Recap: Monday's Supreme Court action

WASHINGTON (AP) — A look at what's happening inside of the Supreme Court on Monday.

Justices hear case of American born in Jerusalem

The Supreme Court seems unlikely to rule for a 9-year-old boy who was born in Jerusalem and wants his U.S. passport to list his place of birth as Israel.

Menachem Zivotofsky and his parents were at the high court Monday for arguments over his challenge to a State Department policy that won't allow his passport to show he was born in Israel.

The Obama administration says the passport policy is in line with longstanding foreign policy that says the status of Jerusalem should be resolved in negotiations. Congress passed a law in 2002 seeking to give Americans born there the right to have Israel listed as their birthplace.

The justices seemed reluctant to question the administration's position that the law was an improper congressional attempt to speak for the country on foreign policy.

Court won't hear 'Ghost Hunters' appeal

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from some television networks being sued by a paranormal investigator who claims his idea was stolen and turned into the television show "Ghost Hunters."

Without comment, the court turned away an appeal from NBC Universal, Inc., Universal Television Networks and Pilgrim Films & Television, Inc.

Parapsychologist Larry Montz and producer Daena Smoller unsuccessfully shopped around an idea for a show about paranormal investigators in 1981. "Ghost Hunters" appeared on the Sci Fi Channel — now known as SyFy — in 2004.

Montz and Smoller sued in federal court. The courts threw out their copyright claims, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that they could sue for breach of an implied contract and breach of confidence claims.

Court to look at life in prison for juveniles

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether juveniles convicted of killing someone may be locked up for life with no chance of parole, a follow-up to last year's ruling barring such sentences for teenagers whose crimes do not include killing.

The justices said Monday they will examine a pair of cases from the South involving young killers who are serving life sentences for crimes they committed when they were 14.

Both cases were brought by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala. The institute says that life without parole for children so young "is cruel and unusual" and violates the Constitution.

The group says roughly six dozen people in 18 states are under life sentences and ineligible for parole for crimes they committed at 13 or 14.

Fla. must weigh arbitration in Madoff case

The Supreme Court says the Florida courts should reconsider whether arbitration is required for claims against an auditing firm that worked on a fund that invested with Bernie Madoff.

The high court on Monday reversed a decision by a Florida appeals court. KPMG was sued by investors in the Rye Funds, which lost millions of dollars to Madoff's Ponzi scheme. KPMG was the auditor for the Rye Funds, and the investors said the company did not use proper auditing standards.

KPMG says its contract requires arbitration but the state courts would not allow it.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Florida courts only looked at part of the claims being brought against KPMG. The high court ordered the lower courts to investigate all of the claims before making a decision.