SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK

No lawsuit against Detroit judge WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has put an end to a civil lawsuit against a former Detroit judge who had an affair with a woman while he presided over her bid for child support. The justices offered no comment Monday in leaving in place lower court rulings in favor of former Wayne County judge Wade McCree. The defendant in the child support case sued McCree for violating his civil rights. But the courts dismissed the suit because judges are immune from lawsuits stemming from their judicial actions. The Michigan Supreme Court removed McCree from office after he admitted to the affair. Court rules for company seeking to trim retiree health costs WASHINGTON (AP) - A unanimous Supreme Court is ordering lower courts to take a new look at a dispute over a chemical company's efforts to cut costs in its health plan for retired workers. Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday wrote the court's opinion that threw out a judgment in favor of the retirees of the Point Pleasant Polyester Plant in Apple Grove, West Virginia. M&G Polymers USA LLC is the current owner of the facility. Lower courts ruled that some retirees had been promised lifetime, cost-free health benefits. The Supreme Court did not decide whether the courts came to the right conclusion, only that they employed faulty legal reasoning in interpreting a 15-year-old agreement dealing with retiree pensions and other benefits. The case is M&G Polymers USA LLC v. Tackett, 13-1010. Published: Wed, Jan 28, 2015