Newport News law firm Consumer Litigation Associates typically doesn't cut a high political profile.

But in this year's slate of elections, the Peninsula firm is suddenly a major player, donating almost $380,000 primarily to Democratic candidates.

The bulk of the money has gone to partner Robin Abbott, a Democrat running for the House of Delegates. The firm's founder, Len Bennett, is a longtime Democratic donor who supported President Barack Obama, among others. Bennett said he wants to support candidates willing to crack down on consumer fraud.

On the campaign trail, Bennett has been aggressive, even taking to Internet message boards to defend Abbott. In places typically filled with anonymous screeds, Bennett signs his full name and offers links to articles on consumer law.

"It's probably not smart to put our name out there like that," he said. "But I've got to be able to stand behind what I'm posting."

Bennett said he hopes his campaign contributions help free state lawmakers from the financial reliance on major donations from lobbyists and corporations so they can make "the right decisions."

"Maybe it's naive, but we'll see what happens over time," he said.

Abbott's opponent, Newport News Republican Del. Phil Hamilton suggests ulterior motives.

"You've got to kind of wonder what they're after," he said. "What is Consumer Litigation trying to buy?"

So far this year, the firm has donated $379,643 and Bennett has chipped in another $38,800 almost exclusively to Democratic candidates. The sole Republican donation — $5,000 to Newport News Del. G. Glenn Oder — was likely linked to Oder's work against payday lenders and was cut before Democrat Gary West entered the race.

Bennett has donated cash, office space and laptops to Abbott's campaign and reached out to fellow trial lawyers with a pledge that he would match donations to Abbott. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign spending, nearly two-thirds of Abbott's cash comes from the legal community. Meanwhile, the firm has given generously to Democrats running statewide, cutting large checks to Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon.

The state of Wyoming has asked a federal appeals court to give a judge authority to block a proposal reducing the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park.

The National Park Service has said it intends to release a plan that could limit snowmobile traffic into Yellowstone and neighboring federal lands to 318 trips a day — less than half of last season's daily limit of 720.

The Wyoming Attorney General's Office argued Friday that the plan would violate U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer's order that set the daily limit at 720 snowmobiles a day.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver heard arguments Friday in Laramie on an appeal by the National Parks Conservation Association, which wants Brimmer's order invalidated.

Snowmobile management issues in Yellowstone have been in turmoil over the last few years as federal courts in Wyoming and Washington, D.C. both have presided over lawsuits on the issue.

Conservation groups have sued seeking lower daily limits while Wyoming, Park County and snowmobile groups have pushed to maintain access.

In letters written to her mother, the woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has sought forgiveness for any pain she has caused and says she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison.

Wanda Eileen Barzee, 63, however, makes just one reference to Smart in the 12 letters obtained by The Associated Press. And she doesn't provide details about the nine months the girl allegedly spent with her and her now-estranged husband Brian David Mitchell.

The couple is charged with multiple felonies in state court and last year was indicted by a federal grand jury.

But Barzee writes of repentance only when discussing her desire to be re-baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In a June 21 letter, she recounts talking to a local church leader about the steps necessary to regain her membership, which includes making a full confession.

Proud of his religion and worried about its future, Chicago dentist Max Feinberg wrote a will with an unusual catch: His grandchildren wouldn't inherit a penny if they married someone who wasn't Jewish.

His decision led to family feuds, lawsuits, counterclaims and, on Thursday, a unanimous ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court that Feinberg and his wife were within their rights to disinherit any grandchildren who married outside the faith.

"Equal protection does not require that all children be treated equally ... and the free exercise clause does not require a grandparent to treat grandchildren who reject his religious beliefs and customs in the same manner as he treats those who conform to his traditions," Justice Rita Garman wrote in a ruling that overturned decisions by two lower courts.

One disinherited granddaughter had argued it was improper for a will to set up conditions that promote religious intolerance in people's marriage decisions or even encouraged couples to divorce.

"It is at war with society's interest in eliminating bigotry and prejudice, and conflicts with modern moral standards of religious tolerance," said Michele Feinberg Trull's brief to the Supreme Court.

The court's ruling was based partly on technicalities in the way this estate was arranged. The court did not provide a broad ruling on whether similar religious restrictions would be valid under other circumstances.

A prominent human rights activist and her co-accused cannot be tried — now or in the future — on terror charges because they were beaten and tortured in jail, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said the court was issuing a permanent stay of prosecution in the case of Jestina Mukoko and eight other defendants because their constitutional rights had been violated.

Such a ruling from judges appointed by longtime President Robert Mugabe could signal a new willingness on his part to meet demands for reform from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his partner in the country's troubled unity government. But in a country that seems to lurch from promising to perilous from day to day, trends are hard to spot.

Innocent Gonese, a member of parliament from Tsvangirai's party, said the judgment could be "the beginning of good things to come, politically," but added that scores of other party activists remain jailed or face charges.

Richard Smith, a South Africa-based human rights activist, said the ruling could show an emerging streak of independence among judges known for taking orders from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Like most law firms, K&L Gates LLP faces headwinds. The recession has cut demand for many corporate legal services, including work on mergers, real estate and corporate finance. In turn, profits at firms across the country have plummeted, forcing many of them to fire attorneys, freeze salaries and shut offices.

Peter Kalis, chairman of the 1,800-lawyer K&L firm, has felt the pain first hand. He cut costs sharply this year, including firing about 40 attorneys and 200 other staff members.

But the 59-year-old West Virginia native -- a Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law School graduate and clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron White -- hasn't curtailed his expansion ambitions.

In the last two years, he has overseen mergers with firms in Chicago, North Carolina and Texas, and he has opened offices abroad, including in Singapore, Frankfurt and Dubai. His Pittsburgh law firm now ranks among the nation's largest, with 33 offices around the globe.

And Mr. Kalis shows no signs of slowing down. "Downturns can present extraordinary growth opportunities," he says. "But if you are lost in navel gazing and you don't have your head beams on high looking down the road, you'll miss the opportunities."

A lawyer for Zacarias Moussaoui has told a federal appeals court in Virginia that the Sept. 11 conspirator is entitled to a new trial.

Moussaoui is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to helping plan the 2001 terrorist attacks. But his lawyer told a three-judge panel Friday that the plea was unconstitutional because his trial lawyers had to undergo a national security background check, which restricted Moussaoui's right to choose counsel.

Moussaoui also claims he was denied helpful evidence. A federal prosecutor said Moussaoui decided to plead guilty before that evidence could be provided.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals first heard Moussaoui's appeal in January but ordered new arguments when a panel member retired before the case could be decided.