The New Hampshire Senate voted 14-10 Thursday in favor a bill allowing same-sex civil unions, sending the legislation on to Gov. John Lynch for signature. The bill, passed  by the state House of Representatives earlier this month, would authorize same-sex couples to enter into civil unions with "the same rights, responsibilities, and obligations as married couples." Lynch said last week that he will sign the legislation.

Currently, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey are the only states that recognize full civil unions. The Oregon House of Representatives approved a civil unions bill  earlier this month, and Washington's State Senate passed a domestic partnership bill last month. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said earlier this week that he would introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.

One of the Broward County judges involved in the Anna Nicole Smith proceedings in South Florida has entered a written plea of not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession.

Circuit Judge Lawrence Korda was cited last month after Hollywood Police officers allegedly found him smoking marijuana while sitting under a tree in a park. After being charged, Korda took a leave of absence from the bench.

Korda's moment in the media spotlight surrounding the Smith case came when he was asked to rule on who should have control over the former Playboy Playmate's body. The final ruling in that case was eventually issued by Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin.

Korda also heard arguments in a related case, seeking to determine the biological father of the baby. He ruled that a Bahamian court had jurisdiction over the child's custody.

An antiques dealer from Blue Bell and the former director of a whaling museum pleaded guilty yesterday to charges they illegally imported hundreds of sperm whale teeth from England and sold them to U.S. merchants who specialize in scrimshaw.

Martin Schneider, 60, got the teeth of the endangered whale in Britain and smuggled them into the country by hiding them among other goods he was importing. Prosecutors said he sold more than $500,000 worth of teeth from 1995 to 2005.

Lewis Eisenberg, 61, the former director of the Whalers Village Museum in Lahaina, Hawaii, bought teeth and resold them to collectors, many of whom trade in scrimshaw, an art form in which designs are etched into whale bone. Eisenberg, of Oak Harbor, Wash., sold teeth he got from Schneider for more than $45,000.

Both men pleaded guilty to violations of the Endangered Species Act, the Mammal Protection Act and the Lacey Act, which forbids the import or export of wildlife that is illegally transported or sold.

Acting on a tip, federal agents bought two whale teeth from Schneider in March 2005 for $2,100. Customs agents at Philadelphia International Airport later intercepted a package of his that contained eight more teeth, authorities said.

Investigators found records at his home showing he had sold $540,000 worth of teeth over 10 years.

Schneider's attorney, Gerald Stein, said his client believed the teeth came from whales that were killed by Russian fishermen before the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.

"He thought that these teeth were acquired at a time when it was legal to acquire them," Stein said.

Under federal guidelines, prosecutors said Schneider will likely get 30 to 37 months in prison, while Eisenberg is likely to get 10 to 16 months. Both face thousands of dollars in fines.

Authorities said the arrests came as part of a nationwide investigation, which has led to one other conviction in Hawaii. But many collectors who bought teeth have not been located.

A prominent Denver law firm is being sued after one of its attorneys forged a federal judge's signature on a legal document.
The forgery allowed one of Faegre & Benson's clients to obtain a loan and pay the firm for work, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S District Court in Colorado.

The attorney, Mark W. Fischer, admitted in a two-page letter that on April 25, 2005, that he "fabricated a false document which purported to be an order" signed by Judge Philip -Figa to release a lien against his client's property.

The lien had been entered against Judy Heumann after Infant Swimming Research won a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her.

"I accept full and sole responsibility for any and all improper conduct associated with this matter," Fischer wrote in the letter to federal magistrate Michael E. Hegarty.

Fischer said he asked Heumann to give $90,000 to his firm to deposit in court as bond for the release of the lien. Fischer said the money was never deposited.

After the lien on her property was released, Heumann obtained a loan from Countrywide Home Loans.

The state Supreme Court suspended Fischer on April 11 and he faces a disciplinary hearing.

Faegre & Benson partner Dave Stark said the firm learned of Fischer's conduct hours before he sent the letter April 9. Fischer resigned the same day.

"What Mr. Fischer described in his letter is inconsistent with the way Faegre & Benson has practiced law for over 100 years," Stark said.

Fischer declined to comment.

The company that sued Heumann is now suing Fischer and Faegre & Benson, saying they "failed to properly supervise Fischer." The suit also names Heumann.

"We believe that she had involvement and had notice of the fabrication of the (order) prior to March 28, 2007, when he found out about the fabricated order," said Douglas Jaffe, an attorney for Infant Swimming Research Inc.

Fischer, in his letter to the court, said Heumann was unaware the signature was forged.

Two Canadian law professors and human rights activists have written to the International Criminal Court (ICC), asking it to investigate "possible war crimes" by top Canadian defence officials. Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia and William Schabas, now at the National University of Ireland, sent a letter to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accusing Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Chief of Canada's Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier of transferring detainees to Afghan custody despite a strong possibility that they would be tortured. In response to criticism about the transfers, including opposition calls for his resignation, O'Connor Wednesday announced the start of a new arrangement between Canada and Afghanistan that will allow Canadian officials to inspect Afghan prisoners after they had been transferred to Afghan custody to make sure that they have not subjected to torture; Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that the new agreement would soon be "formalized."

In February the Canadian government ordered an official inquiry into reported detainee abuse by Canadian troops in Afghanistan. The probe began following a civilian complaint filed by University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran, whose research uncovered a pattern of suspicious injuries on three detainees captured last April and later released. In 2005, Hillier signed the Canada-Afghanistan Detainee Agreement authorizing the transfers; Attaran said the agreement did not give Canada the power to inspect detainees after their transfers, thus allowing broad latitude for torture to occur.

This is the latest effort to combat the growing problem of Internet spam. In 2004, a Maryland judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's 2002 Commercial Electronic Mail Act, the first state law to punish senders of spam. Also in 2004, several major Internet companies filed anti-spam lawsuits under the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which prohibits deceptive or abusive web advertising techniques such as the use of false return addresses or misleading subject lines to trick users into opening messages.

Authorities recovered a body from an upstate New York farmhouse that burned down after police surrounded it in search of a man suspected of killing a state trooper and wounding two others, a state police spokesman said Wednesday.

"At this time, we have recovered a charred body from the house, but we can't confirm who it is yet," said Lt. Galletto, who did not give his first name.

Officials had a "reasonable degree of certainty" that Travis Trim, 23, was inside the building during the fire, New York State Police Acting Superintendent Preston Felton said earlier.

The cause of the fire was unknown, but Felton said authorities fired several canisters of tear gas into the building shortly before the fire broke out at 6 p.m.

"We're not saying it can absolutely not cause a fire, but it's not constructed to cause a fire," he said of the gas.

Earlier Wednesday, Troopers David C. Brinkerhoff and Richard Mattson were shot while searching the farmhouse for Trim, Felton said, according to The Associated Press.

"They had a good 20 shots going back and forth," witness Chan Squires told the AP. "You could hear them ringing out."

Authorities said Brinkerhoff died in the shooting.

"One of our best has fallen and another has been seriously wounded in the line of duty," Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in a statement Wednesday.

The officers were pursuing Trim after he allegedly shot Trooper Matthew Gombosi on Tuesday when he was stopped for a minor traffic violation near Margaretville. Gombosi was not seriously injured because he was wearing body armor, police said.

"The silence that is in this town right now it's eerie, and our hearts go out to the troopers who are doing what they do to protect us. It is devastating," one resident said.

"Today, the New York State Police and the state of New York suffered a tremendous loss," the governor's statement said.

He asked "all New Yorkers to keep the State Police in their thoughts and prayers during this harrowing time."