A man who has been trying for decades to take back his guilty plea in a notorious child molestation case won a huge moral victory Monday when a federal appeals court encouraged prosecutors to reopen their investigation.

Although the judges on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Jesse Friedman's request to withdraw his plea, saying there was no legal basis to allow that, the panel criticized interrogation techniques by investigators in the 1988 case and actions by prosecutors and the trial judge.

"The record here suggests 'a reasonable likelihood' that Jesse Friedman was wrongfully convicted," the judges said in a 31-page decision. "While the law may require us to deny relief in this case, it does not compel us to do so without voicing some concern regarding the process by which the petitioner's conviction was obtained."

A teenage Friedman and his father, Arnold, pleaded guilty in 1988 to molesting 13 children during computer classes in the basement of their home in Great Neck, on Long Island. Jesse Friedman, now 40, was paroled in 2001; his father committed suicide in prison in 1995. The pair were charged with several hundred counts of sex abuse.

A Northern California appeals court has struck down a shopping mall's policy barring people from approaching strangers to chitchat.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal this week said the rules at Roseville's Westfield Galleria violate the California Constitution's free speech guarantee.

The mall prohibited people in its common areas from approaching people they didn't know to talk unless the conversation was about business involving the mall or its tenants. The case arose after mall officials issued a citizen's arrest of a 27-year-old pastor who tried to talk about his faith.

The appeals court says the policy effectively bars shoppers from chatting about the weather or offering directions.

A spokeswoman for Westfield says the mall is considering appealing to the California Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court in New York City has thrown out a decision that barred Congress from withholding funds from the activist group ACORN.

The ruling Friday reverses a decision by a district court. That judge found Congress had violated ACORN's rights by punishing it without a trial.

ACORN describes itself as an advocate for low-income and minority home buyers and residents.

Critics say the group has engaged in voter registration fraud and embezzlement. They say it has violated the tax-exempt status of some of its affiliates by engaging in partisan political activities.

ACORN's full name is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

An aide to New York Gov. David Paterson surrendered Thursday to New York City authorities on assault charges stemming from a 2009 domestic violence case that touched off an evidence-tampering investigation in Albany.

David Johnson turned himself in to investigators with the Bronx district attorney's office on misdemeanor assault charges and was awaiting arraignment.

Paterson's involvement in the case — he made a phone call to the accuser, who soon dropped her allegations — caused him serious political damage, even though investigators found no evidence of witness tampering.

Buffeted by other ethics questions about World Series tickets, the Democratic governor soon dropped plans to run for a full term this fall, while saying he intended to finish the year in office.

The confrontation occurred on Halloween, with Johnson and his then-girlfriend, Sherr-una Booker. Angry over how she was dressed, she said he choked her, threw her against a dresser and ripped her Halloween costume. The case was initially handled in Family Court and dropped without prejudice because Booker did not appear for a hearing.

A California woman sued the governing body of U.S. competitive swimming and her former coach, claiming he sexually abused, humiliated and harassed her when she was a teenager training under his supervision.

The suit announced Wednesday is one of several around the country alleging USA Swimming covered up wrongdoing and allowed a culture of abuse to exist in coaching ranks. The lawsuit also names the West Valley Swim Club and Pacific Swimming, the West Coast branch of USA Swimming.

The lawsuit claims swim coach Norman Havercroft sexually abused Jancy Thompson over a five-year period in the 1990s, beginning when she was about 15.

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse. However, the now 28-year-old has chosen to speak publicly.

Thompson, who graduated from police academy and does gang intervention for a nonprofit group, said she came forward to help affect change.

Three South Florida law firms that represent mortgage lenders are being investigated by the state attorney general over allegations they forged documents filed with the courts in foreclosure cases.

The Florida attorney general issued the subpoenas this week, requesting reams of paperwork by the end of the month from attorneys working in the foreclosure capital of the country.

The investigation targets firms considered to be handling the largest number of foreclosures in Florida on behalf of lenders, in some cases handling thousands of cases a month. They are the Law Offices of David J. Stern in Plantation; the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale; and Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa.

The subpoenas request documents going back to at least Jan. 1, 2008.

Attorney General Bill McCollum said the firms may have presented fabricated documents in court to obtain foreclosure judgments against homeowners. Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of improper actions by the firms under investigation, said McCollum, a Republican who is a running for governor.

He likened their work processing so many foreclosures to a mill, churning out foreclosures in large volumes.

Victoryland casino closed voluntarily Monday as a court ruling loomed that could allow a raid of Alabama's largest electronic bingo operation, the last non-Indian casino doing business in the state.

Victoryland owner Milton McGregor said the casino was be closing temporarily due to the "legal shenanigans and threats" from Gov. Bob Riley and his gambling task force commander, John Tyson Jr.

Riley and Tyson contend the casino is an illegal slots operation and court rulings in Alabama have made that clear. But McGregor said no court has ruled specifically that Victoryland's machines are in violation of a constitutional amendment allowing bingo that Macon County voters approved.

"The system of government in our state has broken down," McGregor said in a statement.

Macon County's district attorney and sheriff have contended the casino is legal. Their attorneys had a Monday afternoon deadline from the Alabama Supreme Court to respond to Tyson's request to raid Victoryland and confiscate its 6,000 bingo machines.