A judge says she will allow a lawsuit challenging Texas' foster care system to proceed as a class action.

U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack said during a hearing Thursday that she will grant class certification for the suit initiated by the advocacy group Children's Rights.

The suit contends that the Texas system is unconstitutional and should be reformed. It was filed in March on behalf of nine children between the ages of nine and 16.

A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says the state will determine its next course of action when the judge issues a written order.

The suit is the 12th of its kind initiated by the New York-based advocacy group seeking to reform child welfare systems administered by state or municipal governments.

Four former Auburn football players have been indicted on felony robbery and burglary charges by a Lee County grand jury.

Court documents posted online Wednesday show that Michael McNeil, Antonio Goodwin, Shaun Kitchens and Dakota Mosley were indicted on five counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of misdemeanor third-degree theft of property.

They are scheduled for arraignment on May 26 in Lee County Circuit Court.

Mosley also faces a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to hinder business.

The players were pulled over and arrested shortly after five occupants of a mobile home reported being robbed at gunpoint on March 11.

The Supreme Court says a Freedom of Information Act request cannot be used to trigger a False Claims Act lawsuit.

The court on Monday voted 5-3 to agree with arguments by Schindler Elevator Corp., which sought to get a lawsuit against it dismissed.

Daniel Kirk, a former employee, sued on behalf of the government, claiming Schindler had not complied with reporting requirements involving the employment of Vietnam veterans.

But a judge threw out his lawsuit, saying Kirk's information came from a FOIA request. The False Claims Act says that lawsuits cannot be filed using publicly disclosed information. The judge said FOIA reports were public information.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City overturned that decision but the high court said it was correct.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court's opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented and was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

A Phoenix real estate agent has pleaded guilty in a mortgage fraud scheme that costs lenders almost $10 million.

Federal prosecutors said 31-year-old Jason Thomas Williams pleaded guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

It was unclear Wednesday when Williams will be sentenced. Prosecutors said he could be facing up to a 30-year prison term.

Three others charged in the same case also have entered guilty pleas while the remaining defendant is scheduled for trial in July.

Prosecutors said that from September 2005 through September 2007, Williams facilitated the submission of mortgage loan applications for unqualified straw buyers that contained false information.

They said Williams and the others concealed cash kickbacks to the straw buyers from lenders.

A former Georgia bank executive who pleaded guilty to using customers and family members in a multimillion-dollar fraud conspiracy that led to his bank's downfall is scheduled to be sentenced to prison.

Randy Jones could face at least 12 years in prison on Wednesday when he is sentenced in federal court. Three others who have pleaded guilty to conspiring with Jones are also set to be sentenced.

Jones, 50, pleaded guilty in January to receiving kickbacks for real estate loans while he was an executive vice president at Community Bank & Trust, the failed Cornelia-based bank where he worked for 30 years.

The hearing started Tuesday but attorneys spent the day in court arguing over how much restitution Jones should pay and how much time he could face behind bars.

A trial lawyer nominated by President Barack Obama to be a federal judge in Rhode Island was confirmed on a party-line vote Wednesday just hours after a Senate GOP filibuster attempt failed.

The Senate voted 50-44 to confirm lawyer John McConnell to the bench after a more significant 63-33 tally to advance the nomination past a filibuster orchestrated by GOP leaders.

Eleven Republicans joined with Democrats in the earlier vote to break the filibuster. GOP leaders opposed McConnell, citing his record as a trial lawyer in cases against businesses. Republicans also said McConnell was less than truthful in his testimony to the Senate.

Wednesday's vote comes six years after the Republicans then in control of the Senate considered a change in procedures to make it impossible to filibuster judicial nominations, citing numerous Democratic efforts to stall former President George W. Bush's nominees. Democrats said Republicans were being hypocritical in now trying to filibuster a Democratic nominee.