6A NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2007
WORLD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Riot police officers protect themselves as university students protest in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday. Troops used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators who turned out by the tens of thousands to protest constitutional reforms that would permit President Huqo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely.
Students protest derailed democracy
BY CHRISTOPHER
TOOTHAKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela Soldiers used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter tens of thousands who massed Thursday to protest constitutional reforms that would permit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely.
Led by university students, protesterschanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and warned that 69 amendments drafted by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly would violate civil liberties and derail democracy.
It was the biggest turnout against Chavez in months, and appeared to revive Venezuela's languid opposition at a time when the president
seems as strong as ever. Students promised more street demonstrations over the weekend, but no opposition-led protests were planned for Friday.
"This is a dictatorship masked as democracy," said Jorge Rivas, an 18-year-old student. "Chavez wants our country to be like Cuba, and we're not going to allow that to occur."
Authorities broke up the protest outside the headquarters of the country's electoral council, reporting that six police officers and one student were injured. But students said dozens of protesters were hurt during the melee. The local Globovision television network broadcast footage of several police beating an unarmed protester with billy clubs.
Student leader Freddy Guevara said it was not immediately clear how many students were arrested, and he urged local human rights groups to help verify the number of detained protesters.
Students hurled rocks and bottles, and a few lifted up sections of metal barricades and thrust them against police holding riot shields. Students retreated later when police fired plastic bullets.
Rock-throwing between students and Chavez supporters continued at a nearby university campus.
"Chavez wants to remain in power his entire life, and that's not democracy," said Gonzalo Rommer, a 20-year-old student who joined protesters marching to the National Elections Council.
Deputy Justice Minister Tarek
El Aissami blamed students for the violence, saying they forced their way through police barricades.
But Vicente Diaz, one of five National Election Council directors, accused National Guardmen and police of using excessive force to disperse protesters. "We absolutely condemn the behavior of the authorities," Diaz said.
The amendments would give the government control over the Central Bank, create new types of cooperative property, allow authorities to detain citizens without charge during a state of emergency and extend presidential terms from six to seven years allowing Chavez to run again in 2012.
To take effect, the reforms must be approved by voters in a Dec. 2 referendum.
>> STATE
District Court could dismiss abortion case
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wichita doctor claims innocence
WICHITA — Sedgwick County District Judge Clark V. Owens will hear arguments Friday on a motion by abortion provider George Tiller to dismiss the 19 misdemeanor charges Attorney General Paul Morrison filed against him.
In voluminous court documents. Tiller also raised numerous other arguments.
Morrison filed charges against Tiller in June for allegedly failing to get an independent second opinion on some late-term abortions as required by Kansas law. Tiller maintains his innocence.
The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday at the Sedgwick County Courthouse.
The bulk of the arguments at issue already have been made in hefty court filings now before the judge.
Among them, Tiller's lawyers told the judge the Kansas referring physician requirement violates a citizen's liberty to travel in interstate commerce. They called it an unconstitutional restriction on privileges and immunities guaranteed every citizen. And they claimed it violated the due process clause under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
They content no other medical procedure requires a concurring opinion, and argued the statute as applied violates a woman's right to obtain an abortion. They also called it unconstitutionally vague.
Attorney for the embattled Wichita doctor argued in court papers that Kansas law, which requires a referral from a second physician before a viable fetus can be aborted, creates an unconstitutional burden on a physician's right to practice medicine.
In response, Morrison argued that the Kansas Legislature, through statute, expressed a strong interest in protecting potential life, and chose to demonstrate that interest by requiring an unbiased second opinion before a viable fetus could be legally aborted.
Morrison said requiring a second opinion regarding the injury a woman would sustain if she carried a pregnancy to term was not an undue burden on a woman's right to choose. He contended the statute was constitutional.
The Kansas attorney general cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a nationwide ban on an abortion procedure. The divided court ruled in April that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's right to choose.
That decision had been widely seen as an opening for additional restrictions on abortion rights.
In his court filings, Morrison cited that case and others to bolster his contention that the state has a substantial interest in protecting human life — especially once the point of viability is reached.
Morrison also cited a federa court ruling that upheld a similar law in Montana that requires a second doctor's opinion before a viable fetus can be aborted.
As for Tiller's argument that no other medical procedure requires a second opinion, Morrison responded that no other medical procedure involves the "purposeful termination of a potential life."
》 COURTS
Bush defends attorney general nomination
BY LAURIE KELLMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Bush sought to save Michael Mukasey's troubled nomination for attorney general Thursday, defending the retired judge's refusal to say whether he considers waterboarding torture and warning of a leaderless Justice Department if Democrats don't confirm him.
"Iif the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these grounds, they would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general," Bush said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
America would have no attorney general during this time of war," the President said.
"That would guarantee that
Nonetheless, opposition continued to grow. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., became the fourth of 10 Democrats on the 19-member Judiciary Committee to declare he will vote against Mukasey when the panel decides Tuesday whether to endorse or reject his nomination.
Kennedy said Mukasey's unwillingness to say that waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, is torture increases the chances that it will be used against U.S. troops.
"Judge Mukasey appears to be a careful, conscientious and intelligent lawyer and he has served our country
honorably for many years," Kennedy said in a Senate speech announcing his opposition. "But those qualities are not enough for this critical position at this critical time."
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., planned to announce Friday how he will vote next week.
Bush framed Mukasey's nomination with the familiar theme of national security and the attorney general's role in it.
"It's important for Congress to pass laws and/or confirm nominees that will enable this government to more effectively defend the country and pursue terrorists and radicals that would like to do us harm," the president said earlier Thursday during a rare Oval Office session with
reporters.
The comments raised questions about whether Bush would nominate anyone else to succeed Alberto Gonzales as the nation's top law enforcer. Bush could bypass Congress by filling the job with someone serving in an acting capacity or appointing someone while lawmakers are in recess to serve out the last 14 months of his administration.
Asked if Bush was saying he would not nominate anyone if Mukasey is rejected, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "We don't believe it would come to that. No nominee could meet the test they've presented."
There is a way for Mukasey to get a full Senate vote even if committee Democrats are united in
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, talks with Attorney General-designate Michael Mukasey on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday following Mukasey's second day of testifying before the committee's hearing on his nomination. President Bush accused Senate Democrats of being unfair in questioning the former judge about waterboarding.
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opposing him. The Senate Judiciary Committee could agree to advance the nomination with "no recommendation," allowing Mukasey to
be confirmed by a majority of the 100-member Senate. Several vote-counters in each party said Mukasey probably would get 70 "yes" votes.
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