11.   The ruling angered a spokesman for a crime victims group that considers such letters a valuable tool in deciding when to allow criminals to leave prison.

12.   They happen to be the largest victim group.

13.   Victim groups from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and North America will discuss how future lawsuits might be coordinated.

14.   Victims groups said the policy does not go far enough to protect children.

15.   Victims rights groups and death penalty advocates said the decision could result in hundreds of appeals from death row inmates who now will claim that they are mentally retarded.

16.   Victims groups said that in the past he had drawn distinctions that made it clear he did not understand the damage that sexual abuse can cause minors.

17.   Victims rights groups and death penalty advocates warned of a flood of appeals and pointed to the difficulty in defining what constitutes mental retardation.

18.   But growing pressure by war victim groups may force the government to reconsider.

19.   But the head of the largest victims group said the plan to give money to victims of the disease named for the fishing village of Minamata was insufficient.

20.   Dianne Clements, president of the victims rights group Justice For All, is astounded by the controversy.