A Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $145 billion award against cigarette makers is biting Big Tobacco back, making it dramatically easier for thousands of smokers to sue and turning the state into the nation's hot spot for damage awards.

The 2006 ruling has helped generate more than $360 million in damage awards in only about two dozen cases. Thousands more cases are in the pipeline in Florida, which has far more smoking-related lawsuits pending than any other state.

Though the justices tossed the $145 billion class-action damage award, they allowed about 8,000 individual members of that class to pursue their own lawsuits. And in a critical decision, they allowed those plaintiffs to use the original jury's findings from the class-action case.

That means the plaintiffs don't have to prove that cigarette makers sold a defective and dangerous product, were negligent, hid the risks of smoking and that cigarettes cause illnesses such as lung cancer and heart disease. The plaintiffs must mainly show they were addicted to smoking and could not quit, and that their illness — or a smoker's death — was caused by cigarettes.

Jurors have sided with smokers or their families in about two-thirds of the 34 cases tried since February 2009, when the first Florida lawsuit following the rules set by the Supreme Court decision went before a jury. Awards have ranged from $2 million or less to $80 million, though tobacco companies are appealing them all.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Bill Bablitch has died at age 69.

Court officials say Bablitch died Wednesday evening at his winter home in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Bablitch retired in 2003 after serving 20 years on the court. Justice David Prosser tells the Journal Sentinel that Bablitch wrote many important and memorable decisions and that he was proud to call him a friend.

Bablitch was the Portage County district attorney until his election to the state Senate in 1972. He served seven years as Senate majority leader.

Thursday's admission in a Provo courtroom means that Keith Brown, 55, will go to prison for at least 10 years.

None of the sisters were in court, but a statement issued to The Associated Press by group spokesman Kimball Thomson said they were satisfied with the plea agreement.

"While clearly the current events surrounding the family are painful, the sisters were well prepared for this day, and are relieved and grateful to close this chapter in their lives," Kimball said.

Brown's three daughters and two sons are part of the classical piano group The 5 Browns, whose albums have topped the classical music charts and who have appeared on "Oprah" and other shows. The group also has been profiled by "60 Minutes."

Brown appeared in Fourth District Count with scratches and bruises on his face but with few other signs of the horrific crash three days earlier in which his Porsche plunged 300 feet into a canyon, also injuring his wife.

The former director of South Carolina's Corrections Department is joining a Columbia law firm.

Jon Ozmint said Thursday he has joined the Collins & Lacy law firm.

Ozmint is a lawyer and led South Carolina's prison system for eight years. He previously served as deputy attorney general, chief prosecutor of the State Grand Jury and general counsel for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Ozmint currently serves as a member of the Sentencing Reform Oversight Commission. He says he chose Collins & Lacy for the firm's commitment to helping South Carolina businesses.

Ozmint received the state's highest award, the Order of the Palmetto, earlier this year.

Defense lawyers for Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan's brother are asking a judge to throw out statements he made to police after the death of their father last year.

Mark Kerrigan has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the case.

Prosecutors say 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan was fatally injured in a violent fight with his drunken son at the family's Stoneham home. Kerrigan's lawyer and family say his father died from a longstanding heart condition and his son was not responsible.

Kerrigan's lawyer says he was so intoxicated when police first questioned him that he could not have voluntarily waived his right to silence.

At a court hearing Thursday, a police officer testified Mark Kerrigan yelled vulgarities when officers tried to handcuff him as emergency medical technicians tended to his father.

But in the end, Superior Court Judge Henry Hall ruled Wednesday that none of that counted. What mattered, the judge said, was that the six had illegally raised their salaries to 20 times above what state law allows and would have to stand trial on nearly two dozen felony counts of misappropriation of public funds. He ordered them to return to court March 2 for arraignment.

In a lengthy, strongly worded statement from the bench that several defense attorneys said caught them by surprise, Hall suggested the six could have been charged with even more crimes. He also ordered that they stay 100 yards away from City Hall and not engage in any government activity involving Bell.

"I find this is a matter of grave public safety to the people of Bell," he said in issuing his stay-away order. He added that he had considered putting five of the six who are free on bail back in jail to ensure compliance, but decided not to go that far.

When told by Mayor Oscar Hernandez's attorney that his order would effectively shut down Bell's city government, Hall replied that Hernandez and other officials had been skipping City Council meetings for months since the Bell salary scandal broke, preventing the council from having enough members to meet anyway.