SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK

Appeal over van Gogh painting denied WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a man who sued Yale University in an effort to claim a $200 million Vincent van Gogh painting. The court turned away Pierre Konowaloff's appeal without comment. Konowaloff said van Gogh's "The Night Cafe" was stolen from his family during the Russian Revolution. Yale has had the painting since 1961. Lower courts also had ruled for the university. The case is Konowaloff v. Yale, 15-921. Court rejects former Gov. Blagojevich appeal in corruption case WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appeal of his corruption convictions that included his attempt to sell the vacant Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama. The justices let stand an appeals court ruling that found Blagojevich crossed the line when he sought money in exchange for naming someone to fill the seat. Blagojevich, 59, is serving a 14-year sentence at a federal prison in Colorado. A federal appeals court last year threw out five of his 18 convictions and Blagojevich was hoping the Supreme Court would consider tossing the rest. His lawyers argued in an 83-page November filing that the line between the legal and illegal trading of political favors has become blurred, potentially leaving politicians everywhere subject to prosecution. The appeal to the high court was a last slim hope for Blagojevich, who has proclaimed his innocence for years. Since his 2008 arrest and through his two trials, Blagojevich has argued he was participating in legal, run-of-the-mill politicking. Blagojevich meanwhile is awaiting a resentencing ordered in July by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago when it ruled to toss the five convictions. The Supreme Court hears only around 80 cases a year out of more than 10,000 requests and typically accepts cases that raise weighty and divisive legal issues. Justices turn down appeal from Alabama death row inmate WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is refusing to intervene in the case of an Alabama man who is facing execution for throwing four children off a bridge to their deaths. The justices did not comment Monday in rejecting an appeal from Lam Luong. He argued that pretrial publicity prevented him from having a fair trial. Luong was sentenced to death in 2009 for driving the four children to the Dauphin Island Bridge in Mobile County and throwing them into the Mississippi Sound about 100 feet below. Three of the four children were Luong's and the other was his wife's from a previous relationship. The Alabama Supreme Court reinstated his convictions in the four deaths after a lower court had ruled in Luong's favor. Published: Wed, Mar 30, 2016