1.   A district judge in Virginia ruled that it was unconstitutional for rape victims to sue their attackers for damages.

2.   A law that permits victims of rape and other sex crimes to sue their attackers for damages in federal court may seem an unlikely battleground in the federalism wars.

3.   It also struck down a federal law that let women sue their attackers in federal court.

4.   Last term the court struck down parts of one law barring age discrimination in employment and another allowing rape victims to sue their attackers.

5.   On Monday, the Senate removed a provision to allow hate crimes victims to sue their attackers.

6.   That section allowed victims of gender-motivated violence to sue attackers for damages in federal courts.

7.   The law created a new federal civil remedy, permitting victims to sue their attackers for damages, including punitive damages.

8.   The Supreme Court ruled Monday that rape victims cannot sue their attackers in federal court.

9.   --A federal law that lets rape victims sue their attackers in federal court.

10.   But Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist questioned whether people who sue their attackers would fare any better in federal court than in state court.