U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled the case — the first of several pending challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act — must be refiled in federal court.

Carter said the suit had been improperly filed in state court before it was transferred to his jurisdiction. As a result, the judge said, he would not entertain arguments on its merits, at least not yet.

"There is no point for us to go down the line of decision-making and waste time," he said during the hearing in Santa Ana.

The case, brought on behalf of a gay Southern California couple, argues that the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against gay men and lesbians.

The 1996 law bars federal recognition of gay unions, including the granting of Social Security survivor payments and other government benefits to couples. , Six states have now legalized same-sex marriage, but the federal law still bars those couples from receiving the benefits.

Gay marriage supporters accused Obama of betraying them this summer, after U.S. Justice Department lawyers filed court papers in the lawsuit strenuously defending the federal law. As a candidate, Obama pledged to work for its repeal.

The comedian and author of the best-selling book "Too Fat to Fish" originally was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a pretrial conference. That date is changed to Sept. 9.

Lange was charged following a minor traffic accident last month in Toms River, about 50 miles south-southwest of New York City.

Police say Lange's vehicle struck the back of another vehicle. They say no one was injured.

Defense lawyer Michael Grasso entered a not guilty plea for Lange on July 14. He says the 41-year-old Lange passed an alcohol screening test after the accident.

The ruling by a three-judge panel will allow the lawsuit to go forward and put the Texas delegate system closer to facing a potential review by the Justice Department, which Latino advocates sought in the aftermath of last year's intense Democratic primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the Latino groups argued that the way Texas Democrats awarded presidential delegates unfairly discriminated against Latinos by awarding fewer presidential delegates to heavily Hispanic areas. They did not contest to whom the delegates were awarded, but rather how the allotment was made.

Latino advocates saw Tuesday's ruling as clearing the way for the party's complex process of awarding delegates through a primary and caucus to be done away with entirely.

The court will hear arguments Monday over a judge's denial of an injunction that would have stopped betting from beginning next month.

Attorneys for Delaware say the leagues have not met the requirements for an injunction. A trial on whether the betting would violate federal law or the state constitution is to begin in December.

Delaware is exempt from a federal ban on sports betting because it ran a sports lottery in 1976. But the leagues argue that the exemption doesn't allow Delaware to offer bets on single games or on sports other than professional football.

A federal judge has ruled that Bank of America Corp cannot have a lawsuit by investors seeking to force it to buy back mortgages heard in federal court, saying he lacks jurisdiction to decide the case.


Tuesday's ruling by Judge Richard Holwell of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan means the case will move to state court. Holwell did not decide the merits of the case.

"Congress passed two statutes within a year of each other to address the mortgage crisis," the judge wrote. "In neither of these statutes did Congress federalize the case."

The ruling is a win for investors, to the extent that Holwell rejected a claim by the bank's Countrywide Financial Corp unit that new federal laws to encourage loan modifications to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes govern this case.

The state's high court in Hartford ruled unanimously Monday to uphold the conviction of Keith Foster. He was convicted of nine charges, including felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree sexual assault and three counts of first-degree kidnapping. He was sentenced in August 2006 to 60 years in prison on a murder charge and 50 years on the other counts.

Maryann Measles was kidnapped on Oct. 19, 1997, while she was waiting in the parking lot for her mother, who was shopping for groceries. She was raped and strangled, and her body was wrapped in a blanket and chains and dumped into the Housatonic River.