Thomas said Thursday that his chair was empty that day in November 2006 because he took a spill the night before.

"I had the wonderful opportunity to fall on my face one night and was not able to make oral argument the following day as a result of it," he said at a hearing of a House appropriations subcommittee on the court's budget for the next year.

Thomas didn't identify the arguments he missed, but court officials said later he was referring to the abortion case. Thomas voted to uphold the federal ban.

The accident came up Thursday as part of an account about how well the court's Web site works and a plea for an extra $800,000 for the site.

Since October 2006, the court has been making argument transcripts available the same day a case is argued.

"In order to stay up to speed on the case and what occurred at oral argument, I simply went to our Web site later that day and it was there," Thomas said.

The case from New Haven, Conn., pits white firefighters, who showed up at the court Wednesday in their dress uniforms, against the city over its decision to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results.

As is often the case with closely fought social issues at the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the key to the outcome. He seemed concerned that New Haven scuttled the test without determining that there were flaws that might have led to the racially disproportionate results.

"So shouldn't there be some standard that there has to be a significant, a strong showing after the test has been taken that it's deficient? Before it can be set aside?" he said.

Kennedy often frowns on racial classifications, yet he is not as opposed to drawing distinctions on the basis of race as his more conservative colleagues.

But where Kennedy saw shades of gray, the rest of the court seemed to view the case clearly in terms of black and white.

The case from New Haven, Conn., pits white firefighters, who showed up at the court Wednesday in their dress uniforms, against the city over its decision to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results.

As is often the case with closely fought social issues at the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the key to the outcome. He seemed concerned that New Haven scuttled the test without determining that there were flaws that might have led to the racially disproportionate results.

"So shouldn't there be some standard that there has to be a significant, a strong showing after the test has been taken that it's deficient? Before it can be set aside?" he said.

Kennedy often frowns on racial classifications, yet he is not as opposed to drawing distinctions on the basis of race as his more conservative colleagues.

But where Kennedy saw shades of gray, the rest of the court seemed to view the case clearly in terms of black and white.

For that purpose, a 3-2 majority -- Vice Mayor Jack Grasty and Commissioner Jim Hathaway voted no -- agreed to hire the Orlando law firm of Shutts and Bowen for a fee of $7,500.

The firm will conduct an independent review of the club's 99-year, $25 per annum, lease of city-owned waterfront property to see whether there are any red flags such as discrimination in membership practices or if it fulfills the original intent of the agreement. That was to promote tourism and business development, according to Mayor Sally Mackay, who led the majority.

Mackay went so far as to challenge the club's 90 members to "step into 2009" and decide how they could contribute to New Smyrna Beach in a significant way.

John Prisque of Bethlehem, Pa., was sentenced to a 70-month term for convictions of obstructing the investigation into Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. in Phillipsburg and violating clean water and air regulations. Four others also face sentencing.

In one of the most serious instances, an employee was killed after being crushed by a forklift that prosecutors say had faulty brakes.

Atlantic States is a division of McWane Inc., based in Birmingham, Ala.

The men say in court papers filed Monday in New York City that the Rev. Frank Genevive abused them between 1978 and 1987, when they were teens.

The Associated Press doesn't normally name rape victims. But Mark Lyman of Stillwater and David Landfear of Cohoes asked to be identified.

They say the abuse included oral sex and sodomy. The 53-year-old Genevive and his Franciscan supervisors are named as defendants.

Genevive and Franciscan Superior Robert Campagna didn't reply Tuesday to messages seeking comment.

In July 2008, Genevive pleaded guilty in Boston to raping Lyman, Landfear and others. He received a suspended sentence.

The court's 5-4 decision puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect.

Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion that warrantless searches still may be conducted if a car's passenger compartment is within reach of a suspect who has been removed from the vehicle or there is reason to believe evidence of a crime will be found.

"When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee's vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant," Stevens said.

Justice Samuel Alito, in dissent, complained that the decision upsets police practice that has developed since the court first authorized warrantless searches immediately following an arrest.

"There are cases in which it is unclear whether an arrestee could retrieve a weapon or evidence," Alito said.

Even more confusing, he said, is asking police to determine whether the vehicle contains evidence of a crime. "What this rule permits in a variety of situations is entirely unclear," Alito said.