The Supreme Court won't hear an atheist's latest challenge to the U.S. government's references to God.

The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Newdow, who says government references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs.

This appeal dealt with the inscription of the national motto "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins and currency. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco says the phrase is ceremonial and patriotic and "has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion."

The court refused to hear Newdow's appeal of that decision.

"In God We Trust" was first put on U.S. coins in the 1860s and on paper currency in the 1950s.

A southwestern Illinois man accused of using a printer to turn bleached $5 bills into $100 bills has been ordered to spend two years and three months in federal prison.

A U.S. District Court judge in East St. Louis also fined 25-year-old Raphael Solomon of Chester $1,000 and ordered him to pay $1,500 in restitution.

Solomon pleaded guilty in November to one count of manufacturing counterfeit currency.

Authorities say Solomon bought a printer in December 2009 and used it to make the bogus $100 bills he then passed in various Randolph County-area stores.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that $2.4 billion in high-speed rail funding intended for Florida will be sent to other states after the state Supreme Court upheld Gov. Rick Scott's decision to reject the money.

The Republican governor's decision effectively kills the Tampa-Orlando route.

Until Scott's election in November, it had been on track to become a leading example of how the Obama administration's stimulus plan is creating jobs and reviving the nation's passenger rail system.

Several states, including New York and Rhode Island, have asked LaHood for Florida's rail funds, but the only project that would achieve the high speeds associated with bullet trains in Asia and Europe would be California's.

"I know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America's high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens," LaHood said in a statement.

The Delaware Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by billionaire Ron Burkle in a lawsuit challenging a poison pill plan adopted by Barnes & Noble Inc. after he doubled his stake in the company.

After hearing arguments Wednesday, the court on Thursday affirmed a judge's ruling last year upholding the poison pill plan, which limited a shareholder's stake in the company to 20 percent.

Burkle argued that New York-based Barnes & Noble had created an unfair playing field favoring the family of chairman and founder Leonard Riggio, which owns more than 30 percent of its common stock.

Burkle waged an unsuccessful proxy fight after the ruling but said he would continue to press for changes at the nation's largest brick-and-mortar book seller.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the state Game and Fish Commission's authority to lease public land to natural gas companies so they can drill.

The Thursday ruling affirmed a circuit court ruling turned away James Dockery's claim that proceeds from the wells should go to the Legislature instead of the commission.

The commission voted in 2008 to lease drilling rights to Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City for $32.2 million. Dockery sued in Pulaski County the following year.

The leased areas include include more than 7,500 acres in the Petit Jean River Wildlife Management Area in Yell County and nearly 4,000 acres in the Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Van Buren County.

A former Pennsylvania juvenile court judge convicted in a $1 million kickback scheme involving privately-owned juvenile detention centers wants his conviction on racketeering charges overturned.

Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella (shiv-uh-REL'-uh) filed motions Friday asking a federal judge to toss his convictions on charges including racketeering and money laundering conspiracy.

Ciavarella was convicted last month of taking payments from the owner of two detention centers in a scheme involving another judge. The scandal prompted the state Supreme Court to toss thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella, saying they were tainted.