Justices, 6-3, Sidestep Ruling on Padilla Case  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Jose Padilla, held as an enemy combatant without traditional legal rights for more than three years, sidestepping a challenge to Bush administration wartime detention powers.

Capitol police ask for arrest warrant for McKinney  —  Black leaders say McKinney victim of racial profiling  —  WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill police on Monday asked a federal prosecutor to approve an arrest warrant for Rep. Cynthia McKinney for her role in a scuffle with a police officer last week, the prosecutor's office confirmed.

2005 Koufax Awards —The Winners  —  I apologize for the delay in posting the winners.  We had a big turn out both in comments and in emails and a number of the categories had excruciatingly close races (one category had an exact tie, more on that below).  The voting was roughly evenly split between comments and email.

Jury Finds Moussaoui Eligible for Execution  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 3 — A federal jury found today that Zacarias Moussaoui was responsible for at least some of the deaths that occurred in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, meaning that he could be subject to the death penalty.

HIATT TARS DEMS.  Fred Hiatt's Washington Post column today slams the Democratic Party's "Real Security" plan.  His chief objection appears to be that it's way too short on platitudes for his liking.  Hiatt writes: … Castigating the Dem plan for failing to match such grandiloquence, Hiatt continues:

Can the Shiite Center Hold?  —  The unanticipated consequences of "Iraqification."  —  The Shiites of Iraq who want representative government, and who look to the resolutely moderate Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani for religious and political guidance, have endured Baathists, Sunni supremacists and holy warriors.

UT professor says death is imminent  —  AUSTIN — A University of Texas professor says the Earth would be better off with 90 percent of the human population dead.  —  Â"Every one of you who gets to survive has to bury nine,Â" Eric Pianka cautioned students and guests at St. EdwardÂ's University on Friday.

Limbaugh called alleged Duke rape victim a "ho[ ]" … During the March 31 broadcast of his national syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh referred to the alleged victim of a rape by members of the Duke University lacrosse team as a "ho[]."  During an on-air discussion with a caller …

White House shake-up to continue?  —  Sources: Press spokesman, treasury chief may be next  —  CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) — Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan and Treasury Secretary John Snow could be next in a shake-up in the Bush administration, according to White House and GOP sources.

Dems blast McCain for Falwell flip-flop  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain started feeling the heat of being the GOP White House front-runner yesterday as questions arose over his embrace of Jerry Falwell - a man he once labeled an "agent of intolerance."  —  The Arizona maverick who lost …

The Bush-Cheney Era Ends Here  —  If Chuck Schumer can make his dream of a Democratic-controlled senate come true.  —  D  —  emocrats have a dream.  They dream that they will wake up on November 8 and that West Virginia senator Robert Byrd, the 88-year-old antiwar firebrand …

Transcript for April 2  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issue this Sunday: He ran for president in 2000 as the anti-Bush.  —  (Videotape):  —  SEN. JOHN McCAIN, (R-Ariz.): Governor Bush is a Pat Robertson Republican who will lose to Al Gore.  —  MR. RUSSERT: He has now become one of the president's closest allies.

A Letter to Our Readers  —  To Our Readers:  —  Our goal when we set out to redesign The Times Web site more than a year ago was to make experiencing The New York Times online simpler and more useful.  We hope you conclude that we have done that on the new pages appearing for the first time this month.

A Plan to End Child Poverty  —  Britain's Initiative Has Helped 700,000 Kids.  Why Don't We Have a Goal, Too?  —  For anyone interested in reducing child poverty, there was heartening bad news out of Britain last month.  In 1999 the Blair government introduced an initiative to end child poverty by 2020 …

McKinney Admits Misusing Taxpayer Money  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Cynthia McKinney admits that she broke government rules by spending money to fly a celebrity to Atlanta.  —  Channel 2 Action News has uncovered documents showing McKinney, D-Ga., spent about $1,000 of taxpayer's money …