But the ruling by the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling that said the land transfer was a sham. The appeals court had ruled before the land transfer that the cross was unconstitutional.

Judge M. Margaret McKeown, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, said that "carving out a tiny parcel of property in the midst of this vast preserve—like a donut hole with the cross atop it—will do nothing to minimize the impermissible governmental endorsement" of the religious symbol.

Peter Eliasberg, an attorney with the ACLU, said his organization sued to remove the cross from its remote resting place outside Barstow because it was clearly a religious item being supported by the federal government.

"I hope this stops the litigation and the waste of taxpayers money," Eliasberg said.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who voted with the majority, said in a separate opinion supporting his decision that racial balance is a worthy goal for school districts and that districts can use other methods to achieve it.

That opinion has both the district and the parent group, Parents Involved in Community Schools, declaring victory. It's one reason the district, which spent about $434,000 on its portion of the seven-year battle, doesn't believe it should have to pay the plaintiffs' fees.

Technically, the parents group still has to get a U.S. district judge to declare them the "prevailing party," said Seattle Public Schools attorney Shannon McMinimee.

McMinimee says it's "disingenuous" for the law firm, Davis Wright Tremaine, to go after money when the firm took the case pro bono. But firm spokesman Mark Usellis said "pro bono" means their clients don't have to pay.

"The thing that's really important to us in a civil-rights case is that Congress specifically and explicitly wrote into the law that if the government is found to have violated citizens' civil rights, then the prevailing party should seek fee recovery," he said.

Most governments can argue, as Seattle Public Schools is, that they don't have much money. But going after the fees helps deter other government bodies from violating civil rights, Usellis said.

The parents who sued the district in 2000 did not seek damages but asked the court to force Seattle to stop using the race-based tiebreaker that prevented their children, who are white, from attending Ballard High School. The district did, in 2002, but continued to fight for the policy in court, eventually making it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether to award the fees to the firm. If the firm wins, the fees likely wouldn't be covered by the district's insurance carrier, McMinimee said. So the money would have to come out of the district's $490 million general-fund budget.

Authorities have rounded up hundreds of supporters of two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his politician brother, Shahbaz, apparently in the hope of thwarting big welcome rallies if and when the two end seven years of exile on Monday.

The return of the prime minister he ousted in 1999 is a serious challenge for Musharraf, whose popularity has been sliding as he prepares to try to get re-elected by the national and provincial assemblies between September 15 and October 15.

He aims to hold a general election around the year-end.

"There's complete panic in government ranks," said a spokesman for Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal.

With political tension rising, a senior U.S. official arrived to prepare for a scheduled "strategic dialogue" session next week. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher is likely to meet Musharraf for talks.

The United States is keen to ensure nuclear-armed Pakistan sustain efforts in the global war on terrorism and has been encouraging army chief Musharraf to work with liberal-minded former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf has been negotiating with Bhutto on a package of proposals that would likely see Musharraf quitting his post as army chief to become a civilian president, and Bhutto being cleared of corruption charges and coming back for elections.

Kelly Hart & Hallman officially opened the doors of its Houston office this week. It's the first major expansion outside of its hometown for Fort Worth's largest law firm.

The firm hired as partners James Derrick, David Hedges, Max Hendrick and J. Clark Martin, all former Vinson & Elkins attorneys, to work in the office along with an associate.

More hires are planned, said Dee Kelly Sr., one of the firm's founders. The office has space for 21 attorneys.

After the hiring of former appeals court Judge David Keltner, Kelly Hart & Hallman announced that it planned to expand to a Houston office.

The firm has about 100 attorneys in Fort Worth and a client list that includes American Airlines, the Bass family interests and Pier 1 Imports.

Although the firm also has an Austin office, this is the first time Kelly Hart & Hallman has expanded in an effort to develop clients in a new area, Kelly said. Houston is home to several large energy-related companies along with other major corporations.

"I think it has a chance to succeed or I wouldn't have done it," Kelly said.

"This one is a complex case," said Kevin Madonna, "We do a lot of cases involving communities where industry has done harm to drinking water supplies. This case is a chance to protect the community before damage is incurred."

Madonna said the large landfill proposed for the rural community in Conecuh is "a classic case of an out-of-state corporate interest bringing garbage in from out of state and dumping it on the people there, taking the money and running. It is a fundamentally unfair situation for the people there."

Phillip Kinney, who works for the public relations firm Matrix in Montgomery, is a spokesman for Conecuh Woods whose principals are based in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area. He disagreed with Madonna's characterization of the project.

"Conecuh Woods is not an out-of-state corporation," Kinney said, "it is an Alabama LLC, which was incorporated by Jimmy Stone and David Kirby. No other corporation or individuals have any interest in Conecuh Woods."

Kinney said that Conecuh Woods will be a "state-of-the-art economic development project" generating construction jobs, permanent jobs and revenue for Conecuh County. The money could be used to pave roads and help provide emergency services and programs for children and seniors, he said.

Developers have said the project could bring more than $250 million over more than 60 years and would provide about 15 jobs.

Controversy began in Conecuh and surrounding counties even before the landfill developers made a proposal. Several municipal governments and the Monroe and Escambia county commissions passed resolutions urging the Conecuh commission to refuse the landfill.

Though the commission voted in January against the project, that vote was not binding.

Once the developers make formal application, the County Commission can vote yes or no after a public hearing. If the commission takes no action, the landfill is automatically approved after 90 days.

Commissioners said the outcome of the referendum would not be binding.

Johnny Andrews, president of the citizen's group, said he was satisfied that the majority of Conecuh people oppose the landfill.

"I was startled the commissioners would ask for this to be on the ballot," Andrews said. "Why waste taxpayers' money when it is clear to everyone most people are against it?"

Madonna said his firm was "evaluating our options with respect to the commission's decision to place the issue on the ballot."

Kinney said Conecuh Woods considered the request for a vote to be good news. "Conecuh Woods applauds the county commissioners' decision to let the voters have a voice in their future and we look forward to the opportunity to speak directly to the citizens of Conecuh County."

But the ruling could also revive a long-held debate on South Korea's powerful and controversial "chaebol" -- the family-run conglomerates which opponents say have been given special treatment owing to their importance to Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"Hyundai Motor is the top enterprise because of its ripple effect on the whole economy. The accused, Chung Mong-koo, is a symbol of Hyundai Motor and our country's automobile industry," Lee Jae-hong, the presiding judge at the Seoul High Court, said while handing down the sentence.

"I did ask many people, including restaurant waiters, taxi drivers and reporters. The ordinary people leaned toward a suspended sentence," he said. "That means the accused should work hard."

Hyundai Motor shares rose as much as 2.2 percent on the ruling and closed 0.6 percent higher. The broader KOSPI (.KS11: Quote, Profile, Research) ended up 1.2 percent.

Instead of a jail term, Chung was asked to pay an 840 billion won ($894.9 million) donation, previously pledged by the family, to deliver speeches about transparent management and to write essays about governance to be published in domestic media.

"We do not know where he is at this moment," said James Brosnahan, Mr. Hsu’s lawyer. "We hope he will be court today."

Mr. Hsu’s absence seemed to be a repeat of his disappearing act in 1992, when he skipped out on a sentencing hearing related to his conviction in a fraud case, only to re-emerge years later as a major Democratic fund-raiser in New York. Since 2003, he personally contributed $600,000 to Democrats around the country and raised hundreds of thousands more, frequently hosting fund-raising parties and getting his picture taken with prominent politicians.

He was a designated "Hillraiser" for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, meaning he had bundled over $100,000 in contributions from others. Last week, the Clinton campaign said it was given to charity $23,000 Mr. Hsu had donated, and was reviewing other contributions he helped raised for any evidence of illegality.

Also last week, Mr. Hsu resigned from the board of the New School in New York, where he had served as a trustee and a member of the board of governors of the Eugene Lang College there.

Mr. Brosnahan told reporters outside the courthouse in Redwood City that he had sent an assistant to Mr. Hsu’s apartment in New York on Tuesday to retrieve Mr. Hsu’s passport, but it could not be found.

Ralph Sivilla, an assistant California attorney general, said the government had believed that the $2 million bail and Mr. Hsu’s agreement to remain in the country were sufficient to ensure that he would not flee.

"Those circumstances seemed to suggest he was not a flight risk," Mr. Sivilla said. "I don’t know at this point what our next step will be."

Asked whether Mr. Hsu could have left the country, Mr. Sivilla said "I would imagine he has the capability," although he added that he had no reason to believe that Mr. Hsu had done so.

Mr. Hsu’s latest disappearance deepens the mystery surrounding much of his life since he vanished 15 years ago. He apparently spent part of the 1990s in his native Hong Kong, where he managed a garment company, before returning to the United States and taking up residences in California and New York.

On campaign finance reports, he has listed his occupation as an executive at an assortment of companies that appear to be connected to the apparel trade, although efforts to verify his involvement with them have proven fruitless. An address he has given as his office in New York’s garment district seems to be little more than a mail drop, and people who work nearby have said they rarely see him.