St. James Anglican Church, a theologically conservative breakaway church, has waged a nearly six-year fight to keep the church property instead of returning it to the Diocese of Los Angeles.

St. James is one of several dozen individual parishes and four dioceses nationwide that voted to split from the national church after the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.

State courts have sided with the Los Angeles diocese throughout the six-year legal case. The church lost its petition to have the case heard in the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

"We only have 15 minutes to make our arguments. It really is daunting," Yale Galanter said Thursday. "But what the public doesn't know is that there are hundreds of pages of briefs that have already been filed."

Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart won't be in court when their lawyers tell a trio of justices that Simpson's fame — and his acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in Los Angeles — tilted the Las Vegas proceedings in favor of the prosecution.

Simpson, who turns 63 next month, has been working as a gymnasium janitor while serving nine to 33 years at a state prison in the northern Nevada town of Lovelock.

Stewart, 56, heads a music program while serving 7 1/2 to 27 years at High Desert State Prison, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

It's unclear when the state's high court will rule.

But the federal court's Chief Judge Tena Campbell said Gardner failed to prove he could not get a "fair and impartial hearing" before Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole.

A two-day hearing before the board is set to begin on Thursday.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court late Tuesday, attorney Andrew Parnes argued that the board's process was tainted because lawyers that represent the board work for the Utah attorney general's office — the same entity that sought Gardner's death warrant. Those state attorneys will also argue against the board commuting Gardner's death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A federal prosecutor has told an appeals court in Ohio that five jailed members of a Midwest militia are a threat to public safety. The prosecutor says they should stay in jail until they're tried on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.

But attorneys for the defendants told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that the government hasn't proven their clients are dangerous.

The defendants are among nine members of the Michigan-based Hutaree (hoo-TAH'-ray) accused of conspiracy to commit sedition. Two from Michigan and two from Ohio have been released as they await trial.

A federal judge has said the remaining five, from Michigan and Indiana, could go home with electronic monitors. The government is appealing that order.

The appeals court did not issue a ruling Tuesday.

Amera Akl's family says they're planning to post a $750,000 bond and that it's possible she could be released later this week.

The couple were taken into custody last week after prosecutors said an FBI informant provided them with $200,000 in cash.

The couple were alleged to be preparing to hide the money in a vehicle that prosecutors said was to be shipped to Lebanon.

State regulators and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center are asking the justices to order a District Court judge in Lovington to reverse an earlier decision that halted the effort by New Energy Economy to control greenhouse gas emissions.

Judge William Shoobridge granted a preliminary injunction in April that prohibited the state Environmental Improvement Board from continuing proceedings on New Energy Economy's petition.

Petition supporters argue that if allowed to stand, the judge's ruling would cripple state agencies' ability to carry out appointed responsibilities. They say the high court must hear the case because it raises questions about separation of powers and judicial interference in an administrative process.

New Mexico's largest utility, four state lawmakers and other industry groups sued in January to stop the Environmental Improvement Board from considering the petition. New Energy Economy and regulators countered with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, a move that Shoobridge rejected.

Public Service Company of New Mexico, one of the plaintiffs, has argued that a state cap on greenhouse gas emissions would be costly for businesses and utility customers and that the emissions debate should be settled by the federal government.