"I'm reserving judgment on that, until we finish the inquiry," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ranking GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on "Fox News Sunday."

"I think it's highly unlikely he survives," remarked Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." "I wouldn't be surprised if a week from now, he's no longer attorney general. … Instead of just being the president's lawyer who rubber stamps everything the White House wants, he has a role as attorney general as the chief law enforcement officer of the land without fear or favor."

On Monday, the Justice Department is expected to release more documents detailing the role Gonzales, Justice Department officials and the White House played in the firings.

On Tuesday, the White House is expected to announce whether it will allow former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to testify before Congress.

If they don't, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee promises subpoenas.

"I want testimony under oath," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on "This Week." "I am sick and tired of getting half-truths on this."

U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. But the Bush administration got itself into trouble by claiming the dismissals were solely performance-related. The White House did not disclose its own involvement until e-mails surfaced suggesting political loyalty may have played a role.

Denouncing a conflict entering its fifth year, protesters across the country raised their voices Saturday against U.S. policy in Iraq and marched by the thousands to the Pentagon in the footsteps of an epic demonstration four decades ago against another divisive war.

A counterprotest was staged, too, on a day of dueling signs and sentiments such as "Illegal Combat" and "Peace Through Strength," and songs like "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "War (What's It Good For?)."

Thousands crossed the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial to rally loudly but peacefully near the Pentagon. "We're here in the shadow of the war machine," said anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan. "It's like being in the shadow of the death star. They take their death and destruction and they export it around the world. We need to shut it down."

Smaller protests were held in other U.S. cities, stretching to Tuesday's four-year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. In Los Angeles, Vietnam veteran Ed Ellis, 59, hoped the demonstrations would be the "tipping point" against a war that has killed more than 3,200 U.S. troops and engulfed Iraq in a deadly cycle of violence.

"It's all moving in our direction, it's happening," he predicted at the Hollywood rally. "The administration, their get-out-of-jail-free card, they don't get one anymore."

Other protests and counter-demonstrations were held in San Francisco, San Diego and Hartford, Conn., where more than 1,000 rallied at the Old State House.

- In Vermont, middle school student Zachary Guiles wore a T-shirt that used images of cocaine use and a martini glass to criticize President Bush. The shirt also called Bush "chicken-hawk-in-chief" and said he was on a "world domination tour."

School authorities said the shirt violated a dress code that bans clothing that promotes use of alcohol or drugs. Guiles taped over the images, sued and won rulings from lower federal courts. The Supreme Court has yet to act on the school district's appeal.

- In suburban San Diego, Tyler Harper was pulled from his class for wearing a T-shirt bearing the words "homosexuality is shameful." Harper said he wore the shirt after his school backed an event meant to show support for homosexuals, bisexuals and trans-gender students.

Harper sued the Poway Unified School District for violating his civil rights, contending he was suspended for expressing "sincerely held religious beliefs." The school said its dress code is designed to prevent disruption.

A federal judge upheld the policy and the same federal appeals court that sided with Frederick now is considering the case.

- A national Christian legal group sued a suburban Philadelphia school district on free-speech grounds, saying the district censors prayer club members and threatens discipline if students speak out against homosexuality.

The lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund accuses the Downingtown Area School District of improperly forcing a student group to drop explicitly Christian or Scriptural references from its literature, and to meet as the "Prayer Club" instead of the preferred "Bible Club."

A lawsuit alleging female inmates in Wisconsin receive deficient medical care took another step forward Thursday.

In a class action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, female prisoners at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution argued their rights were violated by severe lapses in medical treatment including inadequate access to doctors and life-threatening gaps in prescription drug treatment.

Prison officials argued they were not aware of such healthcare conditions at the prison and asked Judge Rudolph Randa of the U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, to dismiss the suit.

Randa instead ruled the case should proceed.

The mother of two, from Oakland, CA, has scoliosis, chronic nausea and an inoperable brain tumor, among other ailments. Raich pre-emptively sued the government in an effort to avoid arrest for using marijuana. Raich uses marijuana every few hours, on her doctor's advice.

The 1970 Controlled Substances Act criminalizes heroin, LSD, marijuana and other drugs. In her appeal, Raich was asking for enforcement of this law to be blocked.

A legal conflict exists between federal law, which states marijuana is illegal and has no medical value, and 11 states that allow marijuana use for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled against Raich, stating that even individuals living in one of the 11 states allowing medical marijuana can be prosecuted under federal laws.

Due to the Supreme Court ruling, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the issue down to the right to life theory. The three appeals judges stated that the U.S. is not to the point where "the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental.'" The court did admit, however, that if Raich is later arrested and prosecuted, she may be able to use a "medical necessity defense."

Judge C. Arlen Beam stated in a partial dissent that since Raich has not been arrested, she has no legal standing to bring a case.

Raich told press that "I have to get myself busted in order to try to save my life." Frank Lucido, one of Raich's physicians, said last year that she would "probably be dead without marijuana."

New Mexico may become the 12^th state to allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Governor Bill Richardson is expected to sign the bill that lawmakers approved Wednesday.

Several California cities have de-prioritized marijuana offenses, including San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Oakland, Santa Barbara and West Hollywood. San Francisco joined the growing number of California cities putting marijuana offenses low on the priority list in December.

Marijuana has been used to treat a variety of illnesses and symptoms, including cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, HIV or AIDS and multiple sclerosis. It has also been used to treat migraines, seizure disorders, severe or chronic pain or nausea, anorexia, wasting syndrome and agitation of Alzheimer's disease.

The three e-mails also show that presidential adviser Karl Rove asked the White House counsel's office in January 2005 whether it planned to proceed with a proposal to fire all 93 federal prosecutors. Officials said yesterday that Rove was opposed to that idea but wanted to know whether the Justice Department planned to carry it out.

The e-mails provide new details about the early decision-making that led to the firings of eight US attorneys last year, indicating that Justice Department officials endorsed a larger number of firings than has been disclosed and that Rove expressed an early interest in the debate.

The messages also show that an internal administration push to remove a large number of federal prosecutors was well underway even as Alberto R. Gonzales, then the White House counsel, was preparing for Senate hearings on his nomination to be attorney general.

Gonzales talked "briefly" in December 2004, the messages show, with D. Kyle Sampson, who would become his chief of staff at the Justice Department, about the plan to remove US attorneys. Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Gonzales has "no recollection" of discussing the prosecutors' firings at the time, when he was preparing for his January 2005 confirmation hearings.

The dismissals, and the Bush administration's shifting explanations for them, led a growing number of lawmakers to demand Gonzales's resignation this week. Justice Department documents released Tuesday contradicted the contention that the White House was not closely involved.

A second Republican, Senator Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon, called for Gonzales's ouster yesterday. Senator John E. Sununu, Republican of New Hampshire, said Wednesday that Gonzales should resign.

"The senator believes, as a matter of credibility, it would be most helpful to have an attorney general we can have full confidence in," said Smith's spokeswoman.

Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas, one of six Democrats to support Gonzales's confirmation, also demanded his resignation after learning of e-mails that showed Justice Department officials planning to circumvent Pryor on the replacement for a fired Little Rock US attorney in 2006. Pryor said Gonzales had told him there was no attempt to avoid his input.

None of the three new e-mails is from Rove himself. They are part of a string of e-mail correspondence among other officials.