The Schwarzenegger administration on Tuesday asked the federal courts to delay an order requiring California to reduce its inmate population over the next two years.

Last month, a special three-judge panel gave California 45 days to decide how it will cut the number of inmates in its 33 adult prisons by more than 40,000, bringing the population to about 110,000. They found that reducing the number of inmates in California's 33 adult prisons was the only way to improve medical and mental health care, which the courts previously ruled was so poor it violated inmates' civil rights.

The administration maintains that the courts cannot order the state to release prisoners and plans to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the administration wants the three-judge panel to stay its decision ordering the prisoner release. That motion was filed Tuesday with federal courts in Sacramento and San Francisco.

If the three California-based federal judges will not delay their order, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the administration will seek a stay from the nation's high court.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year.

If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement in May.

Souter's failure to hire clerks was the first signal that he was contemplating leaving the court.

Stevens, 89, joined the court in 1975 and is the second-oldest justice in the court's history, after Oliver Wendell Holmes. He is the seventh-longest-serving justice, with more than 33 years and eight months on the court.

In response to a question from The Associated Press, Stevens confirmed through a court spokeswoman Tuesday that he has hired only one clerk for the term that begins in October 2010. He is among several justices who typically have hired all four clerks for the following year by now. Information about this advance hiring is not released by the court but is regularly published by some legal blogs.

Stevens did not say whether he plans to hire his full allotment of clerks or whether he will leave the court at the conclusion of the term that begins next month. Retired justices are allowed to hire one clerk.

Pfizer Inc. will pay $2.3 billion to settle a U.S. investigation into illegal marketing of medicines, the largest agreement in such a case, and a subsidiary will plead guilty to a criminal charge.

The amount, which Pfizer disclosed in January, includes $1.3 billion to close the criminal part of the investigation, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., acquired by Pfizer in 2003, will plead guilty to a count of felony misbranding of a pharmaceutical, according to a Justice Department summary of the agreement.

The criminal case stems from promotion of Bextra, a painkiller that Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, acquired through Upjohn and withdrew in 2005 because of its connection with a rare skin condition. Investigators also looked at practices, including kickbacks to doctors in the sale of nine other drugs, among them the impotence drug Viagra and cholesterol treatment Lipitor, the company and government officials said.

A white supremacist charged with killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum appeared in court Wednesday in a wheelchair, the first time he has been seen publicly since the June shooting.

James von Brunn, 89, had been hospitalized since the June 10 shooting after reportedly being shot in the face by other guards. He was finally well enough to be in U.S. District Court in Washington after several delays, though he appeared to be wearing medical bracelets on his right wrist.

His attorney said in court that von Brunn's injuries make it difficult for him to hear and talk and that he cannot walk. However, he had no bandages on his face and no visible wounds.

A judge ordered he stay in jail while he waits for a trial.

During the 30-minute hearing, von Brunn's attorney asked that his client be evaluated to determine whether he's competent to stand trial. Von Brunn objected, at first shaking his head and then calling out "your honor." His attorney and the judge tried to stop him.

A U.S. appeals court upheld an Internet gambling ban Tuesday, rejecting a challenge from an association of off-shore bookies that the federal prohibition was too vague and violated privacy rights.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected arguments from Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association in New Jersey, which had filed the lawsuit hoping to legalize online betting in that state.

Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 to ban online gambling that would be illegal in the state where the individual or gambling business conducts the transaction. The law does not target the bet itself but criminalizes bank or credit card transactions linked to the bet.

The group, comprised of mostly offshore betting operators, had attacked the law as unconstitutionally vague. Their lawyers questioned how the location of an online bet would be determined if the gambler is in Delaware, for instance, and the operation is in Costa Rica.

At least one of the three judges who heard arguments last month seemed to question that logic.

"No matter how metaphysical you want to get, I'm not in Costa Rica, I'm in Delaware," 3rd Circuit Judge Kent Jordan said.

The court also rejected arguments that the law invades a gambler's right to privacy in the home.

The Justice Department, which successfully defended the law, had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year.

If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement in May.

Souter's failure to hire clerks was the first signal that he was contemplating leaving the court.

Stevens, 89, joined the court in 1975 and is the second-oldest justice in the court's history, after Oliver Wendell Holmes. He is the seventh-longest-serving justice, with more than 33 years and eight months on the court.

In response to a question from The Associated Press, Stevens confirmed through a court spokeswoman Tuesday that he has hired only one clerk for the term that begins in October 2010. He is among several justices who typically have hired all four clerks for the following year by now. Information about this advance hiring is not released by the court but is regularly published by some legal blogs.

Stevens did not say whether he plans to hire his full allotment of clerks or whether he will leave the court at the conclusion of the term that begins next month. Retired justices are allowed to hire one clerk.