Court Ruling

On summer nights in the mid-1960s, while black-and-white television crackled elsewhere in his Staten Island home with news of Southern violence and Vietnam, Bobby Lasnik would stretch out in his bedroom to let the righteous soundtrack of the civil rights movement waft into his impressionable teenage soul. Tuned in to WBAI-FM, coming across the water from Manhattan, he heard baleful laments about injustice that he would carry with him for a lifetime. "Suddenly there was someone speaking a certain kind of truth to you. You'd say, 'Wow!

WASHINGTON - A widow who conceived a baby from the sperm of her late husband is not automatically entitled to Social Security survivors benefits to help raise the child, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 9-0 decision rejected the claim that a biological child of a married couple, even one born years after the father died, always qualifies as his survivor under the Social Security Act. Instead, the justices upheld the government's multi-part definition of who deserves survivors benefits.

Until last month, the strongest evidence in drug and drunk driving cases in courtrooms across the nation often was a piece of paper. A crime lab or Breathalyzer report would confirm that the defendant indeed had illegal drugs or a high level of alcohol in his or her system. But a Supreme Court decision has sent a jolt through that procedure. Now the prosecution must make a lab technician available to testify in person if the defendant demands it.

Reacting to Eric J. Segall's Op-Ed article on Tuesday warning of a gay rights backlash if theU.S. Supreme Court overturns Proposition 8, reader Sara Wan of Malibu wrote: "It is wrong to suggest that pushing for civil liberties should be left to Congress and not include the judicial system. As long as discrimination is legal, it is harder to fight it. "Segall's analogy to past laws banning interracial marriage is incorrect. While there was not a specific push to legalize interracial marriage, the 1967 Supreme Court decision was the direct result of the civil rights movement.

As evening falls, a dazed woman with a gangrenous thumb spreads a blanket over a row of plastic crates to make a bed on the urine-soaked sidewalk. As many as 10 people are camping along this stretch of pavement on 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles. Their belongings - tents, sleeping bags, shopping carts, a leather chair, at least two microwaves and piles of clothing - nearly cover the concrete. Rats scuttle in the gutter. A bony man lights up a crack pipe. Scenes like these had all but disappeared several years ago when the Safer City Initiative brought 50 additional police officers to the 50 gritty blocks known as skid row. Crime rates dropped, homeless encampments were cleared and the street population shrank.

Cable TV providers cannot have exclusive rights to provide service in apartment buildings that they wire, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The decision by the Court of Appeals in Washington upholds a Federal Communications Commission ruling that banned the exclusive agreements as anti-competitive. The National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. and a pair of affiliated real estate groups sued, saying the FCC did not justify the change in policy or have the authority to regulate the deals.

So, the Supreme Court has decided that in general parents, not judges or grandparents, have the fundamental right to decide what is best for their children and that parents' wishes must be given "special weight" as compared with the wishes of others (June 6). Regarding the Elian Gonzalez situation, it will be interesting to see if special-interest politics carry "special weight" as well. MINDY HALPERN Santa Ana

An appellate court ruling in a long-running lawsuit against Reggie Bush opens the door for Bush and USC Coach Pete Carroll to be questioned about whether the running back received cash and gifts while playing for the Trojans. The decision, released Monday, represents the latest development in a suit brought by would-be sports marketer Lloyd Lake, who claims he gave cash and gifts to Bush and his family beginning around late 2004. The state court upheld an earlier decision blocking an attempt by Bush's attorneys to force the suit into confidential arbitration.

Harvey Rosenfield for insurance commissioner! PAUL STEIN Pasadena

The present Supreme Court should go down in history as "the salami court." It has taken several slices off civil rights. Now, in the CNN case, it's freedom of the press. What's next? FREDERIC E. PAMP Santa Ynez

WASHINGTON -- Advocacy groups spending millions of dollars in the 2012 campaign are now faced with the prospect of having to reveal the donors who have been secretly financing their efforts after a federal appellate court panel refused to block a lower court order requiring the move. In a 2 to 1 decision issued Monday evening, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel in Washington declined to stay a ruling by a federal judge requiring organizations that run election-related television ads to disclose their donors.

Moving swiftly after a judge dismissed his case Thursday morning, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley six hours later refiled 24 perjury and voter fraud charges against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca Alarcon. The new charges, which accuse the Alarcons of lying about living in a house in Panorama City so that the councilman could run for his 7th District seat, mirror the allegations in the grand jury indictment thrown out by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who was ruling on a defense motion.

A UC Berkeley law professor who helped the Bush administration create policies to justify harsh interrogation techniques and prolonged detention may not be sued by an American citizen detained under those conditions, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Jose Padilla, an American citizen arrested in 2002 and declared an "enemy combatant," may not hold professor John Yoo liable for "gross physical and psychological abuse" that Padilla said he suffered during more than three years of military detention.

WASHINGTON - Ten months into his term as Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney was abruptly confronted with an emotionally charged issue: The state's highest court ruled that gays had the legal right to marry, thrusting the state into the forefront of the same-sex marriage debate. Romney, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, faced one of the biggest challenges of his four years in office. His response would alienate constituencies on both sides and contribute to criticisms that he shifted positions for political gain, a charge renewed in his two bids for the White House.

A state appeals court Tuesday put the brakes on part of the criminal case against two top Bell officials in a dispute over whether the Los Angeles County district attorney should be allowed to prosecute the case. What exactly the decision from the 2nd District Court of Appeal means, though, was disputed by attorneys for the defense and the prosecution. A star player in this drama is Randy Adams, Bell's highly paid former police chief, who has not been charged. Among the allegations faced by Robert Rizzo, Bell's former chief administrative officer, and Angela Spaccia, Rizzo's second in command, is that they hid Adams' $457,000 annual paycheck by dividing it into two contracts.

The ongoing legal battle surrounding Fisk University's Stieglitz art collection took a significant step toward a conclusion Monday when the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected an attempt to keep the artwork from moving out of Nashville. Fisk University has been trying to sell a 50% stake in the prized art collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum, founded by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. The university has been experiencing financial difficulties and sought the sale to help it stay afloat.

The ruling that a manufacturer and his dealers may agree to halt supplies to a price-cutting retailer is a bomb for the smart shoppers in this country who shop for "bargains," not for retailers with high-rent showrooms, highly-paid personnel and higher price tags. Consequently, it breeds no good for the country. With foreign goods already underpricing domestic goods in almost every area, the court ruling is hardly a wise one if our trade and domestic deficits are to be reduced.

The Obama administration's consumer financial watchdog wants to undo a limit on some upfront fees on credit cards, prompting criticism that it could hurt borrowers with poor credit. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is backing away from restrictions on what the industry calls fee-harvester cards. Issuers of these cards make such customers pay a large fee before they can receive cards with very low credit lines. The agency indicated that its decision stemmed from a court ruling saying the fee cap appeared to be barred by "plain and unambiguous" language in the applicable law. Lobbyists and the public have until June 11 to file comments or objections before a final decision is made.

California employers must make it possible for workers to take scheduled breaks but cannot be held liable if employees decide to work instead of rest, the California Supreme Court decided Thursday. The state high court ruling came amid a proliferation of lawsuits brought by California workers against a wide range of employers, particularly in the restaurant industry, that had sparked anxiety among business owners. Tens of thousands of workers have contended that companies evade state labor law requirements by making it impossible to take scheduled breaks.