The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a big victory for Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company. It had challenged the FCC's authority to impose so-called "net neutrality" obligations on broadband providers.

The ruling also marks a serious setback for the FCC, which is trying to officially set net neutrality regulations. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski argues that such rules are needed to prevent phone and cable companies from using their control over Internet access to favor some online content and services over others.

The decision also has serious implications for the massive national broadband plan released by the FCC last month. The FCC needs clear authority to regulate broadband in order to push ahead with some its key recommendations, including a proposal to expand broadband by tapping the federal fund that subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural communities.

The court case centered on Comcast's challenge of a 2008 FCC order banning the company from blocking its broadband subscribers from using an online file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent. The commission, at the time headed by Republican Kevin Martin, based its order on a set of net-neutrality principles it adopted in 2005 to prevent broadband providers from becoming online gatekeepers. Those principles have guided the FCC's enforcement of communications laws on a case-by-case basis, and now Genachowski is trying to formalize those rules.

Deborah Madden pleaded not guilty Monday to a felony cocaine possession charge in San Mateo County Superior Court.

The case is due back in court May 18.

The 60-year old Madden was arrested on March 3 after authorities investigating the disappearance of drugs at the San Francisco police lab found one-tenth of a gram of cocaine and a gun at her San Mateo home.

She remains free on $10,000 bail.

Madden has not been charged in the drug lab probe.

Erlyndon Joseph "Joey" Lo, 27, of Plano, filed documents there Friday saying his religious beliefs entitled him to use deadly force to prevent an abortion. He listed the name of a clinic, its address and the time he was going to show up — noon that day.

"I plan on saving at least one human life in Dallas, Texas," Lo wrote.

FBI spokesman Mark White said he was unsure if Lo went at that time, but said agents worked with Dallas police "to make sure there wasn't going to be an issue at the clinic." Lo was arrested Saturday.

The Court of Appeals, divided 4-3, says the New York's Office of Mental Health decided not to license the nursing homes. Therefore lawyers for the Mental Hygiene Legal Service lack jurisdiction.

State mental institutions began discharging patients in 1996 to nursing homes for continued but lower-level care.

The MHLS was established to guard the rights of the mentally disabled in institutions. It sought access to all those patients. The nursing homes said no, citing privacy rights.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Charles Patton, who was convicted and sentenced to 44 years in prison on drug charges. He appealed his conviction, saying that jurors weren't questioned by his trial judge on whether they had any bias against firearms. Patton had a loaded firearm when he was arrested.

The Illinois Appellate Court threw out the appeal, saying the judge did not have to ask about potential firearm bias on his own.

The competency hearing was scheduled after Hayes attempted to kill himself on January 30.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky for the murders and sexual assaults of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley. Dr. William Petit survived the home invasion attack.

If Hayes, 46, is allowed to plead guilty, under Connecticut law a jury or a three-judge panel would determine his sentence.