Family members of imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan have gathered at the hospital bedside of his gravely ill wife while waiting for a federal appeals court to decide whether he should be allowed to join them.

Ryan's attorneys filed an emergency motion Wednesday asking that the 76-year-old former governor be let out of prison during daytime hours so he can be with his wife of 55 years, who they said was in intensive care suffering complications from chemotherapy.

One of Ryan's attorneys, former Gov. James Thompson, told The Associated Press that Lura Lynn Ryan's family was called to her side Wednesday morning. Family members did not address reporters who congregated outside Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee.

"Doctors have told the family that they have to go hour by hour," Thompson said.

An emergency motion filed with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago says Ryan's wife went into septic shock, a complication of her treatment for what the motion describes as incurable cancer of the lungs, back, pelvis, ribs and liver.

The California Supreme Court ruled in San Francisco on Monday that police are entitled to search text messages on the cell phones of arrestees without obtaining a warrant.

The court, ruling in a Ventura County case, said by a 5-2 vote that warrantless searches of text messages are permitted under precedents set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The panel upheld the drug conviction of Gregory Diaz, who was arrested for aiding in selling Ecstasy to a police informant during an undercover sting operation. 

Sheriff’s deputies seized Diaz’s cell phone along with six tabs of Ecstasy. One and one-half hours later, a detective, who did not have a search warrant, looked in the text message folder of the phone and discovered a coded message that referred to Ecstasy sales.

When confronted with the message, Diaz admitted to participating in the deal. He later pleaded guilty to transporting a controlled substance and was sentenced to probation, but he reserved his right to appeal the use of evidence from the text message.

The state high court majority said the search was permitted under U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have allowed warrantless searches of personal property such as clothing or a cigarette package that are “immediately associated” with a person who is arrested.

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from taking over greenhouse gas permits in Texas.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued the stay Thursday, pending further action by the court.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked the federal appeals court in Washington to block the EPA from taking over greenhouse gas permits starting Sunday until the court could review the case.

The appeals court noted that order issuing the stay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of Abbott's motion.

Earlier last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had declined to issue a stay that would delay the EPA's plans as Texas' lawsuit against the federal agency moved forward.

The California Supreme Court's refusal affirms a Bay Area Air Quality Management District limit on burning wood, fire logs or wood pellets on nights when air quality is expected to exceed public health standards.

The appeal was brought by Duraflame Inc., which argued that its logs burn cleaner than other fuel types and should be exempt from the ban.

Duraflame appealed to California's high court after losses in both Alameda County Superior Court and a state appeals court.

An attorney charged with stealing $99,000 from two elderly couples he represented has met a judge's deadline to appear in court for trial.

Fifty-three-year-old Mark Morrison didn't appear for trial Monday after his attorney said he couldn't arrange for an ambulance to bring the bedridden counselor to the Fayette County Courthouse.

But the Herald-Standard newspaper in Uniontown is reporting that County Judge Steve Leskinen believes that Monday's delay and some related motions may be a last-ditch attempt to put off the trial that has been pending since 2006.

Leskinen has found Morrison competent to stand trial even though the attorney showed up on a gurney and claimed to be unable to speak during a competency hearing in November.

The judge's staff says Morrison arrived in court Tuesday morning.

The Supreme Court will join Congress and the president next year in cutting costs to reduce the federal deficit, Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday in his year-end report.

Roberts asked the court's staff to cut unnecessary expenses and improve operations to save money.

"As a result of those efforts, and notwithstanding increases in operating costs owing to inflation, the court expects to voluntarily reduce its fiscal year 2012 appropriations request to less than its fiscal year 2011 request. Not many other federal government entities can say that," Roberts said.

The federal judiciary is not a large part of federal spending — "less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the federal budget for one of the three constitutional branches of government," Roberts said.

"But the courts are committed to working closely with the president and Congress to shoulder our share of the burdens of reducing the federal deficit," the chief justice said. "We will strive to reduce costs where possible, but we ask in return that our coordinate branches of government continue to provide the financial resources that the courts must have to carry out their vital mission."

The other federal courts are also striving to save money, Roberts said. "Those initiatives include focused efforts to reduce judicial costs through more efficient use of office space, information technology and support personnel," he said.

The judiciary will reduce by 60 percent its request for new court staff in the next budget year, Roberts said.

Roberts also called on Republicans and Democrats to find a long-term solution to selecting federal judges, blaming both sides for the political blockage of judicial nominations in the Senate.