The Washington state Supreme Court has ruled that public libraries can use Internet filters to block content.

In a 6-3 ruling Thursday, the court says public libraries have discretion about which Internet content to allow, just as they decide which magazines and books to offer.

The majority says libraries don't need to completely remove Internet filters and can provide access to websites containing constitutionally protected speech if requested by an adult.

But a blistering dissent by Justice Tom Chambers argues that the ruling restricts constitutionally protected speech.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday it's not wise to speculate about what caused an explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and he defended his use of the term "act of God" to describe the disaster.

Perry said Tuesday the phrase — which he used in a speech in Washington, D.C., on Monday when discussing the spill — is a legal definition and that his point is "nobody knows what happened" at the oil rig off the Louisiana coast. The undersea well has been spewing 200,000 gallons of oil a day.

The giant oil slick is threatening the Gulf Coast from southeastern Louisiana to Florida. Rig operator BP PLC has been trying unsuccessfully to cap the leak, which began April 20.

"If you will go look up the definition of 'Act of God,' we've used it in legal terms for a long time in this state," Perry told reporters outside the Texas Capitol.

"It may be an accident and it may be something else," he said.

The Democratic group Lone Star Project criticized the Republican governor's remarks as "detached arrogance."

"Eleven men died when the drilling platform exploded. Hundreds of miles of coastland could be damaged for years and even decades. The families of those who died and the victims of the environmental damage deserve a full accounting for the human errors that caused the failure at the rig, the death of loved ones and the spoiling of our Gulf coastline," said Matt Angle, director of Lone Star Project.

Lawmakers are urging Congress to move swiftly to put restrictions on corporate and union sponsorship of political campaign ads.

They are seeking to counteract a January ruling by the Supreme Court which upheld the First Amendment rights of such groups to spend money on ads, greatly increasing their ability to influence federal elections.

Lawmakers are pushing legislation requiring that political ads reveal their top funding sources and that the CEO of the company paying for the ad appear in it with an "I approve this message" statement.

The Democratic-led supporters say their goal is to pass the legislation by July 4, the time frame that is necessary if a new law were to be in effect for the November midterm elections.

White House counsel Bob Bauer, President Barack Obama's point man in the search for a new Supreme Court justice, manages to get credit both for an even temperament and his finesse with a sledge hammer.

The combination is evident in one of Bauer's favorite memories from the 2008 presidential primaries, when Obama campaign aides worried that opposing forces were trying to depress voter turnout. Bauer, the campaign's top lawyer, confidently reassured staffers that he'd have anyone engaged in such conduct arrested.

It was a morale-boosting bit of bluster that campaign workers quickly turned into a T-shirt that had "I (heart) Bauer" on the front and his quote — "We may have to arrest people" — splashed across the back.

The Senate has voted 98-0 to confirm Judge Denny Chin to fill an opening on a New York-based appeals court. He will be the only Asian-American currently serving on a U.S. Court of Appeals.

Chin is a U.S. district judge in New York. He will serve on the 2nd Circuit, covering New York, Connecticut and Vermont.

There are 23 judicial nominations pending on the Senate calendar.

A judge ruled Tuesday that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick violated terms of his probation by failing to report some of his assets but held off deciding whether to send him to jail.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner said Kilpatrick could remain free on bond pending his sentencing on May 20, but strongly suggested Kilpatrick may be headed to jail and ordered state corrections officials to prepare a pre-sentence report and submit it to the court.

Prosecutors have said Kilpatrick hasn't paid enough toward his $1 million restitution to Detroit.

But Groner said Kilpatrick didn't violate his probation by failing to pay or claiming he couldn't pay. Instead, the judge found him guilty for failing to disclose his assets and forfeit tax returns as part of the original plea agreement and subsequent order.

Kilpatrick pleaded guilty in 2008 to misconduct tied to his lying under oath about an affair with a staff member in a whistle-blowers' lawsuit. He served 99 days in jail agreed to give up his law license and his political career and repay the city $1 million for settling an employment lawsuit related to his misdeeds.