The court ruled 6-3 Monday in favor of a teenage boy from Oregon whose parents sought to force their local public school district to pay the $5,200 a month it cost to send their son to a private school.

Federal law calls for school districts to reimburse students or their families for education costs when public schools do not have services that address or fulfill the students' needs. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the nation's special education students are entitled to a "free and appropriate public education."

Schools have argued that parents of special education students should have given public special education programs a chance before seeking reimbursement for private school tuition. But advocacy groups and parents of some special education students contend that forcing them to try public schools first could force children, especially poor ones, to spend time in an undesirable situation before getting the help they need.

In the case before the Supreme Court, the family of a teenage Oregon boy diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder sued the school district, saying the school did not properly address the student's learning problems. The family is seeking reimbursement for the student's tuition, which cost $5,200-a-month. The family paid a total of $65,000 in private tuition.

In its appeal, the Forest Grove School District said students should be forced to at least give public special education programs a try before seeking reimbursement for private tuition.

Justice John Paul Stevens said in his majority opinion that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires a school district to pay for private special ed services if the public school doesn't have appropriate services.

"We conclude that IDEA authorizes reimbursement for the cost of special education services when a school district fails to provide a FAPE and the private-school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special education or related services through the public school," Stevens said.

The justices, acting Monday, say they will consider the Obama administration's appeal of a lower court ruling that invalidated the law.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled in January that Congress overstepped its authority when it enacted a law allowing for indefinite commitment of people who are considered "sexually dangerous."

In April, Chief Justice John Roberts granted an administration request to block the release of up to 77 inmates at a federal prison in North Carolina. These were people whose prison terms for sex offenses were ending. The justice's order was designed to allow time for the high court to consider the administration's appeal.

The challenge to the law was brought by four men who served prison terms ranging from three to eight years for possession of child pornography or sexual abuse of a minor. Their confinement was supposed to end more than two years ago, but the government determined that there would be a risk of sexually violent conduct or child molestation if they were released.

A fifth man who also was part of the legal challenge was charged with child sex abuse, but declared incompetent to stand trial.

Philip Markoff, the former medical student accused of killing a 25-year-old masseuse he met through Craigslist is being arraigned in Boston today for first-degree murder and other charges.

Philip Markoff is expected to be in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday morning. He was indicted by a grand jury Thursday after a two-month investigation.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told CBS' The Early Show Monday that his office continues to receive new information on the case, though he admitted most of it has been unhelpful.

Despite that, Conley said, "We believe that we've built a very strong case against this defendant."

He added that Markoff's fiancée, Megan McCallister, has been cooperative, but declined to say whether she would be a witness for the prosecution.

Conley said the case probably won't reach trial for at least a year.

The court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Kevin Dwayne Powell, who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

When he was arrested, police gave Powell his Miranda warnings, including telling him he had a right to a lawyer before questioning. Powell's lawyers objected, saying police did not tell him he had a right to have a lawyer during his police interrogation.

The Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction, saying the police's Miranda warning was insufficient.

A disbarred New Jersey lawyer is headed to state prison for 15 years for blowing $4 million of his clients' money in Atlantic City.

Michael P. Rumore, 50, who ran his law practice from the basement of his Lyndhurst home, was supposed to use the money for real estate closings.

However, his lawyer said "not a dime of it went anywhere else" but the slots in seaside casinos.

Rumore suffers from bipolar disorder and depression, said the attorney, Anthony P. Alfano.

Like all gambling addicts, Rumore always believed he could "hit the big one and pay it back," Alfano said.

Rumore surrended his law license and was disbarred last fall as part of his January guilty plea in Superior Court in Hackensack to money laundering and theft.

Although a state judge ordered him Friday to pay more than $6.2 million in restitution, but Alfano says he doesn't have it.

Rumore pleaded guilty in January to charges of money laundering and theft.

Depending on certain circumstances, he could be released in three years.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court's rejection of child survivor benefits for Brandalynn Vernoff, who was born nearly four years after her father's death in 1995.

The case involved sperm that Bruce Vernoff's widow, Gabriela, had a doctor extract after he died unexpectedly from an allergic reaction. In 1998, she used it for in vitro fertilization and gave birth to Brandalynn in a Los Angeles hospital on March 17, 1999.

Gabriela Vernoff later applied for child survivor benefits from the Social Security Administration but was rejected. A federal judge in Santa Ana also rejected her claims.

The appellate panel ruled that while there was an "undisputed biological relationship" between Brandalynn and her father, the girl was not a dependent at the time of his death as defined by Social Security regulations and by California law on the establishment of paternity.

The three-judge panel noted that California law only grants inheritance rights to children conceived within one year after a parent has died. The ruling also said there was no evidence that Vernoff consented to his wife's artificial insemination, which under state law would be required to establish his paternity.

Gabriela Vernoff "has not provided any evidence of consent to the conception by the insured or his willingness to support Brandalynn," the ruling said.

A message left for the widow's attorney was not immediately returned Thursday.