe will not examine whether the National Security Agency is violating the Constitution or federal statutes.

In a letter to House lawmakers, Inspector General Glenn Fine said his office decided to open the probe after conducting "initial inquiries" into the program. Under the initiative, the NSA monitors phone calls and e-mails between people in the United States and others overseas without court oversight if one of the targets is suspected of ties to terrorism.

The "program review" will examine how the Justice Department has used information obtained from the NSA program, as well as whether Justice lawyers complied with the "legal requirements" that govern it, according to Fine's letter. Officials said the review will not examine whether the program itself is legal.

The announcement signals a new level of scrutiny for the NSA program, which was launched shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and revealed in news reports in December 2005. The program has been ruled unconstitutional by one federal judge, but Bush and other administration officials have strongly defended it as a legal and efficient way to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.

The probe comes amid a dramatically changed political environment. Democrats who have been sharply critical of the surveillance program will soon control the Judiciary and intelligence committees, which oversee Justice and the NSA. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called Fine's investigation "long overdue."

Several other House Democrats said the inquiry should be broadened to include the questions of whether the program violated federal laws and how it was approved. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), also said he is "skeptical about the timing" of the announcement.

"I wonder whether this reversal is only coming now after the election as an attempt to appease Democrats in Congress who have been critical of the NSA program and will soon be in control and armed with subpoena power," Hinchey said in a news release.

[HTML_REMOVED]State court broadens medical marijuana defense[HTML_REMOVED]

SAN FRANCISCO [HTML_REMOVED] People charged with transporting marijuana might avoid conviction if they can show the drug was for their personal, medical use, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

In a 6-1 decision, the court said the medical marijuana law protects patients who transport even relatively large quantities of the drug if they can show that the amount was consistent with their medical needs and recommended by a licensed physician.

The court interpreted a 2004 law passed by the Legislature to address uncertainties that followed voter passage of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The attorney general's office said the ruling would affect a handful of cases.

Monday's decision "expands the defenses that can be used for medical marijuana," including transportation and possession for sale, said Maureen J. Shanahan, who represented the defendant in the case.

Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said prosecutors had hoped the court would make it more difficult for marijuana sellers to use a medical defense but said the court's clarification of the law was helpful.

The court reached its decision in the case of Shaun Eric Wright, who was arrested in Huntington Beach, Calif., in 2001 while carrying more than a pound of marijuana in his truck. The stash included several small baggies, two large bags and an electronic scale.

Police charged Wright with possessing marijuana for sale and with transporting it.

Wright had asked that jurors be instructed that he did not commit a crime if they determined the marijuana was recommended by a doctor. A physician testified that he had recommended Wright use marijuana to alleviate pain, abdominal problems and emotional stress.

The doctor said that Wright preferred eating marijuana, which demands a larger amount to achieve the same effect as smoking it. The doctor said Wright needed a pound of marijuana every two to three months.

The trial judge ruled that the medical marijuana law passed by voters did not apply because the amount was too large and Wright was transporting it. But the judge permitted Wright to present evidence of medical use to rebut the possession for sale charge.

Wright was convicted of transportation and possession for sale. An appeals court overturned the conviction on the grounds that the jury should have been given a medical marijuana instruction.

[HTML_REMOVED]Traces of radioactive substance that killed former Russian spy found in two London offices[HTML_REMOVED]

LONDON [HTML_REMOVED] Traces of the radioactive substance responsible for the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko have been found in two downtown London offices, and three people who are not feeling well have been referred for tests to determine if they might also have been exposed, officials said Monday.

Home Secretary John Reid, speaking in the House of Commons, called for calm during the investigation of the death of Litvinenko, 43, who died Thursday from exposure to radioactive polonium 210. "The nature of this radiation is such that it does not travel over long distances, a few centimeters at most, and therefore there is no need for public alarm," Reid told legislators.

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said Monday evening that three people had been referred for urine tests to screen for radiation. She said that all three had reported being in the same areas Litvinenko visited on Nov. 1, the day he fell ill, and that they also were suffering from potential poisoning symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.