The chairman of the Legislature's Contract Review Committee said an opinion from the executive director of the State Ethics Commission clears a senator to work for a law firm that does business with the state.

The chairman, Republican Sen. Bill Holtzclaw of Madison said the opinion settled the issue of whether Republican Sen. Bryan Taylor of Prattville was in compliance when he joined the law firm of Capell & Howard.

The Huntsville Times reported that the opinion from Executive Director Jim Sum-ner said changes made in the state ethics law in December had very little, if any, impact of state contracting.

The committee had sought the advice last month when Capell & Howard got a $100,000 contract from the state Department of Corrections.

The U.S. Supreme Court says it won't hear an appeal of a lower court decision to grant a Catholic student group funding from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The decision by the high court effectively ends UW-Madison's appeal process. The university has argued that its funding of Badger Catholic's religious activities is a violation of the First Amendment.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in a 2-1 decision last September. The court ruled UW-Madison's refusal to fund the group's religious worship activities or materials constituted viewpoint discrimination by the university.

UW-Madison settled another lawsuit from the group in 2007 after refusing to pay for any of the group's activities.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's broad use of an exemption in the federal Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents from the public, ruling for a Washington state resident who wants Navy maps relating to its main West Coast ammunition dump.

The court, by an 8-1 vote, threw out an appeals court ruling that backed the Navy's decision to withhold maps showing the extent of damage expected from an explosion at the ammunition dump near Port Townsend in western Washington.

Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the court, said maps could not be withheld under a FOIA provision that deals with a federal agency's "personnel rules and practices." Kagan said that part of the law concerns "issues of employee relations and human resources."

Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, saying the courts have consistently allowed broad use of the exemption for 30 years. "I would let sleeping dogs lie," Breyer said.

The case before the court revolved around competing ideas of public safety. The government said that releasing the maps could allow someone to identify the precise location of the munitions that are stored at its base on Indian Island.

A court has delayed charging a CIA contractor in connection with the shooting deaths of two Pakistanis.

A lawyer for families of the dead men said Tuesday the next trial court hearing would be March 16, when contractor Raymond Allen Davis may be charged.

On March 14, the Pakistani government is scheduled to tell the Lahore High Court whether Davis has diplomatic immunity from prosecution as the United States insists.

The American's lawyer has said if Pakistan determines he has immunity Davis will likely walk free soon after.

Davis says he shot the two men in self-defense as they tried to rob him in late January.

The case has strained U.S.-Pakistan ties. The countries' alliance is considered key to ending the Afghan war.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's broad use of an exemption in the federal Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents from the public, ruling for a Washington state resident who wants Navy maps relating to its main West Coast ammunition dump.

The court, by an 8-1 vote, threw out an appeals court ruling that backed the Navy's decision to withhold maps showing the extent of damage expected from an explosion at the ammunition dump near Port Townsend in western Washington.

Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the court, said maps could not be withheld under a FOIA provision that deals with a federal agency's "personnel rules and practices." Kagan said that part of the law concerns "issues of employee relations and human resources."

Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, saying the courts have consistently allowed broad use of the exemption for 30 years. "I would let sleeping dogs lie," Breyer said.

The case before the court revolved around competing ideas of public safety. The government said that releasing the maps could allow someone to identify the precise location of the munitions that are stored at its base on Indian Island.

But Glen Milner, a longtime community activist, said that the people who live near the base have valid reasons for wanting to know whether they would be endangered by an explosion. An explosion at the Navy's Port Chicago ammunition depot during World War II killed 320 people.

Milner has raised safety concerns about several area naval facilities. While he could not get the map for the ammunition dump, an official at an area submarine base provided Milner a map showing the probable range of damage from an explosion at that facility.

A well-known law firm that helped sue Harrisburg for millions actually gave the city a hand not too long ago. Ballard Spahr, now representing one of Harrisburg's lenders, did work for the Thompson administration just months earlier. That's raising some eyebrows.   

Ballard Spahr, former Gov. Ed Rendell's firm, got thousands from the city. It's now trying to force Harrisburg to pay up on incinerator debt. Some say it's a conflict of interest - that the firm helped the city, and now is helping a bank go after the city.

Harrisburg paid Ballard Spahr more than $13,000 for work performed last year. According to a purchase order, it was a provision of legal services for the new administration. We've not been able to find out exactly what that means, and Ballard Spahr won't comment.

Corky Goldstein doesn't know either - he's currently helping the city with various legal matters.

"Canons of ethics indicate it's not appropriate for a law firm or lawyer or a member of the law firm that represented us to be representing both sides," said Goldstein.

The other side is TD Bank, one of several lenders that financed incinerator upgrades. Harrisburg is on the hook for repayment - $35 million, in this case.

"They might have been privy to information that has assisted them in the lawsuit that they're now bringing, and this is a very major lawsuit," said Goldstein.