Democrats want to counter a recent Supreme Court ruling that makes it harder for older workers to prove they are the victims of age discrimination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing testimony Wednesday on a bill that would effectively nullify a high court decision that changed the interpretation of age bias laws.

The high court said it is not enough for employees to show age is a motivating factor in a demotion or layoff. Rather, workers must prove it is the deciding factor.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy says that sets the bar too high for discrimination victims.

The plaintiff in the case was invited to testify. He's Jack Gross, who was employed by an insurance company in West Des Moines, Iowa.

A former Yale University lab technician charged with strangling a graduate student and stuffing her body behind a laboratory wall appeared in court Tuesday, but did not enter a plea to murder.

Twenty-four-year-old Raymond Clark III appeared in an orange jumpsuit in New Haven Superior Court. He's accused of strangling 24-year-old Annie Le (LAY') of Placerville, Calif. His lawyers say he eventually will plead not guilty.

The judge scheduled a probable cause hearing for Oct. 20, in which sides will have the right to introduce evidence and call witnesses. Under Connecticut law, defendants accused of murder have the right to the hearing within 60 days of their arrest to decide if the case will go forward.

The judge said he will also consider at that hearing whether to extend a sealing order on the police arrest affidavit in the case.

Le was a pharmacology graduate student who vanished Sept. 8 from a Yale medical lab building. Her body was found in the building five days later, on what was supposed to have been her wedding day.

Police have not talked about a motive in the slaying, largely because Clark has not talked to authorities. Investigators and Yale officials have called Le's death a case of workplace violence, but have not elaborated.

A federal appeals court has halted the execution of a man who strangled his 67-year-old neighbor, citing last month's failed attempt to execute another inmate in Ohio.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Monday to delay the execution of 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds until a federal judge has time to hear arguments over problems with the Sept. 15 injection process. Reynolds had been scheduled to die Thursday.

Gov. Ted Strickland stopped the planned execution of Romell Broom after executioners tried for two hours to find a usable vein.

Broom's execution also is on hold while his attorneys prepare for a federal court hearing Nov. 30. They argue that an unprecedented second execution attempt on Broom violates a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

A Florida appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that the NCAA must release documents on Florida State's appeal of an academic cheating penalty.

The 1st District Court of Appeal upheld a circuit court decision Thursday. The Associated Press and other media groups had sued, saying the NCAA's desire to keep the process private violated Florida open records laws.

The documents focus on Florida State's appeal of the NCAA's intention to strip coaches and athletes of wins in 10 sports.

That includes football coach Bobby Bowden, who stands to lose 14 victories. It would dim his chances of again becoming major college football's winningest coach. Bowden has 384 victories — two behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.

A former top aide to Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to smuggle contraband into a prison.

Betsey Wright is accused of trying to smuggle tattoo needles, a box cutter, a knife and tweezers into the Varner Supermax Unit while visiting a death row inmate in May.

The 66-year-old Wright entered the plea Wednesday in a court filing in Lincoln County Circuit Court.

The filing by defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig also waives her arraignment, which had been set for next week, and asks for a jury trial.

Rosenzweig declined to comment on Wright's defense other than to say she's not guilty.

Wright was Clinton's chief of staff for seven years and worked on many of his campaigns.

Delaware's appeal of a ruling that its plan to allow betting on professional sports violates a federal ban will not be heard, a federal court ruled on Tuesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in court documents signed by Judge Thomas Hardiman, denied the request for a rehearing before the larger court.

Hardiman was one of the three judges who ruled unanimously in August that Delaware's plan violated federal law.

Delaware had planned to allow point-spread bets on individual games in all major sports from three racetrack casinos.

"Obviously, we are disappointed with today's ruling, Michael Barlow, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell's legal counsel, said in a statement. "We realize that it is rare that the Third Circuit will hear cases with all 12 active judges, but this was an important issue for the state of Delaware and we thought the state should have a chance to make its case at trial."

Delaware could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, but Markell spokesman Joe Ragolsky said that was unlikely.

The state can offer parlay bets -- which depend on the outcome of several matches -- on National Football League games.

A former aide to Danielle Steel is facing time in federal prison after admitting she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the romance novelist.

Federal prosecutors announced Monday that 47-year-old Kristy Watts, who also goes by the name Kristy Siegrist, pleaded guilty last week to one count of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion.

Prosecutors say Watts admitted stealing at least $400,000 while handling accounting and other duties for Steel.

Watts worked for the best-selling author from 1993 to 2008.

Investigators determined Watts had deposited checks from Steel's accounts into her own account and used Steel's credit cards for herself.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 4 in federal court in San Francisco.