Notebook: Milestones

APPOINTED. ELENA KAGAN, 42, as first woman dean of Harvard Law School; in Cambridge, Mass. A teacher at Harvard since 1999, Kagan also served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and as a White House aide to President Bill Clinton.

RECOMMENDED. That DRUG CONVICTIONS of 38 people, almost all black, be overturned; in Tulia, Texas. After hearings that raised doubts about the uncorroborated testimony of a white undercover officer, Thomas Coleman - who bragged to the press about pulling suspects from their beds in July 1999--a judge strongly urged that all charges be dropped. A final determination will be made by a higher court. Coleman no longer works in law enforcement.

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