SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK

Arizona county loses appeal over marijuana seizure WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has refused to overturn Arizona court rulings ordering the Yuma County sheriff to return marijuana that was seized from a woman with a California medical marijuana authorization honored by Arizona. The justices' order was issued without comment Monday in the case of Valerie Okun, who had marijuana in her car when a Border Patrol agent stopped her and her husband in Yuma County, Ariz., in 2011. She was charged with marijuana possession crimes, but the charges were dropped when she provided proof she was authorized to possess marijuana under California's medical marijuana program. Arizona's medical marijuana law allows people with authorizations from other states to have marijuana in Arizona. But the Yuma County sheriff refused to return Okun's marijuana, even after Arizona courts ruled in her favor. Court rejects Alaska appeal over fishing rights WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has turned away an appeal by the state of Alaska in a long-running fight over the control of rivers and the fishing and hunting rights of Alaska Natives. The court on Monday declined to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld U.S. Interior Department rules enforcing the fishing and hunting rights on some rivers that otherwise would be under state control. The state urged the high court to step in to address claims that the federal government has improperly asserted control over rivers in more than half of Alaska. Alaska Natives groups and the Obama administration supported the appellate ruling. Cases on birth control coverage turned away WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has turned away an early look at a challenge by religiously affiliated not-for-profit groups to the new health care law's provision on birth control coverage. Lawsuits filed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and others are making their way through the courts. The justices on Monday declined to weigh in on them before any federal appeals court has reached a final decision. The Obama administration has devised a compromise to the law's requirement that contraception be included in health plans' preventive services for women. The compromise attempts to create a buffer for religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and social service groups that oppose birth control. Their insurers or the health plan's outside administrator would pay for birth control coverage and creates a way to reimburse them. Published: Wed, Apr 2, 2014