The Kentucky Supreme Court is deciding whether the state has the power to seize Internet domain names involved in online gambling after hearing arguments Thursday from lawyers on both sides of the issue.

At issue is whether the more than 100 domain names the state has tried to seize are tantamount to gambling devices such as slot machines, and whether the state has authority for the seizures.

An appellate court has previously ruled that the state can't seize the domain names.

"They have been using these to violate the law in Kentucky," Eric Lycan, a private attorney representing the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, said. "They are subject to forfeiture."

The state previously sued 140 Web sites after determining that they allowed Kentuckians to gamble illegally and asked a judge to either force the sites to block Kentucky users or allow the state to take possession of the domain names — essentially shutting them down. Most of the sites are offshore and serve gamblers in and outside of the state.

Kentucky already allows gambling on horse racing and bingo and has a state lottery.

The Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday it will review a case involving Southwestern Electric Power Company's planned coal-fired power plant in south Arkansas.

The state Court of Appeals had overturned a permit that was issued by the Arkansas Public Service Commission for the $1.6 billion John W. Turk Jr. plant in Hempstead County. SWEPCO appealed that decision, and now the Arkansas Supreme Court is going to review the case.

The Appeals Court ruling, issued in June, said the Public Service Commission's process for considering such permits has been flawed. If upheld, the ruling would require the plant to start that process over.

SWEPCO said Thursday it was pleased the high court was to review the case.

"This is an important case — both for the Turk Plant and for the process used to approve major utility projects in Arkansas for more than 30 years," said Paul Chodak, SWEPCO's president and chief operating officer. "We believe the record in the case will show that the approval process was correct and that the Turk Plant approval should stand."

SWEPCO said that as of Sept. 30, about $830 million had been spent on the Turk project.

Opponents have argued that the plant would violate the federal Clean Air Act.

A federal judicial panel has rejected California's plan for reducing the state's prison population because it failed to meet the terms of an earlier court order.

In August, the panel ordered California to reduce its inmate population by roughly 27 percent, or 40,000, over two years. The courts have found that prison overcrowding is the main cause of negligent medical and mental health care.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration subsequently submitted a plan calling for a reduction of 23,000 inmates.

On Wednesday, the judges gave the administration 21 days to submit a new plan. If it's inadequate, the court said it will develop its own.

In a statement, the administration said it objects to what it sees as an arbitrary inmate cap but will respond to the court on Nov. 12.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked Washington state officials from releasing the names of people who signed referendum petitions to bring expanded rights for gay couples up for a public vote in November.

The court's action maintains a hold placed Monday by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling that had ordered the release of the names. Justice John Paul Stevens was the only member of the court who indicated he would have turned down the stay request.

The court said its order would remain in effect while it decides whether to take up a request by Protect Marriage Washington, the group that wants to reverse the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Referendum 71 asks voters to approve or reject the so-called "everything but marriage" law, which grants registered domestic partners the same legal rights as married couples. While most domestic partners are gay and lesbian couples, under state law opposite-gender seniors also can register as domestic partners.

Conservative Christian groups that sponsored R-71 want to keep the signed petitions out of public view because they fear harassment from gay-rights supporters, some of whom have vowed to post the names of petition signers on the Internet.

Booksellers, video game dealers, newspaper publishers and other critics of an online child protection law encountered skepticism from state Supreme Court justices Tuesday for their free-speech arguments.

A coalition led by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression has challenged laws throughout the country aimed at protecting children from online pornography and predators that they claim jeopardize protected speech among adults that might be linked to private chat rooms, listservs or e-mail.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati has asked justices to resolve two key legal questions before moving forward on the Ohio lawsuit. The questions involve what is meant by the technical terms contained in the law: "mass distribution" and "personally directed devices."

Ohio Solicitor General Ben Mizer said the state law on distributing material harmful to minors was revised in 2004 to apply only to one-on-one communications by adults knowingly targeting kids. At issue Tuesday before the court was that rewrite.

The central figure in a huge New Jersey corruption investigation pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and money laundering charges Tuesday.

Solomon Dwek's work for the government as a cooperating witness directly led to the arrests of 44 people in July, but it was his turn in court Tuesday.

Wearing a dark suit and light blue tie, the 37-year-old Dwek stood before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares and admitted his role in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud scheme in 2006. He acknowledged depositing two $25 million checks drawn on a closed account and using them to make wire transfers to separate banks totaling nearly $23 million.

Bank fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, and the maximum for money laundering is 10 years, but Dwek would face nine to 11 years under federal sentencing guidelines. Linares can adjust that range up or down when he sentences Dwek on Feb. 9, and the U.S. attorney's office said it may recommend a lighter sentence based on Dwek's ongoing cooperation.