The justices overturned part of a ruling by a U.S. appeals court that entirely blocked the state office from investigating or enforcing the fair lending laws against national banks because they are subject instead to federal regulation.

In the court's main split opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia concluded the state attorney general cannot issue subpoenas, but can bring judicial enforcement actions.

In 2005, Eliot Spitzer, then the state attorney general, began investigating possible racial discrimination in mortgage lending. He sent letters of inquiry to mortgage lenders, including banks such as Wells Fargo, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

The probe was prompted by data that Spitzer said appeared to show a significantly higher percentage of high-interest home mortgage loans issued to black and Hispanic borrowers than to white borrowers.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal agency that oversees nationally chartered banks, sued to enjoin the probe on the grounds it fell outside state jurisdiction. A consortium of national banks also sued.

Blazej (BLAH'-zay) Kot appeared in Tompkins County Court on Wednesday but didn't enter a plea. Defense attorney Joseph Joch (YAWK) says he will plead not guilty at a future court appearance. The judge says a trial isn't likely until at least November.

The 24-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, is accused of stabbing Caroline Coffey to death on a wooded trail in a state park near the couple's Ithaca apartment on June 2. Coffey, who was 28, was a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell.

Police say Kot set a fire in the apartment and was later found with serious self-inflicted cuts. He had been hospitalized in Pennsylvania.

Thomas Daley, of Phoenixville, put cameras behind mirrors and in ceiling fans in bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms at five apartment buildings in Norristown.

Prosecutors say it began in 1989 and continued until September 2008. Norristown police were tipped off when a tenant found one of the cameras.

Daley pleaded guilty in Montgomery County on Wednesday to more than 30 counts, including invasion of privacy.

The 46-year-old will be sentenced later. He faces 10 to 151 years in prison.

Defense attorney Tim Woodward says Daley never showed the videos to anyone else and "is extremely remorseful."

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin entered the preliminary order Friday, ruling that Madoff must give up his interests in all property, including real estate, investments, cars and boats.

The forfeiture represents the total amount that could be connected to Madoff's fraud, not the amount stolen or lost, and the order made clear that nothing prevents other departments or entities from seeking to recover additional funds.

A call to Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, after hours Friday was not immediately returned. In a court filing in March, Sorkin said the government's forfeiture demand of $177 billion was "grossly overstated — and misleading — even for a case of this magnitude."

The 71-year-old Madoff pleaded guilty in March to charges that his exclusive investment advisory business was actually a massive Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors say Madoff orchestrated perhaps the largest financial swindle in history.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, who released a copy of the order Friday night, plans to seek a 150-year prison term at Madoff's sentencing Monday. Sorkin has argued in court papers for a 12-year term.

According to Friday's order, the government also settled claims against Madoff's wife. Under the arrangement, the government obtained Ruth Madoff's interest in all property, including more than $80 million-worth that she had claimed was hers, prosecutors said. The order left her $2.5 million in assets.

The state of New York wanted the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court decision that blocks states from investigating the lending practices of national banks with branches within its borders. It was supported by the other 49 states.

The plea deal calls for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. Novello faced up to 12 years in prison if convicted on all charges. She was accused of costing taxpayers $48,000 by misusing the workers.

She pleaded guilty to filing a false document involving a worker's duties.

Investigators said Novello, originally from Puerto Rico, used state workers to chauffeur her on shopping trips and rearrange heavy furniture at her apartment while she was New York's top health official. She now lives in Florida.

In court Friday, Albany County Judge Stephen Herrick asked Novello if she had intended to defraud the state.