According to this GAO report, nine states including Illinois and New York, even provide constitutional guarantees of vested benefits.

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As in the United States, whites may challenge any quotas in court, claiming they offend constitutional guarantees of racial equality.

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But the United States and Germany say they cannot stop advertising entirely because that would violate constitutional guarantees on free speech.

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The American Civil Liberties Union, which has been monitoring the cases, said the verdicts won't be considered legitimate without constitutional guarantees for the accused.

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But the case may expose a conflict between constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion on the one hand and the criminal law on the other.

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The appointment of a Kurd, Abdulbasit Sida, who has called for constitutional guarantees for Syria's Kurds, as the SNC's new head, has been shrugged off as a Turkish ploy.

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Despite Malaysia's constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, its Supreme Court ruled, in an important test case, that Lina Joy, a 43-year-old woman who wants to convert officially from Islam to Christianity, cannot do so without the approval of Islamic sharia courts.

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But the rebels are pressing for guarantees that the results of the talks be recognised by a constitutional assembly.

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