But that was exactly the opposite from the court's final ruling.

It was not clear from the judge's ruling how many judicial elections could be affected.

There are no appeals from a Board of Health ruling, other than taking an issue to court.

Short of that, the leasing companies have 10 days from last week's ruling to ask the judge to reconsider his decision.

An appeal from a ruling by a special review court can be made only to the nation's highest court.

Three judges dissented from the appeals court's ruling in March.

This time, racial minorities other than African Americans benefited from such a ruling.

In the Supreme Court's opinion yesterday, the court reiterated its position from an earlier ruling on a similar matter.

Ms. Stewart's case could benefit from a favorable ruling on the request to throw out some of the government's charges.

According to news reports, Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's ruling.