Kennedy avoided trial and possible jail time with the plea deal Monday in Hamilton County Municipal Court in Cincinnati. He will be on probation for six months and must perform 40 hours of community service.

He was arrested last December when Mississippi was in Cincinnati for a game against Louisville as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational. The cab driver said Kennedy punched him in the face and called him a terrorist after he told the coach he couldn't legally fit him and four others into his cab.

Kennedy is still embroiled in civil lawsuits with the driver and a valet who says he saw the confrontation.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the U.S. Department of Justice must provide a copy of the doctor's report it used to determined Demjanjuk is healthy enough to safely travel. It also asks for the government's plans for the transportation of Demjanjuk to Germany.

Also, it wants Demjanjuk's attorneys to file papers addressing whether the court has jurisdiction.

The court's requests were filed Thursday. Lawyers have one week to respond.

Family of the retired autoworker have said flying him to Germany would amount to torture and that he might not survive the flight.

The appeals court in Washington dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by a Marine who led the squad in the attack. The judges agreed with Murtha that he was immune from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker when he made the comments to reporters.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying the squad he was leading engaged in "cold-blooded murder and war crimes" in Haditha, Iraq, on Nov. 19, 2005.

At a Capitol Hill news conference in May 2006, Murtha predicted that a Pentagon war crimes investigation would show the Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in Haditha.

Military prosecutors have said two dozen Iraqis, including women and children, were killed in Haditha after one Marine died and two others were wounded by a roadside bomb. Wuterich is charged with voluntary manslaughter and other allegations, the only person still facing charges in the attack.

He has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of ordering his men to clear several houses with grenades and gunfire, leading to the civilian deaths.

The 13th Court of Appeals ruled last week that Wackenhut Corrections Corp., now known as The GEO Group, and Warden David Forrest have to pay $42.5 million to the family of Gregorio de la Rosa Jr.

The company was accused of allowing two inmates to beat de la Rosa with padlocks stuffed in socks. He died in 2001, four days before his expected release from a facility in Raymondville.

A Willacy County jury had ordered the company to pay de la Rosa's family $47.5 million in a 2006 civil judgment. The Brownsville Herald reports that the appeals court reduced the judgment because a family member had died.

The holders of about 4,000 accounts had their constitutional rights violated when a district judge in Dallas froze their Stanford-related assets, according to documents filed with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The pleading also argues that the judge and a court-appointed receiver don't have jurisdiction over an Antigua-based bank connected to the alleged fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit in February accusing Stanford and his top financial officer of running a "massive Ponzi scheme" that defrauded investors of about $8 billion. Stanford has denied the allegations, and did so again Monday night during a tearful interview aired on ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson."

Attorney Michael Quilling, who represents about 35 account holders, said a favorable ruling on his pleading would result in the court unlocking the 4,000 accounts that the receiver has so far declined to release. He also questioned whether Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver, has jurisdiction in the case, calling Janvey "a king without a country."

"The big issue here is that right now thousands of Americans are having their due process rights trampled under the guise of an order that is based on no jurisdiction," Quilling said. "This is a second victimization. (Account holders) were victimized by the bank and its fraudulent practices and are now being victimized by the court and the receiver."

The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from the state of Georgia over attorney fees for lawyers who sued to force dramatic changes in Georgia's foster care system.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob awarded them $10.5 million in attorney fees, a $4.5 million enhancement on top of a $6 million award. Shoob said he increased the award because of the exceptional results that children's advocates achieved. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn his decision.

The class-action lawsuit against Georgia, settled in 2005, prompted the state to reduce worker case loads, improve investigations into abuse and prevent overcrowding in foster homes. Gov. Sonny Perdue, one of the defendants in the lawsuit, authorized hiring 500 additional child welfare workers.

Shoob said the attorneys deserved the award because their lawsuit had beneficial results despite the state's resistance to reform. The state settled the case after fighting it for nearly three years.

Lawyers for Georgia say appeals courts around the nation have split on whether a judge can give lawyers extra money based on their performance.

The lengthy legal tussle between America’s Cup sailing teams BMW Oracle Racing and Alinghi over who has the right to challenge Alinghi for the next Cup appears to have taken a decisive tack in BMW Oracle's favor.

On Thursday, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that BMW Oracle, the American-based syndicate that represents Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, should be restored as challenger of record for the oldest major trophy in international sport.

The verdict, a unanimous 6-0 decision, overturned a ruling last year that would have allowed the Spanish-based Club Nautico Español de Vela, or CNEV, to remain Alinghi's primary challenger.

The decision opens the way for an unconventional Cup at some stage in the next year in which BMW Oracle and Alinghi could face each other in a best-of-three regatta in massive, new-age catamarans. But there is also the possibility that Alinghi’s owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, and Larry Ellison, his counterpart at BMW Oracle, could, with the legal situation resolved, resume negotiations and agree on terms for a conventional multi-challenger regatta to be staged in 2010 or 2011.

Reached by e-mail, Bertarelli initially declined to comment. In an interview in December prior to the verdict, he indicated that he was unlikely to pursue further legal action if this appeal — in New York’s highest court — went against his team.

Jane Eagleson, a spokeswoman for BMW Oracle, said, “We’re obviously pleased with the court decision today, and we’re carefully studying the decision and expect to have further comment in the next few days.”

Rapprochement has proved elusive between Bertarelli and Ellison, both of whom sail on their yachts during competition. They were once on friendly terms but have been transformed into bitter rivals off the water by the 21-month dispute over the terms of the next Cup. The court battle has forced other would-be challengers to disband or drastically reduce their payrolls while they waited for clarity.