Free Republic

LOS ANGELES – A man convicted of shooting his ex-wife and suspected of killing her father was captured in Mexico and could become a test case for new Mexican extradition rules, officials said. Mexico had been a sanctuary to U.S. murder suspects facing life sentences until November, when that country's highest court overturned a 4-year-old ban preventing extradition for suspects who could face life without parole. Daniel Perez, 34, is now the first person facing extradition under that ruling, officials said. He was captured in Mazatlan on Monday, more than six years after his ex-wife was kidnapped and shot and...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bill allowing an estimated 2 million illegal immigrant drivers in California to get legal driver's licenses cleared a Senate committee Tuesday, which was the bill's first hurdle in the Legislature. The latest attempt to make illegal immigrants eligible for the licenses, the bill would require applicants who cannot prove legal residency in California to be fingerprinted, undergo background checks and get adult sponsors. Illegal immigrants would pay $146 for a license to cover extra costs of guaranteeing that licenses aren't used as a tool for terrorists to move freely in California. Senate Transportation Committee Democrats favored...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sweeping workers' compensation bill could face its first test in the Legislature next week, but a key lawmaker doubts it will pass unless it's substantially amended.</p> <p>"If they don't amend it, I don't think it's going anywhere," Assemblyman Juan Vargas said Thursday. "I don't think it's a good bill. There's a lot of things damaging in there for workers."</p>