A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked two more sections of Alabama's tough new law targeting illegal immigration pending the outcome of lawsuits that seek to overturn the law entirely.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order temporarily halting a section that says courts can't enforce contracts involving illegal immigrants and another that makes it a felony for an illegal immigrant to do business with the state.

The law adopted last year was challenged by both the federal government and a coalition of activist groups. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit heard arguments last week but said it won't rule on the overall case until the U.S. Supreme Court decides a federal challenge to a similar law in Arizona. The appeals court is also weighing Georgia's law.

Lawyers in the Alabama case had asked the court to at least temporarily stop the two sections and others, claiming they were causing harm to people in the state.

"We are very pleased that the Eleventh Circuit understood the harms these provisions were causing in Alabama, and saw fit to enjoin them," said the Southern Poverty Law Center's Sam Brooke, who argued before the panel last week. "This is a great day for the residents of our state."

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said he strongly disagrees with the court's decision.

A former top lawyer for the city of Detroit who lost her job for describing a local court as "ghetto" has lost an appeal over her dismissal.

A federal appeals court says Friday that Kathleen Leavey's comments in 2009 were not protected under the First Amendment because they were made as part of her job.

Leavey, who is white, has said she used the word "ghetto" in a conversation with a court employee to describe Detroit's 36th District Court as inefficient and poor in serving the public. The chief judge, who is black, heard about the comment and contacted city hall. The angry call to a deputy mayor led to Leavey's departure.

The appeals court says the Constitution does not shield certain expressions made during official duties.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed a $10 million jury verdict against Tyson Foods Inc., granting the company's request for a new trial based on allegations of juror misconduct and a mistake on interpreting the law.

Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods claimed on appeal that some prospective jurors in the trial in McCurtain County, Okla., didn't answer questions fully or truthfully on juror questionnaires and the trial judge didn't allow oral questions on items covered in the forms filled out by the panelists.

The high court also agreed with Tyson that the growers weren't covered by the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act. Growers had argued that since Tyson provided them with feed and chicks, that gave them standing as consumers.

Tyson has a large operation in the region, with more than 180 poultry producers in southwest Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma that raise broilers for Tyson's plant in Broken Bow, Okla. That plant and its related operations, including a feed mill, employ more than 1,700 people.

In 2008, 54 growers, with Rusty Armstrong as lead plaintiff, sued Tyson, claiming that farmers who didn't want to modernize their equipment were given inferior feed and chicks. They claimed that Tyson had favored growers who got better feed and livestock.

Two Michael Jackson fans accused of stealing unreleased music by the late King of Pop from Sony's computers are confident they can prove their innocence in court, their lawyer said Wednesday.

Solicitor Karen Todner said James Marks and Jamie McCormick "are eager to point out to Michael Jackson's fans and family that they would never do anything to harm the legacy that is Michael Jackson's music."

"As Michael Jackson has said," she added, "'Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons.'"

The two British men were arrested last year after Sony Music Entertainment noticed a breach of its systems.

The entertainment company has a seven-year deal, worth up to $250 million, to sell unreleased recordings by Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50.

A former winner of the television show "Holland's Next Top Model" has won a lawsuit against Elite Model Management after she was dropped for having hips the agency considered too large.

The Amsterdam District Court ruled Wednesday that Ananda Marchildon, now 25, was entitled to the main prize she won in the 2008 production of the show, a three-year contract worth $98,500.

Marchildon argued she was dismissed after only $13,000 worth of work because she didn't lose enough weight to please the agency.

According to the written ruling, though Marchildon had gained weight since getting the contract, she had a hip measurement of 92 centimeters (about 36.2 inches) when she won, and Elite could not demand that she go down to 90 centimeters — about 35.4 inches. That is far smaller than the average woman's hips but not unusual in the modeling world.

A 17-year-old boy charged in a school shooting rampage that left three students dead was told by a judge on Tuesday that the case could be sent to adult court for trial.

Authorities will decide later whether T.J. Lane will be tried as an adult and face a possible life sentence if convicted.

Lane, who is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault, did not enter a plea Tuesday when he appeared before Juvenile Judge Tim Grendell.

The judge postponed a hearing on the adult-court matter from March 19 until April 3 because two new attorneys have joined the defense team.

Lane watched the judge without visible emotion, blinking occasionally. He was taken into court under heavy security, a deputy's hand on his arm. He was dressed in an outfit similar to what he wore last week in court — a tan, open-collared dress shirt and dark slacks.

Relatives of the victims faced Lane from the jury box. Some wore memorial ribbons of red and black, the colors of Chardon High School.

Lane spoke in response to routine questions from the judge about his understanding of the case and his rights.