The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the state's price-gouging law.

The justices Thursday unanimously overturned a Winston County judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutionally vague.

Chancellor J. Max Kilpatrick's ruling came in 2008 as he rejected Attorney General Jim Hood's lawsuit accusing a Mississippi oil company of charging too much for fuel after Hurricane Katrina. Kilpatrick has since retired from the bench.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to Winston County to determine if Fair Oil Co. in Louisville violated the law.

Fair Oil was one of two companies Hood sued in 2007. The lawsuit, which represents only one side of a legal argument, accused the company of gouging consumers after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

Jack Camp, the former federal judge ensnared in a scandal involving drugs and a stripper, was sentenced Friday to 30 days in prison and 400 hours of community service.

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said he could not give a sentence of only probation because Camp had breached his oath of office.

"He has disgraced his office," Hogan said. "He has denigrated the federal judiciary. He has encouraged disrespect for the rule of law."

Before being sentenced, Camp apologized for what he had done and thanked his family and friends, many of whom filled the courtroom.

"I have embarrassed and humiliated my family as well as myself," Camp said. "I have embarrassed the court I have served on and I am deeply sorry for that. When I look back at the circumstances which brought me here and look at what I did, it makes me sick."

Camp said that at the end of the day, "the only thing I can say is that I'm so very sorry."

As a judge, Camp often meted out harsh sentences and rarely gave breaks to defendants who presented mitigating circumstances to explain their conduct. On Friday, Hogan was asked by Camp's lawyers to grant leniency because of the ex-judge's decades-long battle with a bipolar disorder and brain damage caused by a 2000 biking accident.

A California appeals court has sided with environmentalists in a decision that blames Los Angeles County and its flood control district for sending polluted runoff into the Pacific Ocean.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the county is responsible for the heavily polluted storm water flowing untreated each year down the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and Santa Monica Baykeeper environmental groups say the ruling is a turning point in the battle for clean water. Council attorney Aaron Colangelo says the county must now eliminate the flow of pollutants.

The Los Angeles Times says the Flood Control District argued its channels were simply conduits for upstream polluters, but the court says the district controls the flow to the ocean.

The Michigan Supreme Court says it will decide whether to remove a Lansing judge from office.

In late December, Hugh Clarke Jr. was appointed to a vacancy at 54-A District Court by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Attorney General Bill Schuette says the appointment should have expired on Jan. 1.

Clarke replaced Amy Krause, a judge who was re-elected in November before getting a promotion by Granholm to the appeals court.

Clarke's lawyers say he's entitled to stay in office and face election in 2012. The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will hear arguments in May.

The owner of a Mason City home damaged in 2008 flooding has lost an appeal of his lawsuit against the city.

The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed a district court judgment for the city in the lawsuit filed by William Plymat. He alleged the city's negligence caused $28,500 damage to his property.

The Mason City Globe Gazette says the city had installed culvert pipes near Plymat's home so rainwater and snowmelt could drain through the city's levee into the Winnebago River.

Automatic culvert valves were installed to prevent floodwater from the river from reaching nearby land.

A Lansing man has admitted to the 2008 strangulation of the 77-year-old woman who had raised him since he was 2.

Anthony Duane Thomas pleaded guilty but mentally ill to a second-degree murder charge in the killing of Ruby Thomas.

The 21-year-old said during the hearing Wednesday in Ingham County Circuit Court that he strangled his adoptive mother in her home on Aug. 4, 2008.

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Thomas is expected to be sentenced to 13{ to 23 years in prison.