The court couldn't take up an apartheid dispute involving some of the nation's largest companies because too many of the justices had investments or other ties with those corporate giants.

It appeared to be the first time in at least a quarter-century that the justices' financial holdings prevented them from taking a case.

The result is that a lawsuit will go forward accusing dozens of corporations of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government. The companies and the Bush administration had asked the court to intervene, arguing that the lawsuit was damaging international relations, threatening to hurt South Africa's economic development and punishing the companies using a fuzzy legal concept.

Four of the nine justices sat out the court's consideration of the case. Federal law calls for at least six to hear any case.

Short of the required number, the court took the only path available to it and upheld an appeals court ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy provided no explanation for their decision not to take part in the case.

But those justices have ties to Bank of America Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Credit Suisse, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM and Nestle SA, among nearly three dozen companies that asked the high court to step in.

In a similar ruling Monday, the court also reinstated a prosecutor who was taken off a rape case after she published a crime novel about a similar case.

In the "Alpha Dog" case, an appeals court had removed Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen after he turned over probation reports, police files and other sensitive materials to director Nick Cassavetes. "Alpha Dog," a fictionalized account of the killing of a Southern California teen starring Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake, was released last year.

Prosecutors accuse Jesse James Hollywood of masterminding a plot to kidnap and murder 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz in 2000 because the teenager's older half brother owed Hollywood a $1,200 drug debt. Four people have already been convicted in the case, including triggerman Ryan Hoyt, who was sentenced to death.

Zonen said in court documents he aided Cassavetes with "Alpha Dog" to help publicize the hunt for Hollywood, who was captured in 2005 in Brazil after spending nearly five years on the lam.

The court didn't consider arguments on behalf of 31-year-old Mark Downs Jr. of Dunbar, saying his attorney missed a filing deadline by two weeks.

Downs has been sentenced to one-to-six years in prison, but has remained free on bond pending appeal.

Downs was convicted of corruption of minors and simple assault for offering an 8-year-old player money to hit a mildly autistic teammate with a ball during warmups before a June 2005 playoff game. Prosecutors say Downs wanted the autistic boy to be hurt and unable to play in the game.

In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said federal law allows the practice and that "this is not a case where the magistrate judge is asked to preside or make determinations after the trial has commenced." Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying, "Whatever their virtues, magistrate judges are no substitute" for U.S. District Court judges.

U.S. District judges are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, have life tenure and their salaries cannot be reduced. Magistrates, appointed by U.S. District judges, have no such protection.

A Mexican citizen, Gonzalez does not speak fluent English and did not have an interpreter at the bench conference where his attorney consented to designating the magistrate for the task.

Ordinarily, U.S. District Court judges participate in selecting juries for criminal and civil trials, a process known as voir dire.

Lawyers regard voir dire as one of the most important parts of a case because it often uncovers biases, leading to excluding members of the group of citizens from which a jury is selected.

There are more than 500 federal magistrate judges, who serve eight-year terms and are recommended by a citizen's merit screening committee. The magistrate setup was begun by Congress in 1968, expanding on a system that is 175 years old.

Faced with increasing caseloads, the federal judiciary assigns an array of duties to magistrates. Those include initial proceedings in criminal cases, presiding over some minor criminal trials and trials of civil cases with the consent of both sides.

The result is that a lawsuit accusing some prominent companies of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government will go forward.

The court's hands were tied by federal laws that require at least six justices to hear any case before them.

Short of the required number by one, the court took the only path available to it and upheld an appeals court ruling allowing the suit to proceed.

The justices have ties to Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive, Credit Suisse, Exxon Mobil, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Nestle, among nearly three dozen companies that asked the high court to step in.

MBIA Inc. reported Monday a loss of more than $2 billion for the first quarter after taking a $3.6 billion charge for losses on derivatives, but shares of the embattled bond insurer traded as much as 10% higher.

Posting its third straight quarterly loss, MBIA continues to struggle with business difficulties in the face of falling house prices and a global credit crisis, but Chief Executive Jay Brown sounded an optimistic note.

"MBIA continues to be a sound financial institution," Brown said in a statement. "We have ample liquidity, our balance sheet is built to withstand credit stress levels many multiples of what we're experiencing now, and our business model is proving that we are adequately capitalized to satisfy any potential claims on our insured portfolio."

Shares of MBIA rose more than 6% to $10.04 in morning action, after reaching an intraday high at $10.35.

The company's net loss was $2.41 billion, or $13.03 a share. MBIA had earned $198.6 million, or $1.46 a share, in the year-earlier first quarter.
During the latest quarter, it recorded a $3.6 billion unrealized loss on insured derivatives.