A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the Department of Defense violated a woman's right to equal protection under the Constitution by denying health coverage for the abortion of a fetus with a fatal brain condition.

It is suing the county Sheriff's Department, which enforces evictions, on the ground that placing items on the curb violates the village's anti-littering law.

They have said the Department of Corrections violated a constitutional clause that guarantees that inmates cannot get harsher sentences because of laws passed after their crimes were committed.

Individuals who believe that a Department of Justice employee or contractor has violated their civil rights or civil liberties may contact the OIG by mail:

A judge ruled yesterday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had violated its rules in approving funds for a low-income housing project on the Lower East Side.

Department of Education officials violated conflict of interest rules when awarding grants to states under President Bush's billion-dollar reading initiative, and steered contracts to favored textbook publishers, the department's inspector general said yesterday.

The Solano County district attorney's office is investigating whether the Department of Defense violated environmental laws by auctioning hazardous chemicals to private individuals who subsequently dumped them illegally.

But an environmental monitoring group says the Department of Energy, despite its recent promises to conduct business more openly, is violating the law by not preparing a statement assessing the environmental impact of the tests of the new reactor.

It asserts that two Federal health agencies and the Department of Veterans Affairs violated a 1979 law by halting a comprehensive study of Vietnam veterans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange.

The original lawsuit, which was dismissed in February for lack of standing, alleges that the Department violates its own Agriculture and Markets Law by allowing the sale of foie gras.