51.   Democrat Rep. Ed McKechnie of Pittsburg argued that the governor lacks legal authority to fill the vacancy and should have waited for the Legislature to provide it next year.

52.   Despite his position, he is inescapably a political figure rather than a revered legal authority.

53.   District Attorney Arlo Smith belittled the tough anti-needle exchange stance taken by state Attorney General Dan Lungren, saying Lungren has no legal authority to shut down these programs.

54.   Discovering huge gaps in logistics, legal authority and medical care, they began quarreling among themselves and with Washington over how to stem the epidemic.

55.   Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has the legal authority to decide what classified information can be released.

56.   Eventually the council decided it lacked clear legal authority for the investigation.

57.   Even if they were, new money laundering regulations now demand that bankers report suspicious transactions to legal authorities.

58.   Federal law has long been interpreted by many legal authorities as prohibiting fund-raising on federal property.

59.   Federal regulators have the legal authority to impose fines or even ban a bank or savings institution from selling mutual funds.

60.   Final action on the regulations will unleash litigation by the tobacco companies, who say the FDA lacks the legal authority to regulate their products.