WASHINGTON - Mary Frances Berry, blunt-spoken chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, resigned Tuesday after more than two decades of criticizing the governments, both Democratic and Republican, that she served. Berry, an independent, and Democratic Vice Chairman Cruz Reynoso sent resignation letters to President Bush (news - web sites) a day after the White House moved to replace the two. Both had resisted leaving Monday, arguing their terms wouldn't expire until midnight Jan. 21, 2005. The White House maintained that their six-year terms expired Sunday, and Berry and Reynoso had been replaced. In brief letters to Bush, Berry and...
