Wednesday's ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans only revives part of the case that lawyers for a group of purported "whistleblowers" filed against eight insurers and six adjusting firms after the August 2005 storm.

A three-judge panel from the appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that Allstate Insurance Co. and State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. must be dismissed from the Louisiana lawsuit because they already were defendants in a similar suit in Mississippi.

However, the 5th Circuit said U.S. District Judge Peter Beer erred in dismissing the other insurers and adjusting firms that aren't named in the Mississippi case.

Other defendants in the Louisiana case include Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Fidelity National Insurance Co., American National Property & Casualty Co., American Reliable Insurance Co., and Standard Fire Insurance Co.

In a showdown over presidential power, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said a judge went too far last October in ordering the U.S. entry of the 17 men, known as Uighurs (WEE'-gurz), over the objections of the Bush administration.

The three-judge panel suggested the detainees might be able to seek entry by applying to the Homeland Security Department, which administers U.S. immigration laws. But the court bluntly concluded the detainees otherwise had no constitutional right to immediate freedom after being held in custody at the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without charges for nearly seven years.

"Such sentiments, however high-minded, do not represent a legal basis for upsetting settled law and overriding the prerogatives of the political branches," wrote Judge A. Raymond Randolph, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush.

A 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by a New York trade group representing 7,000 restaurants. It said the rule the city began enforcing last July is a reasonable attempt to curb obesity.

The panel rejected the New York State Restaurant Association's arguments that federal law gives restaurants discretion on whether to present nutritional information.

The new rule applies to restaurants that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets across the country.

The city and restaurant association didn't immediately comment on the ruling.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court says patients cannot sue the makers of defective medical devices if they are approved for sale by federal regulators.

The court ruled against a man who had a defibrillator implanted and then removed after the manufacturer, Medtronic, Inc., warned its battery had a chance of failing.

The device had been approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was never recalled.

Joseph Blunt, Sr. of St. Francis filed a lawsuit against the company alleging negligence and other claims after he had surgery to remove the device.

The court says the lawsuit is barred by a federal law and by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that threw out a similar case against Minneapolis-based Medtronic.

The shot that killed the lawyer was fired at point-blank range shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Northampton Township Police Chief Barry Pilla said.

The victim worked at Terry D. Goldberg & Associates. Police did not immediately release his name because not all of his family had been notified. He died at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne.

No arrests had been made as of early Wednesday evening and no motive was known. Police are seeking the public's help, Pilla said.

"We're specifically interested in anyone that may have been traveling north or south on Buck Road in the vicinity of the scene between 8 o'clock, 7 o'clock in the morning until 9, 9:15," Pilla said.

Police plan to stop motorists in the area Thursday morning in hopes of finding someone with information, Pilla said.

Police stopped someone driving a vehicle similar to the one the gunman fled in and questioned him, but determined later Wednesday that that person was not the gunman.

Corrections officials said Tuesday they are struggling with their response to a tentative federal court ruling this week that the state must remove as many as 57,000 inmates over the next two or three years.

The state's 33 adult prisons now hold about 158,000 inmates. But the judges said overcrowding is so severe it unconstitutionally compromises medical care of inmates, and releasing prisoners is the only solution.

"We are just now beginning to have discussions (about) who these types of inmates would be. Then, how do we get to that number?" said Matthew Cate, secretary of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The department has no contingency plan, he said, other than appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court once the ruling becomes final.

The judges said their ruling does not amount to throwing open the cell doors.