The justices did not comment Monday in turning down Hatfill's appeal of a unanimous ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va. A three-judge panel affirmed a lower court's dismissal of the libel claims on the grounds that Hatfill is a public figure and failed to prove that columns written by Nicholas Kristof were malicious.

Circumstantial evidence led the FBI to suspect Hatfill was involved in the anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 just weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft publicly identified Hatfill, who worked at the Army's infectious diseases laboratory at Ft. Detrick, Md., from 1997 to 1999, as a "person of interest" in the investigation.

In June, the Justice Department agreed to pay Hatfill $5.8 million to settle a lawsuit claiming officials violated his privacy rights by speaking with reporters about the case.

No one has been charged in the attacks, although the government now believes another Army scientist, Bruce Ivins, was responsible. Ivins killed himself in July.

The Illinois attorney general has filed a motion with the state's highest court asking justices to remove scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) from office.

Lisa Madigan took the action Friday as pressure on the governor intensified to step down. The motion challenges his fitness to serve and asks that the Supreme Court oust him.

Madigan scheduled a news conference in Chicago Friday morning to discuss the motion.

The move came as the governor prayed with several ministers in his home before heading to his office, telling them he is innocent and will be vindicated "when you hear each chapter completely written," according to one of the pastors.

In an order issued late Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says the slot auction cannot be held until a federal court rules on objections from New York airport officials and airlines.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters called for the auction as a way to reduce air traffic at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports. Peters' decision to auction slots followed widespread complaints last year about lengthy flight delays.

Airlines and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey filed suit saying the proposal would add new costs and make a mess of day-to-day airport operations.

It was Michael Schumacher and Kelly Layne Lau's first court appearance since their arrest following the boy's escape in nothing more than boxer shorts and a chain around his ankle. The teen was in search of help after allegedly spending more than a year in captivity.

The boy's one-time guardian, Caren Ramirez, also was charged with similar allegations Thursday. She remained under psychiatric evaluation awaiting her court appearance, expected as early as Monday.

Schumacher and Lau were charged with 13 felony counts, and Ramirez, whom the boy called an aunt, was charged with 10 counts. Among the charges are corporal injury to a child, child abuse and aggravated mayhem, which the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office said could yield life sentences.

Superior Court Judge Franklin Stephenson ordered Schumacher and Lau to be held in lieu of $2.2 million bail. They did not enter pleas.

The abuse at the couple's home in Tracy, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, started in July 2007, prosecutors said. The boy escaped from the home on Monday and fled to a nearby fitness center. He appeared emaciated and was covered in soot.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the practice in its ruling for the case of an illegal gun dealer who got two years in prison, which was six months more than federal sentencing guidelines recommended.

When he imposed the sentence in 2004, U.S. District Judge Charles P. Sifton in Brooklyn said there was a "crying need" to deter gun trafficking into large metropolitan areas.

A three-judge appeals panel initially had overturned Sifton's ruling. The judges then reheard the case and ruled in Sifton's favor Thursday.

The panel said Sifton's ruling was justifiable given the high payoff available to gun smugglers who target big cities.

"Where the profits to be made from violating a law are higher, the penalty needs to be correspondingly higher to achieve the same amount of deterrence," the majority opinion said.

Gerard Cavera, the convicted gun dealer in the case, was an Army veteran with residences in New York and Deerfield Beach, Fla. The appeals court said evidence in the case indicated that he likely knew 16 firearms he sold in Florida for $11,500 were destined for New York City.

Cavera's lawyer, Jeffrey Rabin, said he was "somewhat disappointed" and was considering an appeal. He argued the case would contribute to a return to the disparate sentencing that occurred before the creation of sentencing guidelines.

The court is undertaking a fresh review of the Bush administration's aggressive use of preventive detention for suspected terrorists. The administration asserts that the president has the authority to order the military to detain anyone suspected of being an al-Qaida member.

The administration's policy is being challenged by Ali al-Marri, a Qatar native who was seized in the United States and is the only enemy combatant currently being held on U.S. soil. The government says al-Marri is an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

Al-Marri, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, says he cannot be imprisoned without charge or trial. He was arrested in Peoria, Ill.

Al-Marri has been held in virtual isolation in a Navy brig near Charleston, S.C., for nearly 5 1/2 years.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., said in a split decision that the president has such power, but that al-Marri must be given the chance to persuade a federal judge that he is not an enemy combatant.

The administration argued that al-Marri's case should first go to federal district court in South Carolina, instead of to the Supreme Court.

Al-Marri said that the case was of such constitutional importance that it should be heard by the high court now — and the justices apparently agreed.